April 25, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
Five Die Of Hunger As Drought Bites In Hiiraan
25 April – Source : Goobjoog News – 177 Words
Five people have been confirmed dead in Jalalaqsi district with dozens of children malnourished as drought continues to wreak havoc in the country.The five deaths have been reported in villages including Raasow and Baqdaad in the outskirts of Jalalaqsi, while the 40 cases of malnutrition have been confirmed.Mohamed Abdulle Fidow, Jalalaqsi district commissioner told Goobjoog News that villages around the town in Hiiraan region are staring at starvation as the country faces cycle of famine-related deaths.“Several people are weak and emaciated due to hunger. The areas have remained dry, leading to death of humans and livestock,” said Fidow.
The official says the old people are among hundreds of starving villagers who have been hit hard by devastating drought that has swept across Somalia.Thousands have been arriving in towns over recent days in search of food aid.In the recent weeks there had been reports of many cases of diarrhea and malnutrition affecting both children and adults in the region.
Key Headlines
- Five Die Of Hunger As Drought Bites In Hiiraan (Goobjoog News)
- Galmudug And ASWJ Talks In Mogadishu Stall (Jowhar.com)
- Airstrikes Hits Gedo Town(Hiiraan Online)
- UNICEF And Partners Conduct Lifesaving Vaccination Campaign (Relief Web)
- US Offers Training As Somalia Fights For Security(VOA)
- Curbing Resurgence Of Somali Piracy(Daily Nation)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Galmudug And ASWJ Talks In Mogadishu Stall
25 April – Source : Jowhar.com – 124 Words
Talks between the Galmudug administration and Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamaa which have been going on in Mogadishu for weeks seem to have stalled. This comes after the timeline to conclude the talks ended. The talks which are been brokered by the Federal Government of Somalia were taking place in Villa Somalia.Reports says talks are not making progress due to hard conditions been imposed by Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamaa with fear that the talks might end without any tangible progress been made by the two parties. Galmudug security minister, Osman Isse accused ASWJ of failing to recognise the existence of their administration. He threatened that Galmudug officials will abandon the talks and head back to Adaado to hold their presidential elections without involving ASWJ.
Airstrikes Hits Gedo Town
25 April- Source:Hiiraan Online – 107 Words
Warplanes have struck Al-Shabaab bases in Gedo region. The planes bombarded Al-Shabaab bases in the district of Wargaduud in the Gedo region of southern Somalia. Reports do not indicate the forces that have carried out the strikes.The loss resulting from the airstrikes have not yet been made public.The Gedo administration is yet to comment on the said airstrikes.Residents said they have heard heavy explosions resulting from the airstrikes. The area is near the the district of El-Adde where Al-Shabaab attacked Kenya Defence Forces last year. The attack comes on the heels of yet another airstrike that hit the town of Elwak just last week.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
UNICEF And Partners Conduct Lifesaving Vaccination Campaign
25 April- Source:Relief Web -359 Words
Almost 30,000 young children, many of them displaced by a searing drought, are being vaccinated against measles this week in an emergency campaign in Baidoa, a town at the heart of one of Somalia’s hardest-hit areas.Many of the children have never been immunized before – they come from remote areas health workers often cannot reach because of a decades-old conflict that has ravaged the impoverished country in the Horn of Africa.
So far this year, almost 5,700 cases of suspected measles have been reported across the country, more than the total number of cases in 2016. Measles, a viral respiratory infection that spreads through air and contact with infected mucus and saliva, thrives in congested, unsanitary displacement camps, which have mushroomed across the town and surrounding areas. More than 100,000 people have come to Baidoa in search of assistance, including at least 70,000 in March alone.“Among vaccine-preventable diseases, none is more deadly than measles,” said Steven Lauwerier, UNICEF’s Representative in Somalia. “And we know only too well from the 2011 famine that measles, combined with malnutrition and displacement, is an especially lethal combination for children.”
The threat of famine once again looms large over Somalia. Over half the population is acutely food insecure, water-borne and infectious diseases like cholera and measles are spreading, and up to a million children are, or will be acutely malnourished this year, with one in five requiring life-saving treatment.“The only way to prevent sickness and death from measles is to make sure all children receive the vaccine. A child suffering from severe acute malnutrition is nine times more likely to die from a disease like measles than a healthy child. We have no time to lose,” Lauwerier said.
US Offers Training As Somalia Fights For Security
24 April- Source: VOA – 582 Words
The U.S. and the African Union agree that the time for Somalis to take over security responsibility in their country is swiftly approaching.During a conference call organized by U.S. Africa Command in Stuttgart, Germany, General Thomas Waldhauser, Commander of AFRICOM, said the recent announcement that the U.S. will send 40 troops to Somalia does not signal a change in strategy. The U.S. will play a support role training the Somali National Army to create efficient logistics networks to supply their troops.“This is part of a routine deployment that has been really in the works for quite some time,” Waldhauser said.
Somalia and its international partners are working to train a 28,000-person national army after more than two decades of civil war and turmoil. The terror group al-Shabab still controls an estimated 10 percent of the country and conducts regular attacks against military and civilian targets. Somalia relies largely on the 22,000-person African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) for its security.“Our goal from the United States’ perspective, in conjunction with our partners who are there doing the training, is that the Somali National Security Forces will be prepared to provide for their own security sometime in the 2020/21 timeframe when the next series of elections go,” Waldhauser said. “We all have to pull together to make sure that we’re very effective and efficient in the training now.”
Ambassador Francisco Madeira, the civilian head of AMISOM, said the AU intends to begin drawing down its forces in 2018.”We were not intending to stay there forever,” he said. “Somalia is for the Somalis. We, like all other Africans, we have our own countries.Prospects for peace in Somalia were aided by a peaceful 2017 election and a smooth transfer of power to new President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed. Madeira believes setting a timeline for withdrawal will allow the new Somali government to strengthen its institutions to face the continued terror threat as well as address internal clan divisions.“We are in solidarity with the Somali people, we need to support Somali people. We have interests to have a stable Somalia,” Madeira said. “But surely, the Somalis, the country, can only be best defended by the Somalis themselves, who understand better their dynamics, their reality and their priorities and their objectives.”
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Somalia and the Horn of Africa are beset by many challenges, but as countries find hope in oil exploration and breathe new life into economies, piracy attacks are an ever present threat to green shoot recovery.For the sake of the people, the global community needs to remain vigilant and to help where needed.This is no time to be caught all at sea,”
Curbing Resurgence Of Somali Piracy
24 April- Source:Daily Nation- 738 Words
Somali piracy, off the Horn of Africa, was once estimated by the World Bank to cost global trade billions of dollars, and to harm the fragile economies of countries in the region.These disastrous financial costs, at a time of painful global downturn, came alongside a raft of pain and suffering for those taken hostage, some of whom died due to desperate living conditions and a lack of medical treatment.Now, in the past few weeks, Somali piracy is back, making headlines, boarding ships, and taking hostages.Since early March, there have been numerous attacks, including on April 1, when a cargo ship, Al Kaushar, was boarded.Eleven Indian nationals are in pirate hands.Despite the region’s harrowing history, the five-year let-up in serious attacks has led to a collective forgetting about the dangers of Somali piracy.
Hard-won lessons about veering too close to the Somali coastline and having visible security seem to have been thrown overboard in favour of time and cost savings.Navy patrols, one of the main reasons for the lull in attacks, have decreased due to other emerging priorities that tax the scarce resources of countries.There are four things that need to be done immediately, if we are to avoid a rerun of the early part of this decade when attacks on shipping were in their hundreds, with dozens of hostages held in appalling conditions, and billions wiped off global trade. First, it is imperative that the international community remains vigilant and commercial shipping follows the advice of navies and the International Maritime Organisation when planning safe passage through the sea corridors off Somalia.
Intelligence on risk, criminal gangs, the disposition of pirate boats, and recent pirate activity needs to be gathered, reviewed and swiftly transmitted.Second, job creation aids crime prevention. What is done on land impacts action at sea.Somalia is perhaps the least developed country in the world, and we should acknowledge that the promise of pirate riches is enough to bait the hook for impoverished and jobless youth.A survey of 66 imprisoned pirates by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Oceans Beyond Piracy found that poverty was one of the main reasons for the crime:“My family is poor, so that’s why I joined the pirates,” one prisoner said.Advocacy about the dangers of life on the high seas, and the creation of sustainable livelihoods on land are essential.Piracy’s relationship with illegal fishing, which depletes Somalia’s resources, also needs to be fully examined, and if necessary, mitigated. Third, the pursuit of fair criminal justice systems so pirates can be prosecuted, and if found guilty, jailed in safe and secure prisons in Somalia.
TOP TWEETS
@AbdinasirAbdi90:#Somalia Agriculture sector must be encouraged &Ministry of Agriculture must bring a new strategy to promote Small scale farmers #Somalia.
@Axmed_wali2:#Somalia:
@MinisterMOFA:Glad to receive Amb. Carlo Campanile of Italy at my office & discuss ways to strengthen bilateral relations between #Somalia and #Italy
@Fatumaabdulahi:24% MPs, 6 fed ministers and 2 deputy mayors of #Mogadishu! Women on the move. Kudos to the men challenging gender discrimination. #Somalia
@SomaliPM:It was pleasant to receive the Amb. Frasch of Germany we discussed strengthening the bilateral relation amid the two countries.
#Somalia
@issafrica:New @PSCReport discusses the need for more funding for relief efforts & the fight against #terrorism in #Somalia. https://issafrica.org/
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Somali PM, Hassan Ali Kheyre meets the German Ambassador to Somalia,Jutta Gisela Frasch.