November 7, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
Maiden Inter-State Security Council Opens In Kismayo
07 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 206 Words
The inaugural Inter-State Security Council meeting has today formally kicked off at a function presided over by Jubbaland President, Ahmed Madobe, in Kismayo. The meeting, which brings together heads of state security forces and security ministers, comes a fortnight after the Federal Member State (FMS) leaders from Puntland, Jubbaland, South West and Galmudug announced the formation of the Inter-State Security Council under the Council of Inter-State Cooperation (CIC) umbrella.
While announcing the formation of its own army during the Garowe meeting October 21, the CIC said the states were pursuing their own security pathways to avoid reliance on the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS), which it said had failed to live up to its expectations.
According to a communique from the October meeting, the Security Council would act ‘as a mechanism responsible for the development and implementation of all security related matters in the member territories of FMS. The leaders also announced they would draw 4,000 forces from the state paramilitary units (darawish) to be established under one command within a period of two months. The 4,000 strong force, the leaders said, would be funded through a joint fund dubbed, Security Fund Account. According to sources, the ongoing meeting will last for two days.
Key Headlines
- Maiden Inter-State Security Council Opens In Kismayu (Goobjoog News)
- “Election Should Take Place On Time” Somali Govt Warns Southwest State Leaders Amid Crisis (Hiiraan Online)
- Ethiopian Troops Deploy In Sool Amid Deadly Clashes (Goobjoog News)
- Study Finds ‘Significant Decline’ In FGM Rates In Girls (Daily Nation)
- ‘History Made’: Somali Ilhan Omar Palestinian Rashida Tlaib Become First Muslim Congresswomen (The New Arab)
- Ten Years On Is Somali Piracy Still A Threat? (ISS Today)
NATIONAL MEDIA
“Election Should Take Place On Time”, Somali Govt Warns Southwest State Leaders Amid Crisis
07 November – Source: Hiiraan Online – 242 Words
The Somali government has stressed the need for holding presidential elections in the Southwest State as scheduled amid doubts that they will take place on November 17, following mass resignations of the region’s electoral commissioners including the chairman. The resignations of the region’s electoral chief Arfo Ibrahim, who was seen by many as a close ally of the region’s President Sharif Hassan Aden along with all his deputies on Monday, has deepened the electoral crisis in the region.
The move is also seen by observers as a political ploy by Mr. Sharif to delay the election in the face of pressing challenges by allied rival candidates, who want to unseat him. Mr Sharif is among the regional leaders locked in strong political competition. The regional leaders are accusing the central government of interfering in the affairs of their states and for failing to share resources with the regions equitably. Despite repeated calls by the United Nations and the African Union missions in Somalia, the hostilities between the two levels of governments goes on.
“We hereby demand from the Southwestern leaders to make sure that the regional election takes place by its planned Nov. 17 date.” Somalia’s Ministry of Interior and Reconciliations said in statement issued on Tuesday, in an apparent response to the electoral commissioners’ resignations. “The term of the administration leadership will therefore expire by Nov. 17, and no election delay will be accepted.” the Ministry said in a strongly-worded statement.
Ethiopian Troops Deployed In Sool Amid Deadly Clashes
07 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 131 Words
Reports from the Sool region indicate that Ethiopian troops have arrived in the region to intervene in the ongoing clan clashes in the region. The troops are reported to have arrived in Dhumay and Saax-dheer, where clan fighting has been intense. The Ethiopian forces are accompanied by Garaad Kulmiye, an official from the Somali State of Ethiopia, who arrived earlier in Sool region on a reconciliation mission.
Almost forty people have been killed and several others injured in the clan clashes, which broke out recently. Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi has said he welcomes anybody to mediate in the clan clashes in Sool region. Puntland and Somaliland have in the past fought for control over regions in Sool, particularly Tukaraq, which has been the scene of intense fighting in the past.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Study Finds ‘Significant Decline’ In FGM Rates In Girls
07 November – Source: Daily Nation – 685 Words
Rates of female genital mutilation (FGM) among girls under 14 have fallen sharply in most regions of Africa over three decades, according to ground-breaking analysis cautiously welcomed by aid groups. The age-old ritual of cutting or removing the clitoris of young females has been decried by human and women’s rights advocates and can lead to a host of physical, psychological and sexual complications. And yet it remains widespread in parts of Africa and the Middle East.
Historically, rates of FGM have been high in East Africa. In 2016, for example, the UN children’s agency said 98 percent of women and girls in Somalia had been cut. But the new research suggests the practice has been falling over time in younger children, the most at-risk group. While still endemic in many societies there is a growing stigma attached to the practice, making it hard for researchers to get a good idea of whether FGM has remained stable or is in decline. A team of scientists based in Britain and South Africa conducted the most sophisticated statistical analysis of FGM rates, covering 29 countries and stretching back to 1990. They drew upon data from two distinct surveys encompassing close to 210,000 children, carried out for the Demographic Health Survey and Unicef.
After combining the data and eliminating repeat cases, they found a “huge and significant decline” in the prevalence of FGM in under-14s across several regions. Populous East African nations such as Kenya and Tanzania with low FGM rates — three to 10 percent of girls each year — ensured a sharp downward trend across the region. In Eritrea, however, an average of 67 percent of girls were subjected to the procedure each year between 1995-2002. The team determined that FGM prevalence in girls in East Africa fell from 71.4 percent in 1995 to just eight percent in 2016.
‘History Made’: Somali Ilhan Omar, Palestinian Rashida Tlaib Become First Muslim Congresswomen
07 November – Source: The New Arab – 576 Words
A one time Somali refugee and the daughter of Palestinian immigrants shared the historic distinction Tuesday of becoming the first two Muslim women elected to the US Congress. Both women — Ilhan Omar, 37, and Rashida Tlaib, 42 — are Democrats from the Midwest and outspoken advocates of minority communities that have found themselves in the sights of US President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant policies.
Omar won a House seat in a strongly Democratic district in Minneapolis, Minnesota, succeeding Keith Ellison who was himself the first Muslim ever elected to Congress. Tlaib’s victory was no surprise. She ran unopposed in a congressional district that stretches from Detroit to Dearborn, Michigan.
Their stories trace a similar trail-blazing rise through local politics. Ilhan Omar: “I’m Muslim and black,” the hijab-wearing Omar said in a recent magazine interview: “I decided to run because I was one of many people I knew who really wanted to demonstrate what representative democracies are supposed to be,” she said. Omar fled Somalia’s civil war with her parents at the age of eight and spent four years at a refugee camp in Kenya. Her family settled in Minnesota in 1997, where there is a sizable Somali population. She won a seat in the state’s legislature in 2016, becoming the first Somali-American lawmaker in the country.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“The report argues that pirate groups shifted their focus away from piracy towards more profitable illegal activities. For these criminal networks, the defining factor is opportunity and revenue. While navies stationed in the region can increase the risks and costs for pirates, they don’t get involved in the prosecution of human trafficking, arms smuggling and other illegal activities. In the absence of criminal justice, the groups continue to profit by other means.”
Ten Years On, Is Somali Piracy Still A Threat?
07 November – Source: ISS Today – 925 Words
This month the United Nations (UN) Security Council is expected to renew the authorisation for international naval forces to carry out anti-piracy measures off Somalia’s coast. It is now 10 years since the first resolution was passed in 2008 to respond to piracy and robbery against humanitarian and commercial ships in the region.
At the time, piracy was considered a major threat to both local and global peace and security. Since then, and especially since 2013, the number of attacks and hijackings has dropped. Recent incidents have however raised concerns over the long-term sustainability of counter-piracy measures and whether enough is being done on land to increase the resilience of Somali communities and prevent a resurgence of piracy.
In the most recent attack on 16 October, four men attempted to board the bulk carrier MV KSL Sydney around 340 nautical miles (630km) off the coast of Mogadishu, opening fire on the ship. The pirates aborted the attack after private security guards on board returned fire. The European Union Naval Force, as part of Operation Atalanta, tracked down and destroyed a whaler ship believed to have been that of the attackers.
This is only the second piracy attack off the coast of Somalia reported this year, which is dramatically down from the 160 piracy incidents reported during the height of the problem in 2011. The long-term success of counter-piracy measures depends on a stable and unified Somali state. The attack’s failure shows that current counter-piracy tactics on board vessels, prescribed by the latest iteration of Best Management Practices, remain effective at preventing pirates from boarding and capturing vessels. The aim of these best practices is to address the vulnerabilities often exploited by pirates, thereby significantly increasing the risks for pirates.
The recent UN secretary-general’s report on piracy and armed robbery off Somalia’s coast attributes the low number of attacks to successful global collaboration and the ongoing work of regional organisations like the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia. The report also cites the continued enforcement measures of international naval forces, and the extensive military, naval and donor support of the international community. Navies, either in coordination with the European Union Naval Force and the Combined Maritime Forces, or deployed outside of them such as South Africa’s Operation Copper, help disrupt pirate activities.
TOP TWEETS
@shf_somalia: It is enlightening to see back to school campaigns held in Somalia. With generous contributions from donors the @shf_somalia is able to support such interventions through its @shfpartners. “Every child has a right to education”@Tadamunsocial
@CBPFs @UNOCHA
@UNHabitat_Som: #JPLG team engaging fruitful discussion with #BRA in Mogadishu today on work plan implementation with a view of strengthening institutional capacity to deliver basic urban services. @engyarisow @UNHABITAT
@HarunMaruf: Southwest region politics update:
12 of the 27 Electoral Commision who didn’t resign yesterday say they expect Speaker of the regional parliament Abdulkadir Sharif Shekhuna Maye either to disband the Commision or appoint new members to replace 15 members who resigned on Monday.
@HarunMaruf: The Speaker will now take one of three steps: 1. Accept the federal Govt order, complete vacant positions at the electoral commission or appoint a whole new body. 2. Accept elders proposition and postpone the election 3. Come up with a neutral solution
@RAbdiCG:Impossible to hold smooth vote, get credible outcome in current climate in South West and by extension rest of Somalia. Best route is for FGS to pause whole process, focus on a comprehensive dialogue plus agreement with FMS. Going into polls in midst of deep divisions ill-advised
@JvanGemund: @FAOSomalia: #Somalia needs more Deyr rains, as most of central regions, Puntland and East of Somaliland will remain dry during the week. This calls for concern and need for monitoring, especially in #Puntland which is already experiencing moisture stress: http://www.faoswalim.org/
@Goobjoognews: FEDERAL MEMBER States Security Council meeting opens in #Kismayu. The Council which brings together security chiefs and ministers from FMS is being chaired by Jubbaland president Ahmed Madobe.
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Jubaland President Ahmed Mohamed Islan, chairs the inaugural Federal Member States security council meeting attended by regional security ministers in Kismayo today.
Photo: @ChismaioCity