NATIONAL MEDIA
8 July – Source: Goobjoog- 111 Words
A Land cruiser has exploded in Sona K area of Hodan district in the capital Mogadishu on early Monday morning. Witnesses have confirmed the vehicle was crossing through a blocked security crossroads but later exploded after they were stopped by the security forces in near junction.
National Intelligence Security Agency said on their Twitter that the police have intercepted a vehicle loaded with explosives before it detonated. No casualties were reported from the attack but several buildings across the area were destroyed.
Security forces have immediately arrived at the area of the attack and halt the movement of vehicles to conducting investigations. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
8 July – Source: Mareeg News – 128 Words
Somalia’s Defense Minister Hassan Ali Mohamed says the country’s military forces have intensified military offensives against Al-Qaeda’s linked Al-Shabaab group. Minister Mohamed says the militant group’s ability was weakened due to joint military operations carried out by Somali army forces backed African Union troops. He added the military operation would continue until the group’s last fighter is eradicated.
Mr. Mohamed reiterated the country’s president’s amnesty offer is still open to youth fighting alongside al-Shabaab. He says the fighters who gave themselves up would receive training, employment and education. “The amnesty is still open. We want to pardon the Somali youth who were misled by al-Shabaab,” he said. Al-Shabaab, which is allied to al-Qaeda, is battling Somalia’s UN-backed government and has also carried out attacks in neighbouring Kenya.
8 July – Source: Goobjoog – 679 Words
International Bank of Somalia (IBS) has launched MasterCard on 3rd June 2019 with a partnership that will see the bank avail a wider range of the MasterCard products locally in Somalia “It was a great moment of celebration in the banking industry in Somalia and in IBS Bank, “said the CEO Mr Mahat Mohamed.
The partnership is also to ensure that the MasterCard services are provided more efficiently and classified under different categories. The bank has just been through a short period of testing the cards in the market and even before the official launch, the response has been overwhelming which is a show of the great potential existing in the market. This action by the bank is in response to the needs of the hard-working Somalis who require a variety of financial products that will increase their efforts to build businesses, create jobs, grow the economy and uplift the living standards of the people. IBS Bank as a financial institution is committed to making banking more and more useful to the customer’s lives.
The bank is consistently offering and will continue to offer new products and services that meet the financial needs of the people. This is part of the implementation of its wider strategy of driving financial inclusion and opening up the market to access more financial services. In this agenda, IBS Bank is determined to introduce innovative products that create convenience in banking to meet the ever-changing lifestyles of the people in Somalia and the wider region and thereby grow the financial sector.
For MasterCard to have agreed to enter into this relationship with IBS Bank is a reflection of the trust the global and local partners place in the quality and the reliable service standards IBS Bank maintains in its operations. IBS Bank has introduced 4 different versions of the card; classic Standard in Kafiye as normal MasterCard, Dheeman for ladies, and Kulmiye for students and a 4th card in the form of Worldelite – Dalmar. Each card has different features and serves different segments of the market…..
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
8 July – Source: Xinhua – 234 Words
East African bloc on Sunday welcomed the launch of an exercise to integrate forces of moderate Islamic group Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a (ASWJ) into Somali security forces. Mahboub Maalim, executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), reaffirmed the bloc’s support for the integration exercise and also the ongoing political dialogue and reconciliation in Galmudug State. “The launch of the integration exercise marks an important milestone in the implementation of the Somalia security architecture and transition plan, which are essential to enabling Somalia to fully assume its security responsibilities,” Maalim said in a statement.
Somali government launched the exercise to integrate ASWJ into Somali security forces in Dhusamareb, capital of Galmudug State on Thursday. The ASWJ militants, who are opposed to al-Shabab militant group but sympathetic to Somalis central government, will be integrated into the security agencies that include the army, police, intelligence service, and custodial corps.
Maalim commended Somali government leadership, Galmudug authorities, ASWJ and the people of Galmudug on the breakthrough and saluted their commitment to a united, stable and prosperous Galmudug. The official encouraged all stakeholders to maintain the same spirit of dialogue, mutual responsibility and inclusivity in the interest of peace and reconciliation and for the benefit of Somalis. Based in Dhusamareb, the ASWJ forces is responsible for kicking the al-Shabab extremist group from most parts of the region. In December 2017, ASWJ signed a power-sharing agreement with the state administration.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“They’re trained on positive parenting, non-violent correction mechanisms, and basic counselling, among other skills,” she says. And that’s not all; they even have a support group that converges every month to discuss the children’s progress, challenges they are facing, and also get to share coping mechanisms.”
8 July – Source: Daily Nation – 1878 Words
It began with the sound of a car pulling over, which was strange because cars are not allowed into the camp beyond certain hours. When she got out to check on what was happening, a white car speeding off. On the ground was a package. Within seconds, wildcats ran towards the package and started clawing away at it. And then the sharp and wounded cry of a baby rent the air. It dawned on Ms Abdullahi that the car she saw speeding off had abandoned the baby, whom she swiftly rescued from the cats. At a nearby health facility, where Ms Abdullahi rushed the newborn for a check-up, she learnt that were it not for her swift action, the baby would have died; the placenta was still dangling freely from the baby’s belly.
After rescuing the child, Ms Abdullahi, gave birth two months later to a baby girl. “I breastfed the two children; most people think they’re twins,” she says with a smile. Today, the baby Ms Abdullahi saved from the claws of hungry desert cats is a strong, charming and bubbly seven-year-old boy. Ms Abdullahi took the baby into her care under a foster care arrangement facilitated by Save the Children, a leading child welfare organisation. This is a process in which a child is placed with an individual who is not their parent, relative or guardian, but nevertheless is willing to take care and provide for them.
Foster care is not common in Kenya, but at the Dadaab camps, it has been going on since 2008. Ms Abdullahi is among a group of women refugees who have volunteered to take in children abandoned in the camps and those fleeing the violence that has rocked Somalia since the ouster of former president Siad Barre in 1991. Never mind that they, too, are in difficult situations. According to Mr Nuuh Tukow, Save the Children’s programme manager for the child protection project, there are 234 trained women on a waiting list, with 184 others already fostering.
“They’re trained on positive parenting, non-violent correction mechanisms, and basic counselling, among other skills,” she says. And that’s not all; they even have a support group that converges every month to discuss the children’s progress, challenges they are facing, and also get to share coping mechanisms. Citing security concerns, the Kenyan government in 2016 stopped registration of new refugees in the camp, and since then, it has only provided short-term windows for registration. That, however, has not stopped Somali asylum seekers from streaming in. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that there are more than 15,000 unregistered asylum seekers in Dadaab, most of them children. Without registration, UNHCR says, such children cannot get access to systems and support.
On June 16, the world celebrated the Day of The African Child to mark the 1976 student uprising in Soweto, South Africa, with calls for more serious action and commitment to address the many challenges facing children in the continent. But perhaps the ongoing review of the Children Act in Kenya, experts say, should provide a chance to ensure children’s rights are upheld in times of humanitarian crisis….. |
