June 1, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
Don’t Let Al-Shabaab Divide You, Farmaajo Tells Kenyan Christians & Muslims
31 May – Source: Radio Dalsan – 178 Words
Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmaajo on Thursday made a passionate appeal to Kenyans to stay united by rejecting extremism and tribalism. Addressing the National Prayer Breakfast in the Kenya capital of Nairobi, Farmaajo called for tolerance among Kenyans of different faiths terming Al-Shabaab militants a “minority group” within Muslims with a political intent.
“When they attack Christians or non Muslims in Kenya their intention is to create divisions between Muslims and Christians in Kenya, so that Christians can retaliate on good and peace loving Muslims in this great country. We do not need to fall in that trap” Farmaajo said. “They claim they are in conflict with non Muslim Christians but they in turn kill innocent people who happen to be Muslims in Somalia and elsewhere. What does that tell you. They are the enemy of all mankind,” Farmaajo added.
Farmaajo was on a one day official visit to Kenya where he held bilateral talks with his counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta on security and border dispute issues. The National Prayer Breakfast saw Kenya’s major political rivals Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga reconcile. The two leaders embraced each other and buried the hatchet after a disputed 2017 presidential poll.
Key Headlines
- Don’t Let Al-Shabaab Divide You Farmaajo Tells Kenyan Christians & Muslims (Radio Dalsan)
- Sool Conflict Will Not End While Somaliland Remains In The Region Threatens Puntland’s DP (Hiiraan Online)
- Prime Minister Khaire Visits Bali Doogle Airport (Jowhar.com)
- Terrorists Common Enemy (Daily Nation)
- Flood-Stricken Somalia Needs More Aid to Avert Humanitarian Crisis (VOA)
- Statebuilding Without The State: Getting Beyond “Chicken And Egg” In Somalia (OECD Development)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Sool Conflict Will Not End While Somaliland Remains In The Region, Threatens Puntland’s DP
01 June – Source: Hiiraan Online – 156 Words
Puntland Deputy President Abdihakin Abdullahi Omar, who is touring the town of Buuhodle in the disputed region of Sool region, has declared that their administration is committed to sustaining the offensive aimed at liberating the town of Tukaraq from ‘occupation by Somaliland forces’.
DP Abdihakin cautioned that the conflict will persist so long as Somaliland continues to occupy parts of Puntland. He made the remarks following a visit to his hometown of Buuhodle, where he called on local residents to support Puntland by contributing armed men to the state’s security forces.
“As you are aware, two clashes have so far erupted and this will not be the end. Even if the international community tries to de-escalate the conflict, the fact will remain that this war will not stop until Somaliland stops occupying part of the Puntland territory,” he affirmed. The two administrations continue to trade threats with each side accusing the other of fomenting the conflict.
Prime Minister Khaire Visits Bali Doogle Airport
31 May – Source: Jowhar – 92 Words
Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire toured Bali Doogle airport in Lower Shabelle region, which is currently an American military base that provides training for the Somali Danab commando forces. Bali Doogle military airport is currently serving both the AMISOM and Somali commando forces as well as Americans armies.
This is the second such visit by the Prime Minister. He was accompanied by the new Minister of Defence, Hassan Ali, the Commander of the Military forces and other government officials. The Americans have recently renovated and expanded the airport in Bali Doogle owing to its strategic location.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Terrorists Common Enemy
01 June – Source: Daily Nation – 210 Words
Visiting Somali President Mohamed Farmaajo was admirably blunt in his criticism of the terrorist group in his country that has caused untold suffering both at home and in the region. He didn’t mince his words, mentioning Al-Shabaab by name and casting doubt on its claim to be based on religion.
The terrorists have been waging an indiscriminate war that has claimed many innocent lives. Of course, Somalia has suffered most. But the region’s other countries, especially Kenya, have not been spared the bloodletting in brutal attacks. President Farmaajo declared the murderous outfit the common enemy of the peace-loving Somalis and other East Africans.
We could not agree more with the Somali leader. There are active terrorist cells, especially in the northeastern region, where the people live in constant fear of these mindless hooligans. Living proof of our commitment to help restore normality in Somalia is the presence of the Kenya Defence Forces troops in the United Nations Mission in Somalia (Unisom).
They continue to soldier on, at a great sacrifice, with some paying the ultimate price in the campaign to help stabilise our neighbouring country. President Farmaajo’s candid words are the best signal about a solid commitment to defeating the evil that hovers over Somalia, threatening national and regional stability.
Flood-Stricken Somalia Needs More Aid to Avert Humanitarian Crisis
01 June – Source: VOA – 393 Words
The World Food Program is calling for stronger international support for hundreds of thousands of Somalis impacted by some of the heaviest rains to hit their country in three decades. The rainfall that began last month has caused widespread flooding and damage in central, south and north Somalia.
For much of the last decade, Somalia has struggled with chronic drought. The 2011 drought was especially bad, killing an estimated 260,000 people. Now Somalia has the opposite problem — too much rain. About one month ago, President Mohamed Abdullah Mohamed appealed for international support to help hundreds of thousands of people displaced by heavy flooding.
The response has been somewhat tepid. The World Food Program says it is concerned the situation will become even more difficult since the disaster has slipped out of the world’s headlines. The agency reports nearly 300,000 of the 700,000 people affected by the floods are homeless. WFP spokeswoman Bettina Luescher says her agency is doing what it can to support livelihood and safety net activities to build up resilience.
“But, we are once again under-funded. We need some $120 million to assist the people in Somalia until the end of October. As you know, last year, we were fighting to avoid a famine in Somalia. We have to keep on pushing to make sure that all the gains that we were able to make last year when we were able to fight off a famine can still be kept,” she said.
Earlier in the year, the U.N. appealed for $1.5 billion to provide aid to some five million people affected by drought and conflict. Less than $370 million, or 24 percent, has been received. U.N. officials say that isn’t enough to support a robust flood response.
Luescher says WFP is aiming to reach three million people in Somalia this year. She says work is going on in partnership with other agencies to reach the flood victims. She says the WFP is distributing high-energy biscuits and handing out two-month supplies of food rations in some areas. She says many places are inaccessible by road, so aid workers are using boats to reach people cut off by the floods. She says the WFP, which operates the U.N. Humanitarian Air Service, also has added a helicopter to its fleet to transport aid workers to flood-affected areas.
OPINION, ANALYSIS & CULTURE
“To overcome these pitfalls, international partners could pursue a more constructive way forward by replacing technical assessments of Somalia’s country systems in isolation with an explicitly comparative approach for choosing delivery modalities.”
Statebuilding Without The State: Getting Beyond “Chicken And Egg” In Somalia
31 May – Source: OECD Development – 762 words
“The credibility of the Somali Government hinges largely on its ability to deliver for the Somali People.” International partners clearly recognise the importance of using country systems to achieve broader statebuilding goals, as this line, taken from the May 2017 Communiqué of the London Conference on Somalia, indicates.
Yet, international partners continue to deliver aid primarily through parallel systems, as the Government struggles to raise sufficient domestic revenue to deliver tangible results for its people. Of an estimated USD 1.75 billion in official development assistance (ODA) for Somalia in 2017, only USD 103.9 million was delivered on budget (approximately 6% of total ODA). Excluding humanitarian aid from this calculation, the proportion of on budget aid rises to 14%, which still lags significantly behind the use of country systems in other fragile states.
For example, donors delivered between 28-44% of development-focused aid on budget in the Central African Republic, Mali and Liberia in 2015.[1] Why the inconsistency? International partners appear to be stuck in a “chicken or egg” conundrum in Somalia. On the one hand, they recognise that using country systems is critical for building national capacity and achieving broader statebuilding objectives.
Yet, on the other hand, the weakness of these systems is often the excuse donors cite for avoiding the use of country systems. Given the explicit focus on statebuilding in Somalia, prioritising short-term operational concerns over the long-term benefits of government systems building appears to run counter to the international community’s stated objectives.
Our recent World Bank and United Nations joint report examines donors’ decision making about the use of country systems, exploring both the perceived and actual risks and benefits associated with such use.[2] We find that a number of factors related to internal donor decision-making practices preclude using country systems in Somalia. These include: A narrow focus on fiduciary risks. Fiduciary risk is an important, but far from the only, consideration in determining which tools are best for achieving desired outcomes.
Moreover, the risks and benefits of using country systems should be considered not in isolation but, rather, alongside those of alternative delivery channels, like the use of nonprofit, private sector or multilateral implementers. Fiduciary risk and spending efficiency are real concerns in Somalia, whatever the implementation modality. It is less obvious that these concerns, taken as a whole, augur clearly for or against the use of country systems. In short, donors’ internal “plumbing” may be undermining their own higher level policy ends and commitments.[3]
TOP TWEETS
@mercycorps: Congratulations to our former program officer and youth advocate, Bashe Yusuf Ahmed, who has just been named the new Chief Justice of #Somalia! Your Mercy Corps family is rooting for you!
@DalsanFM: Don’t Let Al-Shabaab Divide You, Farmaajo Tells Kenyan Christians & Muslims https://www.radiodalsan.com/
@SomaliPM: Hassan Ali Khaire with newly appointed Defence Minister Hassan Ali Mohamed conduct a visit of Ballidoogle military training camp.#Somalia.
@DalsanFM: #Somalia President @M_Farmaajo arrives back in the capital #Mogadishu after a one day work visit in #Kenyawhere he held bilateral talks with @UKenyatta and addressed the #NationalPrayerBreakfast
@engyarisow: It was a great to see Swedish Amb to #Somalia@AUexkull and we had a discussion on many issues.
@TC_Mogadishu: Grateful to HE Minister Awad for inviting us to the traditional Foreign Ministry’s Iftar, another sign of the normalization of life in Mogadishu. @MofaSomalia
@SahraCabdi: #Breaking: Alshabab killed AbdiWali Ahmed a youth activist in #Mogadishu. His murder comes, days of multiple killings claimed by The group.
@AbdulBillowAli: People fleeing conflict in northern Somali town of #Tukaraq fall prey to wild animals. #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire and other government officials during the tour of Bali Doogle military base.
PHOTO: @SomaliPM