NATIONAL MEDIA
4 July – Source: Halbeeg – 128 Words
Somalia’s Upper House Speaker, Abdi Hashi, is at Russian capital, Moscow, for World Parliament Forum. Hashi joined representatives from 132 countries attending the gathering in Moscow where more than 800 parliamentarians and experts are expected to be present. The forum’s agenda is focused on international security and stability, digital economy, development, youth and environmental policies, and the future of inter-parliamentary institutions. In his presentation, Somali Upper House Speaker, Abdi Hashi, stressed the significance to resolve key issues facing the world.
Hashi and his delegation later held discussions with Russian counterparts at Douma. The two sides discussed ways to strengthen bilateral ties between the two parliaments. In his closing speech, Russian President, Vladimir Putin emphasized the significance of the World Parliament Forum in undertaking major challenges facing the globe.
4 July – Source: Radio Dalsan – 493 Words
Save the Children has concluded its first round of food distribution through the use of food vouchers to at least 57,000 families affected by food shortages due to recurring droughts in Somalia. This is one of the largest numbers of beneficiaries in the country to receive assistance from one programme. The project is part of Short-Term Regional Emergency Response Project (STRERP) which is funded by the African Development Bank through Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and implemented by Save the Children. The project covers 350 villages in 35 districts across Somalia.
The first round of food vouchers, in the form of smartcards issued to recipients who make purchases from participating traders equipped with point of sale mobile devices, was finalised on June 25th. The smartcards enable the transactions to be cashless end-to-end, reducing risks of diversion and ensuring goods and services reach the intended beneficiaries. Timothy Bishop, Country Director of Save the Children Somalia, has called the distribution, “the much needed and timely relief for Somali children and their families affected by recurring drought.” He added, “many families are already feeling the impact of insufficient rains. This distribution of food vouchers does not only ensure families in need of help, access to food but also boosts the local economy as all the food vendors are selected from their own communities.”
The project provides emergency food assistance to the most vulnerable populations in Somalia, as well as strengthens links between the production, distribution and consumption hubs of the food systems in the affected regions, leading to efficiency and longer-term resilience. The targeted families will receive two more rounds of cash through the smartcards to purchase the necessary food items.
Despite some parts of the country having received some rains in mid-May and early June, the food security situation in Somalia is still severe. The rains came in late and were insufficient to support crop production and meet the needs of the families who were yet to fully recover from the 2017 drought which affected the entire country. The UN estimates at least 5.4 million people are food insecure, including 1.7 million people who face acute food shortages and require humanitarian assistance. This number is expected to rise to 2.2 million people by September 2019. “In situations like this, children are the first to be affected and always bear the biggest burden,” says Bishop. “This project will help families to survive this drought and support them not to slip into further destitution.”
A recent needs assessment study conducted by Save the Children in March 2019, at least 73 percent of the children in the surveyed households in Puntland are consuming two or less meals a day due to increased food prices and drought-related livestock deaths. A similar study conducted in Somaliland in June also reported at least two-thirds of the households surveyed reported not to have sufficient food and that their food stock expected to cover them for six days only.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
5 July – Source: IPP Media – 340 Words
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has selected Tanzania’s Fisheries Education and Training Agency (FETA) to train Somali experts on fish handling, processing and preservation. Head of Aquaculture Department at Fisheries Education and Training Agency in Bagamoyo, Emmanuel Nkukura said yesterday when speaking at the ongoing 43rd Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF). The training will include marketing techniques of fish and fish products, management of fisheries organizations, capacity building on extension and training services in the fisheries sector. “We have so far trained a total of 78 youths from Somalia, we have received another batch of 20 youth who are currently undergoing the intensive training on the sector”, said Nkurura adding the experts are expected to improve Somalia’s fisheries sector. He said the intensive training is conducted for five weeks from June 24th 2019.
Kurura noted that JICA has selected FETA to provide training for Somali youth after it was impressed with fisheries education and training that FETA offer. “FETA has been selected as the best institution in sub- Saharan Africa that offers the best training in fisheries education”, he noted. He said FETA is a public institution under the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development and it is a pioneer institution delivering various courses in different carries with an objective to provide a competitive range in delivering outputs in the fields of Marine engineering, fish processing, Aquaculture, Nautical science and boat building. “Since inception, we have been achieving continuous and substantial growth, our resources both human and financial in technical knowhow have grown in parallel with what is needed in the real world market.” he noted.
He said the agency has been attracting an increasing number of students from within and outside the country. “We have decided to participate in this fair so that we can show Tanzanians and other foreign exhibitors on what we offer in fisheries education and aquaculture training”, he noted. According to him, information on the courses offered each year is advertised in newspapers, agency website including televisions and radios in March and April.
PRESS STATEMENT
4 July – Source: Regional Centre on Small Arms in the Great Lakes Region, the Horn of Africa and Bordering States (RECSA) – 239 Words
The Federal Government of Somalia has endorsed a six-month roadmap towards strengthening its control of the movement and ownership of weapons and ammunition within its borders. The Action Plan is the culmination of four days of high-level political and technical consultations, between the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Regional Centre on Small Arms (RECSA). The six-month plan will see the establishment of a National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons that shall lead the implementation of the FGS priorities related to weapons and ammunition management and control.
These priorities are clearly defined in the FGS Transition Plan to security ownership, and the National Security Architecture. They are also aligned with the international obligations of the FGS relating to instruments on arms control by the United Nations, African Union and the Regional Centre on Small Arms (RECSA), based on the Nairobi Protocol on the Prevention, Control and Reduction of Small Arms and Light Weapons which Somalia signed in 2005 alongside 14 other regional governments.
This initiative will strengthen measures to counter the proliferation of weapons in Somalia and prevent access to weapons by terrorists. It will further strengthen Somalia’s compliance with the UN Arms Embargo on Somalia, leading to its future lifting to enable Somalia to effectively counter the subversive activities of militias and terrorists. The FGS remains committed to taking concrete action towards the security and development of its people.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“I used to walk around the suburbs of Dadaab meeting people and taking their photos. At that time I was alone and people were getting to notice my work,” he explained. Two years on, he has invested $2,800 in four cameras and two computers to process the pictures. He makes enough to pay his staff and still put away Ksh 500 a day in savings. He can comfortably support his mother and siblings, and his wife.”
4 July – Source: Radio Ergo – 408 Words
Ibrahim Mohamed Mukhtar, 28, is running a thriving photography business in northeastern Kenya’s Dadaab camp and employing four other Somali refugee youth. Having lived in Dadaab since he was a baby, and coming from a poor family, Ibrahim started making a name for himself as a photographer after leaving primary school in 2017. “I bought my first camera for $300 on credit from a local shop owner who allowed me to pay in instalments,” Ibrahim told Radio Ergo.
Spotting a gap in the market, he starting charging just 10 shillings a photo to draw in the customers. “I used to walk around the suburbs of Dadaab meeting people and taking their photos. At that time I was alone and people were getting to notice my work,” he explained. Two years on, he has invested $2,800 in four cameras and two computers to process the pictures. He makes enough to pay his staff and still put away Ksh 500 a day in savings. He can comfortably support his mother and siblings, and his wife. “I don’t need resettlement abroad or a job working for someone else,” Mukhtar said. “I also get constant encouragement from my wife and my life has dramatically improved100 per cent.”
There are 16 young refugees working in photography in the camp and the nearby town. Ali Abdi Mohamed, 23, is winding up at Waberi Secondary School and working with two friends. They earn around Ksh 70,000 a month as photographers. Ali began posting his photos on social media. “I had the ambition to be a photographer. I had been using my phone until someone gave me a camera as a present. That is when I officially started this work. As time went by I managed to buy another camera,” he told Radio Ergo. Ali hopes to pay his way to university next year and wants to become a professional photographer. “This work has given me hope. I want to pursue it further to fulfil my dream. Hopefully, I can make a living from this work,” he said.
The entrepreneurial spirit of these young photographers is appreciated by Hassan Osman, the chairman of Hagadera camp in Dadaab. “The lives of these young people have changed for the better. They have also contributed to improving the standard of living of their families. There are many who are facing unemployment as the aid agencies have laid off many young people because of the repatriation,” he said. |
