November 2, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
Kenya Calls On Somali Leaders To End Current Political Crises
02 November – Source: Halbeeg News – 247 Words
The Kenyan government has called on Somali leaders to resolve their problems internally and pursue political stability. In an interview with BBC Somali Service, the Majority Leader of Kenyan National Assembly, Mr Adan Bare Duale, emphasised the need for unity and cooperation among Somalis to address challenges of the Horn of Africa nation. Mr. Duale said collaboration between the federal government and its member states would greatly help the country realise political stability: “I would have urged the leaders of the federal government and regional states to iron out their problems and to give consideration to the interest of the public and the nation,” said Duale.
The remarks of Duale, a top official in the Kenyan government, come a day after United Nations envoy to Somalia, Nicholas Haysom, called for collaboration to resolve ongoing tensions between the country’s federal and state authorities. “We are exploring ways of bringing them together in the hope that Somalis can face their problems together rather than going about them separately,” Haysom said in a statement issued by the UN Mission in Somalia on Wednesday night.
The current political impasse has been alive since September when leaders of five Somali regional states suspended relations with the federal government citing lack of political and security progress in the Horn of Africa nation. The leaders from Jubaland, Puntland, Southwest, Galmudug and Hirshabelle regions accuse the government of interfering with affairs of the regional states, failure to implement security architecture and not fulfilling political agreements.
Key Headlines
- Kenya Calls On Somali Leaders To End Current Political Crises (Halbeeg News)
- Ethiopian Airlines To Land In Mogadishu For First Time In Four Decades (Hiiraan Online)
- Hospital Launches Blood Donor Database In Galkayo (Radio Ergo)
- Cash Is Replacing Other Forms Of Aid Even In Conflict Zones (The Economist)
- ‘Stand-off’ Between Somalia’s Federal State Authorities Could ‘Paralyze’ Progress – UN envoy (UNSOM)
- UN Migration Agency Brings Life-saving Health Services To Previously Inaccessible Areas Of Somalia (IOM)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Ethiopian Airlines To Land In Mogadishu For First Time In Four Decades
02 November – Source: Hiiraan Online – 174 Words
Air traffic to the Somali capital of Mogadishu may increase significantly — thanks to the regional carrier giant, Ethiopian Airlines, which is expected to kick off several daily flights between Addis Ababa and Mogadishu. The airline will become the second major international carrier after Turkish Airlines to serve in Somalia. The airline’s move is symbolic of a bid by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to promote peace and prosperity in the region after decades of violent territorial disputes.
In September, Mr Abiy met with his Eritrean and Somali counterparts to establish protocol for lasting cooperation amongst neighbors, particularly after Eritrean and Ethiopian historic rapprochement over border disputes. Expanding economic relations between Ethiopia and Somalia may bring some benefit to the latter.
However, the continued presence of the Al-Qaeda affiliated militant group, Al-Shabaab in Somalia, continues to pose serious obstacles to lasting peace and prosperity. This transaction will ultimately facilitate Ethiopia’s rise as a regional power diplomatically and economically, especially as major markets in the Gulf and China seek access to the country’s strong manufacturing industry.
Hospital Launches Blood Donor Database In Galkayo
01 November – Source: Radio Ergo – 397 Words
With no established blood banks in Somalia, especially in the regions, patients in need of urgent blood transfusion risk death as medical facilities are forced to scout for donors. In Galkayo town in the central region of Mudug, a local hospital is now mobilizing donors and putting them on standby to give blood as need arises: “We have so far signed up 115 donors, the majority of them youth,” Dr. Mohamed Hussein Adan, director of Galkayo General Hospital, told Radio Ergo.
The scheme launched last month is already saving lives. The hospital is developing a database of potential donors, who can be contacted to come and give blood when it is needed. The hospital lacks a blood bank with sufficient capacity. “We note the details of the donor including blood group, health status, and telephone numbers,” said Dr Adan. “They are prepared to help at very short notice if the need arises.” The scheme was first proposed by a group of youth conducting blood donation sensitization in schools and universities in Galkayo town. The partnership is now attracting many volunteers and so far 24 patients have benefitted.
Bisharo Abdullahi Bulhan, 25, who lives in Galkayo town, has registered herself at the hospital as a blood donor. Mid-last month, for the first time since she was registered, Bisharo donated blood to save the life of a four-year-old IDP boy. “I received a call from the hospital on 13 of last month to donate for a young boy. I donated 500ml of blood. My blood group is O+ and I am very proud to donate blood,” she said.
According to Dr Adan, pregnant mothers who lose a lot of blood during delivery are the majority beneficiaries of the scheme. Khadra Mohamed Abdi, 24, had to deliver by Caesarian section late last month after a prolonged three-day labour. Murayad Ali Diblawe, a relative, said: “She lost too much blood during the operation and so she needed a transfusion. She received 500ml of blood donated by a volunteer. Now she is recovering.” Last month, 11 pregnant women died in Guri’el in Galgadud region following birth complications and loss of blood. Some of the women arrived at a local hospital, where a local nurse told the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) that the hospital did not have blood bags despite getting a willing blood donor to try to save one of the women.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Cash Is Replacing Other Forms Of Aid, Even In Conflict Zones
01 November – Source: The Economist – 561 Words
In 2011 war and drought plunged Somalia into famine. Aid was held at the border, for fear of it being stolen. A few ngos decided to try something different: giving people cash instead of bringing in sacks of food. They used hawala networks—a traditional Muslim form of money transfer—to get cash to aid workers, who handed it out. But most charities hung back, afraid of accidentally running afoul of American anti-terrorism laws.
By the time drought returned to Somalia last year, the spread of mobile-money transfers meant that cash could be sent directly to phones. In April 2017 alone $35m was given out to 2.4m people (a sixth of the population). Individual merchants found ways to bring food in to supply this ready market. Famine was averted.
Cash handouts were not the only reason: the fighting was less fierce than in 2011. But the difference between the two interventions illustrates both the efficacy and the growth of cash aid. By 2016 it made up around 10% of global humanitarian aid, up from almost nothing a decade or two earlier. In fact this understates the speed with which the new approach has been adopted, says Alexa Swift of Mercy Corps, an ngo, because the other 90% includes things that cannot be converted to cash, such as mental-health counselling. Her organisation now gives more than half its aid as cash, and other large ngos have promised to do the same.
‘Stand-off’ Between Somalia’s Federal, State Authorities Could ‘Paralyze’ Progress – UN envoy
01 November – Source: UNSOM – 388 Words
Nicholas Haysom, UN Special Representative for Somalia and head of the Assistance Mission UNSOM, has called for better collaboration: “What we’re facing is a quite serious political issue – the stand-off between the Federal Member States and the Federal Government may well paralyze our efforts to help Somalia get back on its feet.” “We’re exploring ways of bringing them together in the hope that Somalis can face down their problems together rather than going separately,” said Mr. Haysom at a joint press conference, alongside Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, President of South West State, and Francisco Madeira, Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission.
Mr. Haysom also flagged the need for “credible and acceptable” presidential elections next month and renewed his call for collaboration to solve the ongoing tensions: “We’re asking all of the relevant role-players to get together to find a solution and to make the necessary compromises so that they can work collaboratively rather than against each other,” he said.
Mr. Haysom told reporters they also discussed development, security and political matters, assuring Somalis that “the international community does not have a candidate” and is not backing any specific candidate in the race. “But we do want to see,” he continued, “that the elections will be conducted in a way which all parties will able to accept” adding that the President of South West State “has reassured me that this indeed will be the case,” he stressed.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“This year IOM has expanded its primary healthcare programmes into hard-to-reach and largely inaccessible areas to meet dire and urgent medical care needs”.
UN Migration Agency Brings Life-saving Health Services To Previously Inaccessible Areas Of Somalia
02 November – Source: IOM – 487 Words
The United Nations Migration Agency (IOM), has started bringing health services to the people of Gobweyn and Bulla Gaduud – two towns in south-eastern Somalia that were recently liberated by the government. For the past 27 years, war and conflict have made healthcare access difficult or impossible in many parts of the country. Now these communities have access to vaccinations, malaria treatment, antenatal care for pregnant mothers, malnutrition screenings and referrals, among other essential health services.
In partnership with Jubaland State’s Ministry of Health (MoH), IOM supported the re-opening of Gobweyn Health Centre, and is providing mobile outreach clinics in Bulla Gaduud, Kham Kham and Yontoy villages. Government forces have been taking back new areas like Bulla Gaduud and Gobweyn from armed non-state actors in recent months, which has in turn increased the need for health services.
Aid agencies have hitherto been unable to reach these towns due to insecurity and the presence of armed groups in the surroundings. Upon re-establishing services, IOM and MoH clinical teams noted the challenges of high malnutrition rates and poor immunization coverage. With humanitarian services now available, it is expected that people from these villages, many of whom are currently residing in overcrowded settlements for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in far-away urban centres, will begin to return to their home communities.
An estimated 20,000 people live in Bulla Gaduud. Speaking during the opening of the Bulla Gaduud clinic early October, Shukri Mohamed Seyyid Ahmed, the Chair Lady of the Bulla Gaduud Women’s Association, explained: “Prior to today, we [used to seek] healthcare services in Kismayo, but we lost so many lives in trying to transport emergency cases there.
Sadly, two children died [recently] of acute watery disease [cholera] due to having nothing here and no health facility to send them to. However, today health services have been brought closer to us and we thank IOM and the Jubaland Ministry of Health for enabling us to receive medical care right at our doorsteps.”
Abdirashid Omar Khalif, the deputy village leader and youth representative in Gobweyn, expressed his joy during the launch mid-October of the health facility in his town. “We are agricultural people [farmers]. We had to leave behind our farms and livestock to take our sick children all the way to Kismayo town which is 20 kilometres away, but today we can take our children to this clinic,” he said. Gobweyn town alone has four main settlements with over 480 households, according to community leaders.
TOP TWEETS
@HarunMaruf: Southwest electoral commission asks each candidate for the regional leadership to pay a non-refundable $20K registration fee for male candidates and $10K for females. One of the articles says each candidate must submit a document showing candidate meets eligibility criteria.
@HassanIstiila: #UPDATE: Independent sources say more than 40 MPs of Southwest regional state have arrived in Mogadishu for meeting with the federal government ahead of regional leadership contest on 17 of this month. Two candidates out of all are getting support from the government. #Somalia
@Adow77: Follow-up meeting with NGO country directors on the relocation to the country. Government will support the smooth transition of the NGOs in compliance to the 31st December full relocation deadline. Services closer to the people. Improved prioritization and accountability #Somalia
@Free_Somaliweyn: An #Ethiopia’n airlines flight is expected to arrive in Muqdisho #Somalia later today. This will be the first#Ethiopia’n commercial plane to fly to the #Somali capital Muqdisho in 41 years since the 1977 Ogaden war.
@unicefsomalia: “We need a lot of things, food, shelter, work. But thankfully, we have water.” At an IDP camp in Baidoa, Nishe collects water w/ daughter Sahra, 2. W/ funding from @UNCERF, UNICEF provided clean water to 1000s of families like Nishe’ affected by drought in 2017 and foods in 2018.
@NorwayInSomalia: Important and impressive work by@NRC_HoA in Kismayo on resettlement of returnees, legal rights, livelihood and education. Norway proud to support and appreciates the opportunity to observe this work
@Cantoobo: Mogadishu Mayor @engyarisow joins hundreds of youthfull crowd at liido beach for Weekend #FridayFun
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Somalia’s Minister for Planning, Investment and Economic Development Amb. Gamal M. Hassan and EU officials launch rehabilitation of technical and vocational education and training centres in Mogadishu.
Photo: @NoaSomalia