May 3, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
EU Pledges €100 Million for Somalia’s Stabilization Process
03 May – Source: Halbeeg News – 229 Words
European Union (EU) Political and Security Committee has pledged €100 million support for the Somali government. In a meeting with Somali Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Kheyre, the committee has thrown its weight behind Somalia’s security transitional plan. During the session with the members of the committee, the Somali Premier briefed the EU officials on Somalia’s security and building capacity of the country’s force.
According to the State-owned media, SONNA, the EU officials said EU would give the government direct and indirect funds for the stabilization of the country. Somalia has been on a gradual recovery following two decades of civil war. “Among issues discussed are €100 million, which EU will donate to Somalia and €80 million, which EU will spend on the stabilization of Somalia and the AMISOM mission in Somalia,” SONNA reported.
EU countries will approve the funds this May, as the bloc will also discuss extension of its aid to AMISOM till June this year. Officials from Somalia, UN, EU, AU and security experts as well as international donors are attending the special conference on Somalia’s security transitional plan. Somali government plans to take over security responsibility of the country from AMISOM before the African Union’s mission in Somalia finally comes to an end. AMISOM forces plan to exit Somalia in 2020 after more than a decade of the peacekeeping mission in the Horn of Africa nation.
Key Headlines
- EU Pledges €100 Million for Somalia’s Stabilization Process (Halbeeg News)
- Uhuru Kenyatta: Foreign Agents Work To Weaken Somali Government (Hiiraan Online)
- Somali Government Identifies The Man Behind The Hijacking Of A Foreign Aid Worker In Mogadishu (Allbanaadir)
- AMISOM Courts Somalis With ‘Soft Power’ Tactics (Daily Monitor )
- UN Expert Says Troops’ Drawback In Somalia Should Consider Security (Xinhua)
- The Ruins Of Somalia’s War Could Be Rebuilt Thanks To These Digitally Preserved 3D Models (Quartz Africa)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Uhuru Kenyatta: Foreign Agents Work To Weaken Somali Government
03 May – Source: Hiiraan Online – 351 Words
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has said the troubles of Somalia are caused by “foreign agents” who seek to destabilize the country and divide the Somali people. “The region is not at peace. Somalia remains troubled, largely by foreign agents who weaken its government, who divide its peoples, and who threaten to reverse the gains we have so painfully won under AMISOM.”
Speaking to Kenyans during the annual State of the Nation address on Wednesday, Kenyatta said that bringing regional stability to Somalia and South Sudan will be at the top of his agenda in his final term. “Beyond terrorism, we remain vulnerable to other security threats; many of them, from terrorism to trafficking, across borders. So we cannot be self-absorbed: we must be our neighbour’s keeper no less than our brother’s. The same principles that guide us at home govern relations with our neighbours.”
He added that the prosperity of Somalia and Kenya was intertwined. “Through it all, we remember that if our brothers and sisters in Somalia prosper, we prosper; if they are safe, so are we. It has been our policy, then, to help them regain the peace and prosperity they once knew.” “We worked, and continue to work, to secure foreign funding and support commensurate to Somalia’s challenges; we helped, and will continue to help, the people of Somalia build a strong and stable government.”
The Kenyan President admitted that the problems facing its Eastern neighbours are minor as compared to Kenya’s Northwestern neighbour and called the situation in South Sudan a “crisis. “If Somalia remains unsettled, let us admit that South Sudan nation remains in crisis.” He called on the leaders of South Sudan to put the interest of their people before their own to form a lasting peace. “Equally, we have lent our support to the multilateral peace process, and we continue to urge the leaders of South Sudan to put the interests of their people and motherland above their own. As we have in the past year, Kenya stands with the people of South Sudan in their search for lasting peace.”
Somali Government Identifies The Man Behind The Hijacking Of A Foreign Aid Worker In Mogadishu
03 May – Source: Allbanaadir – 194 Words
One of the armed men who last night kidnapped an aid worker in Wadajir district of Mogadishu has been identified. Interior Ministry spokesperson Abdiaziz Ali Ibrahim said the kidnapping of a German woman working with ICRC was orchestrated by one of the security guards, known as Mohamud Mohamed Calas.
Abdiaziz said security forces are conducting thorough investigations over those behind the kidnapping and have also launched a manhunt to arrest those behind the kidnap of German lady. The spokesman also reported that security forces seized the vehicle used by the hijackers and are investigating its owner. The vehicle is in the custody of the police.
Meanwhile, a statement from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has condemned the kidnapping of the German nurse who came to Somalia to provide her service to the Somalia people. In the last few years, incidents of kidnappings of foreign aid workers have reduced with zero kidnappings being recorded over the last few years.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
AMISOM Courts Somalis With ‘Soft Power’ Tactics
03 May – Source: Daily Monitor – 361 Words
The African Union Peacekeeping Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has shifted operational tactics from military engagement to talking with communities in order to win hearts of Somalis. The new approach involves reaching out to clan heads and ordinary citizens to challenge the dominant al-Shabaab propaganda that AMISOM troops are infidels who must be ousted.
According to Lt Col Robert Nahamya, the commander of UPDF’s 19th Battalion Operating in Buufow under Battle Group 22, al-Shabaab had won many hearts by convincing Somalis that AMISOM seeks to impose paganism on the country. “This harmful propaganda cannot work anymore because we have started engaging these communities and we are telling them, ‘look, AMISOM is composed of Muslims [as well]; it is wrong for you to simply fight on religious grounds’,” he said. The Colonel added: “This is already working and soon we shall defeat the enemy.”
Uganda was the first to deploy in Somalia in March 2007, and still has the largest number of soldiers in the 22,000-strong AMISOM. The UPDF drove the militants out of the capital, Mogadishu, and are, alongside other troop contributors such as Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya, helping to keep al-Shabaab in check.
UN Expert Says Troops’ Drawback In Somalia Should Consider Security
02 May – Source: Xinhua – 164 Words
A UN human rights expert has promised to continue urging the international community for the need to ensure that any drawdown of African Union forces in Somalia should be based on realistic timelines and security conditions. Bahame Tom Nyanduga, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC)’s Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia, stressed that the African Union troops are playing critical role for peace and reconciliation in Somalia.
Nyandega said in a statement issued on Wednesday by the AU mission that human rights in Somalia depend on the existence of a stable state and the strengthening of law and order, hence the critical role played by AMISOM. He lauded AMISOM for strengthening its human right component following the recruitment of a number of protection officers, in particular for women and children protection. During his visit to Somalia, Nyanduga met with AMISOM officials as part of on-going consultations with human rights stakeholders in Somalia in his fifth mission to the country.
OPINION, ANALYSIS & CULTURE
“As a semblance of peace takes hold, foreign tourists are also visiting the country to witness the impact of the civil war and to see what remains of historic monuments like the ones Somali Architecture is recreating.”
The Ruins Of Somalia’s War Could Be Rebuilt Thanks To These Digitally Preserved 3D Models
02 May – Source: Quartz Africa – 426 Words
Mogadishu is a battle-ravaged capital, the epicenter of the over two-decade civil war that scattered millions of Somalis across the world. Once a beautiful seaside city, its lone cathedral, ancient mosques, luxury hotels and government offices now remain empty shells hosting internally displaced people. But a new initiative wants to document and preserve the city’s architectural heritage by digitally restoring these monuments and ruins. Known as Somali Architecture (SA), the project is led by a team of Somali architecture students living in the United Kingdom, Italy, and the United States.
The goal is to reimagine how Mogadishu once functioned as a modern African capital, and to help audiences reimagine how relevant cultural, political, and historical statues and buildings were created. Yusuf Shegow, a co-creator of the venture, says he was inspired to kickstart it after working on a class project mapping and digitally recreating the city of Manchester in the UK where he lives. The process of researching, redrawing and rendering showed him that one could relive history—if not on a physical scale, then at least on a virtual level.
“I want us to learn from our past,” Shegow, who left Somalia as a young child after the civil war broke out, tells Quartz. Reconstructing these structures, he added, was as much a process of learning as it was about emotional longing for a home that never was. “I left home but home never left me.”
So far, the team has produced up to 15 3D models including the former parliament, the national theater, the monument of the unknown soldier, and the Mogadishu lighthouse. These animated digital reconstructions are being developed at a time when Somalia undergoes a political, economic, and technological transformation.
TOP TWEETS
@mpfsomalia: On #WPFD2018, we remind ourselves of the importance of the free press. A special thanks to #Somalijournalists who put their lives on the line to make us understand our world better
@HornDiplomat2: #Somalia: #Puntland President fires top officers at Ministry of Fisheries over corruptionhttp://www.horndiplomat.com/
@ICRC_Africa: We can confirm that one of our female colleagues was abducted in Mogadishu, Somalia. We are doing everything we can to understand what happened and ensure her safe release. Our statement: https://www.icrc.org/en/
@savechildrenaus: At least 175,000 people in Somalia have been displaced due to catastrophic floods — leaving them more vulnerable to malnutrition and outbreaks of disease.http://ow.ly/WYP530jOcG6
@M_Farmaajo: Many praise to the Somali media as we mark the World Press Freedom Day. You’ve shown resilience and commitment to your work, even under tough circumstances. My administration is committed to protecting the freedom of expression, a right enshrined in our Provisional Constitution.
@BashiirMaxmud: #Somalia: Security lapse looms in#Mogadishu, recurrent #Alshabaab daylight killings occur frequently in the capital, yesterday alone two people incl female Khat seller gunned down in #Bakara Market.
@OCHASom: #Hirshabelle an interagency team is assessing flood damage on assets & infrastructure for recovery programmes. Partners r providing water supply & latrine construction, hygiene kits, shelter & non-food items:https://bit.ly/2HLSiZ #SomGu2018 @JustinTBrady@UNdeClercq @Yngvil1
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Somaliland President, Muse Bixii Abdi, visits flood victims in Hargeisa to assess the damage
Photo: Hiiraan Online