August 25, 2017 | Morning Headlines
UN Keen On Supporting Somalia’s 2020 Elections-Official
24 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 195 Words
The UN has pledged to support Somalia realize free and fair elections in 2020 in addition to ensuring the successful completion of the Constitutional Review Process. During a meeting with Prime Minister Hassan Khaire and separately with President Mohamed Farmaajo, UN Under Secretary General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said Somalia had registered significant progress in the recovery process and that the UN would continue its support especially towards the 2020 elections. “The United Nations is working with Somalia on the issue of ensuring free and fair elections in the year 2020. We are also supporting in the review of the constitution, federalization and facilitating full support from the international community,” said Feltman.
Prime Minister Hassan Khaire said his administration was investing in the political and security sectors in enhancing the recovery process. “Somalia is making great progress in terms of the political process and security towards a good future that will lead to full recovery. We will also ensure the supremacy of the rule of law.” The UN official also held talks with leadership of both the Senate and Lower House. The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia Michael Keating also attended the meetings.
Key Headlines
- UN Keen On Supporting Somalia’s 2020 Elections-Official (Goobjoog News)
- Gunmen Kill District Official In Mogadishu (Garowe Online)
- Former Somalia President Attends African Leaders Summit (SONNA)
- Turkish Airlines Partners With Love Army For Somalia To Provide Food Aid (UK Fundraising)
- First Somali-American Art Show At Minneapolis Institute Of Art Spans Three Generations (Star Tribune)
- Forget Shop Signs Somalia’s Businesses Are Using Quirky Graffiti To Lure Customers (Quartz Africa)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Gunmen Kill District Official In Mogadishu
24 August – Source: Garowe Online – 153 Words
Unidentified gunmen believed to be Al-Shabaab assassins have shot and killed a district official in Somali capital, Mogadishu on Thursday morning. Abdulle Mohamud Ali, who was an official in Karan district administration, has been gunned down at very close range by two pistol-wielding men at a tea-shop near Sana junction early in the morning, according to witnesses.The killers have managed to immediately escape from the crime scene before the arrival of security forces, who launched an investigation and a manhunt mission to capture the suspects.
So far it is not clear the exact motive behind the killing of the late official and the district administration authorities have not yet released any statement regarding the incident.No group has yet claimed the responsibility for the murder.Mogadishu has witnessed numerous targeted assassinations against Somali security force members, civil servants and elders carried out by unknown gunmen, with Al-Shabaab claiming some of the attacks.
Former Somalia President Attends African Leaders Summit
24 August – Source: SONNA – 102 Words
The former president of the federal government of Somalia H.E Hassan Sheikh Mohamud arrived in South Africa to attend a meeting that is intended to bring together all former African leaders and intellectuals to discuss about the political and economic affairs of the continent. This summit which was organized by Thabo Mbeki Foundation, the former president of South Africa is expected to discuss issues ranging from the challenges that the continent is facing which includes political instability, economic and lack of good governance. The former leaders are also set to discuss about the role of continental africa on world peacemaking efforts.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Turkish Airlines Partners With Love Army For Somalia To Provide Food Aid
24 August – Source: UK Fundraising – 202 Words
Turkish Airlines has delivered its second cargo plane of food supplies to Somalia in partnership with the Love Army for Somalia campaign. Love Army for Somalia is spearheaded by social media stars Jérome Jarre, Casey Neistat and actor Ben Stiller. As the only international airline that flies to Somalia, Turkish Airlines has unique access to getting emergency food support to the country, which is suffering from a drought.
Earlier in the year, Jarre sent a Tweet asking Turkish Airlines directly whether they would send a cargo plane filled with food to Somalia. The airline’s first delivery took place in March, with 60 tons of nutritional supplements designed specifically for children sent to Mogadishu for immediate distribution.Its second shipment of food, an additional 60 tons of the nutritional supplements for children, was delivered to Somalia on 15th August.
Mr. M. İlker Aycı, Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and Executive Committee said: “We gladly joined the global movement #LoveArmyForSomalia, contributing a cargo flight as well as food and supplies to the people of Somalia. Now we are delivering 60 tons of food for Somali children. We take pride in our corporate responsibility projects that extend a helping hand to the African people.”
First Somali-American Art Show At Minneapolis Institute Of Art Spans Three Generations
24 August – Source: Star Tribune – 888 Words
Artist Ifrah Mansour was crouched on the floor of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, arranging an enormous headscarf. For days she had been working on her video/installation “Can I Touch It,” a reference to the annoying phrase that people utter after they have already violated someone by touching their pregnant belly, head scarf, tattoo or hair, in Mansour’s case.
Yards long, the red, gold and yellow-striped scarf narrates the piece both physically and metaphorically. It begins on the floor, encircling a video screen that shows Mansour wrapping her head with the scarf. Then it twists around the torso and head of a mannequin before curling across the floor and onto a gallery wall, partly obscuring a monitor that displays a giant eye. It was hard to tell where the piece begins and where it ends, which was exactly the point.
Mansour is the youngest of three Somali-American artists who make up the cross-generational show “I Am Somali,” the Minneapolis museum’s first exhibition of contemporary Somalian art. Organized by Jan-Lodewijk Grootaers, the museum’s curator of African art, “I Am Somali” draws its title from a poem of that name by Abdulkadir Hersi Siyad (1945-2005). While Mansour uses performance, video and installation, the work of more mature artists Hassan Nor and Aziz Osman is two-dimensional — Nor displays eight drawings on poster board, while Osman is represented by five paintings.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“For mural artists like Muawiye Hussein Sidow, whose signs are featured in tea shops and supermarkets across the capital Mogadishu, the drawings are becoming more than just his daily source of income,”
Forget Shop Signs, Somalia’s Businesses Are Using Quirky Graffiti To Lure Customers
24 August – Source: Quartz Africa – 502 Words
If you visit any major city or town in Somalia, chances are that you will come across the colorful artworks that dot the walls of both private and public establishments. These painted signs are the work of skillful artists, who in broad brushstrokes, advertise the goods and services offered at different business outlets. These include the availability of electronic appliances, vehicle spare parts, beauty products, foodstuff and beverages, and the sometimes graphically-drawn dental, medical, or circumcision services. Other illustrations warn visitors not to carry guns, pistols, or knives into premises like hospitals, restaurants, and government offices.
The hand-drawn signs gained popularity in Somalia after the collapse of the central government in 1991. Artists who couldn’t sell their paintings after the breakout of the civil war offered their talent to local businesses. Economic stagnation in rural areas also pushed many Somalis with low literacy levels into urban areas—forcing many businesses to visually depict what they sell to people who couldn’t read.
For the literate, written text still features in these artworks. Many illustrations are written in Somali and sometimes in Arabic, which are both the official languages of Somalia. English, oftentimes with grammatical or spelling errors, is also used, with the occasional words like ‘shop,’ ‘welcome,’ or ‘stop’ complementing the Somali words.
Some worry that the signs may not be appreciated for their artistic quality. Philipp Schütz, a photographer who is working on a book of fine art photography that seeks to preserve the sign paintings across Somalia, fears they will eventually be overtaken by printed signs. “These paintings are all very detailed, well-composed, vibrant, and captivating,” Schütz says. The different methods that different artists use to sketch, he says, are “unique and intriguing” and should be cataloged for future reference.
Somalia has had a long history of art—the ancient Las Geel cave paintings in the northern region of Somaliland, discovered in 2002, show a society with high regard for artistic expression. Artists, who have sat out the war in other countries, are returning, painting billboards about diverse issues like justice, human rights, and rejecting extremism.