April 20, 2017 | Morning Headlines
Government To Harmonise Humanitarian Responses In The Country
19 April – Source : Goobjoog News – 216 Words
The government today opened the National Humanitarian Coordination Centre in Mogadishu which will serve as the nerve centre for coordination of humanitarian and emergency efforts in the country. Humanitarian and Disaster Management Minister, Dr. Maryan Qassim said the centre which is under the Directorate of the Humanitarian Planning and Response will play a critical role in coordinating all humanitarian efforts by state and non- state actors and ensure the effectiveness of the operations.
Dr. Qassim noted that the centre will also be an information exchange hub through which ‘messages are relayed in a systematic manner and aligned with shared objectives’. “The aim of the NHCC is to strengthen coordination and avoid duplication of efforts, improve access, accountability and transparency,” the minister said.
Several humanitarian efforts are underway in the country in response to the ongoing drought which has subjected some 6.2 million people in need of food. The formation of the centre is expected to harmonise the response efforts and develop a more coherent approach in ensuring needed support is effectively delivered.The National Humanitarian Coordination Centre (NHCC) is composed of representatives from the Humanitarian ministry, ministries of health, water, agriculture, livestock, infrastructure, education, women and human rights.Other members to the centre are representatives from the regional states, private sector and humanitarian agencies and institutions.
Key Headlines
- Government To Harmonise Humanitarian Responses In The Country(Goobjoog News)
- Puntland Hails Outcome Of Recent Mogadishu Meeting (Shabelle News)
- Landmine Explosion Targets Humanitarian Government Officials(Garowe Online)
- Senate Elects Five Members To Constitutional Review Committee(Goobjoog News)
- Terror Attack Will Not Deter UAE’s Aid Mission To Somalia( The National UAE)
- Follow A Doctor Delivering Desperately Needed Aid To Drought Stricken Somalia(Vice News)
- Why Is Trump Sending More U.S. Troops To Somalia?(Newsweek)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Puntland Hails Outcome Of Recent Mogadishu Meeting
19 April – Source : Shabelle News – 112 Words
Puntland President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas hailed the result of the consultation meeting between the heads of central government and Federal member states held in Mogadishu. “This agreement marks a major milestone for Somalia. I welcome in particular the deal reached on the creation of the national security council. ,” said President Gaas. The two-day consultative meeting focused on the drought response, and the fight against corruption and Al shabaab, which are the main challenges that Somalia is facing currently.
The council’s first task will be implementing the new policies and security architecture. Meanwhile, International community has pledged a coherent support for Somalia to the achievement the government’s priorities, including drought response and security.
Landmine Explosion Targets Humanitarian, Government Officials
19 April – Source : Garowe Online – 161 Words
A landmine explosion was reported to rip through a vehicle ferrying representatives from international charities and government officials near the capital Mogadishu. The blast happened in Garas Balley area west of Mogadishu city. The convoy is believed to be transporting UAE’s charity officials, members of the national drought response committee and Banadir regional administration aiming to visit IDPs camps near the capital. According to an eyewitness, the landmine struck a vehicle belonging to Abdiqadir Dalxa, the head of aid coordination for Banadir regional administration.
However, the causalities of the attack are unknown and no group has claimed responsibility of the blast against the convoy. Following the explosion, local authorities blocked the road and launched an investigation into the scene of the attack. The authority blamed Al-Shabaab militant group for planting the remote-controlled bomb in the road. Al Qaida-linked Al-Shabaab group has recently intensified terrorist attacks in the capital Mogadishu and other areas aiming to topple the western-backed Somali government in Mogadishu.
Senate Elects Five Members To Constitutional Review Committee
19 April – Source : Goobjoog News – 197 Words
Somali Upper house elected five members who will serve in the Senate Constitutional Review Committee. The five senators will together form the full committee with their Lower House counterparts to steer the constitutional review process in collaboration with the Independent Constitutional Review Commission. The constitutional review process is expected to conclude the exercise in time for a national referendum upon which the country will adopt the new supreme law in preparation for the 2020 general elections.
A number of areas in the 2012 Provisional Constitution require public consultation and clarification especially with regards to powers and responsibilities between the Federal and State governments. The Senate early this month pointed out some areas which require urgent attention which include the role of the senate in impeaching the president, ambiguity in legislative process between the Lower House and the Senate and the membership of former presidents to the federal parliament.
In today’s session, Senators Abdirahman Mohamed Faroole, Abdi Hassan Qaybdiid, Hussein Sheikh Mohamud, Abdikarim Mohamed Hasan and Iftiin Hassan Iiman were elected to serve in the committee. From the Lower House are, Ahmed Maywo Abdulle, Burkhan Adan Omar, Abdirashid Mohamud Hassan, Osman Haaji Alinur and Mohamed Abdullahi Kaamil.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Terror Attack Will Not Deter UAE’s Aid Mission To Somalia
19 April – Source : The National, UAE – 648 Words
A convoy from the Emirates Red Crescent was hit by a terrorist bomb while trying to deliver aid in drought-stricken Somalia on Wednesday.The convoy was travelling in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, when the attack occurred, with the charity’s workers lucky to avoid injury.After the blast, the UAE was quick to reaffirm its commitment to help the people of Somalia, hundreds of thousands of whom are facing famine.”Such terrorist acts will not deter us from extending help and assistance to Somalia while it is undergoing a critical humanitarian situation,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said.”We reiterate the UAE’s support for the government and people of Somalia.”
The drought has worsened in recent weeks, leading to 110 deaths last month alone, Somalia’s ambassador to the UAE said.Abdulkadir Al Hatimi urged the international community to act fast to save lives.”The drought has been really bad and everyone in Somalia is suffering,” Mr Al Hatimi said.”We would like to thank those who have helped the people for everything they have done and their efforts for the past 26 years since the civil war. But the situation is terrible now.”
Staff at the UN World Food Programme’s Humanitarian Response Depot in Dubai on Wednesday packed 45 tonnes of food and medical supplies onto six lorries.They are expected to be shipped from Sharjah to Mogadishu on Friday, from where the aid will be flown to cities across Somalia to avoid areas controlled by Al Shabab extremists.”Somalia is facing a severe food crisis at the moment,” said Stefano Peveri, senior logistics officer at the UN depot.”It is the effect of El Nino and El Nina weather systems in most of eastern and southern Africa. The complication in Somalia, in Sudan and in north-east Nigeria is the fact that the population is already food insecure.”
Follow A Doctor Delivering Desperately Needed Aid To Drought Stricken Somalia
19 April – Source : Vice News – Video : 5:00 Minutes
The UN has raised the alarm level on the hunger crisis hitting countries in the Horn of Africa. Half the population, or 6.2 million people now need humanitarian assistance to survive. In Somalia, specifically, violence from Al-shabaab and other armed groups only exacerbates the problem. Wajid is one of the most desperate villages in southern Somalia, in part because the territory surrounding it is controlled by al-Shabaab, making the supply of crucial aid extremely fraught. VICE News reports from Wajid on the crisis and follows a Canadian Somali doctor delivering desperately needed aid to the remote village.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“The deployment of extra U.S. troops to Somalia follows a presidential directive in March that loosened the conditions for airstrikes against Al-Shabaab in Somalia, a sign that the Trump administration may wish to expedite its military efforts against the group. (This was also suggested by a set of leaked queries from the Trump transition team to the State Department in January, which included the question: “We’ve been fighting Al-Shabab for a decade, why haven’t we won?”)”
Why Is Trump Sending More U.S. Troops To Somalia?
19 April – Source : Newsweek – 901 Words
The last deployment of regular U.S. troops to Somalia led to an incident that sparked widespread horror. Somali militiamen shot down two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters in the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, killing 18 American soldiers. They captured several of the corpses, dragging them through the streets of the Somali capital. The attack contributed to then President Bill Clinton’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops within six months from Somalia, where they had been serving on a humanitarian mission. But now, as the embattled African state struggles with a long-running jihadi insurgency, the Trump administration has authorized the deployment of U.S. soldiers to Somalia for the first time since 1994. (U.S. military and counterterrorism advisors have been present in Somalia for several years, but regular troops have not.)
President Donald Trump has outlined defeating “radical Islamic terror groups” as the foremost foreign policy goal of his administration. But given the U.S. leader’s insistence on putting American interests first, the Somalia deployment raises the question of what threat Al-Shabab poses to the U.S. “The question is a fair one. From the U.S. perspective, do we really have a dog in this hunt?” says Kenneth Menkhaus, professor of political science at Davidson College and a Somalia expert. “That’s one of the things that the Trump administration is going to have to explain to its constituency.” U.S. military personnel have been involved in Somalia’s battle with Al-Shabab for over a decade.
An AFRICOM spokesperson recently told Newsweek that around 100 personnel were deployed in Somalia; the focus of their mission was to train African Union and Somali forces, but the U.S. also regularly carries out drone strikes on the militant group. U.S. forces have carried at least 42 strikes in Somalia since 2007, killing up to 449 people including up to 28 civilians according to the Bureau for Investigative Journalism. The State Department classified Al-Shabaab as a foreign terrorist organization in 2008. Early U.S. operations in Somalia aimed at surgically taking out high-value targets associated with the group and Al-Qaeda’s East African franchise, which preceded Al-Shabab and orchestrated the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing more than 200 people. But this tactic has changed in recent months and years, according to Roland Marchal, an Al-Shabab expert and research fellow at the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris.