April 26, 2017 | Morning Headlines
Somalia’s President Makes First State Visit To Turkey
25 April – Source : Garowe Online – 159 Words
A high-level delegation led by Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo flew to Turkey after receiving an official invitation from the Turkish President. In his fifth state visit as Somalia’s new President, Farmajo will pay a three-day state visit to Turkey, to meet his Turkish counterpart President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. President Farmaajo is expected to hold talks with President Erdogan on the bilateral relations between the two countries, humanitarian aid, security, trade and other key strategic issues.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf Garad Omar, Federal lawmakers and other officials are reported to have accompanying the President during his trip to Turkey. Since his election, Somali President Farmaajo made tremendous efforts to further cooperation and improve country’s diplomatic relations with foreign countries. Somalia is the largest recipient of Turkish aid, as it has been receiving humanitarian, security and development projects over the past 5 years which helped the country to improve from the signs of civil war in the past decades.
Key Headlines
- Somalia’s President Makes First State Visit To Turkey (Garowe Online)
- Somalia To Propose 2 Year Debt Relief Process In London Conference (Goobjoog News)
- Government Forces And AMISOM Conduct Security Operations In Beledweyne (Goobjoog News)
- Military Court Executes Police Officer For Killing A Civilian In Hudur Town (Goobjoog News)
- UAE Ship Carrying More Than 4000 Tonnes Of Aid Leaves For Somalia (The NationalUAE)
- Measles Surges Among Children In Famine-Threatened Somali (Reuters)
- Turkish Humanitarian Aid Becomes Lifeline In Drought-stricken Somalia (Daily Sabah)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia To Propose 2 Year Debt Relief Process In London Conference
25 April – Source : Goobjoog News – 521 Words
The government will be pitching a proposal to accelerate the country’s debt relief process in the upcoming London conference to enable the country access much needed credit from the international market to fund President Farmaajo’s economic blue print and realise a more stable Somalia. With a debt burden of about $5.5 billion which accounts for 93% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), Somalia is forced to rely on donor support, diaspora remittances and the domestic market to fund its national budget while direct donor financing to the government stands at a paltry 3%.
To turn around this scenario, the Federal Government in proposals to be debated during the May 10-11Conference is fronting a 2 year period to secure the country a completion point status under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. “Somalia’s debt stands at $5.5 billion from 28 countries and institutions. We are unable to secure any loans unless this debt is forgiven. Therefore, we have scheduled that Somalia must work on qualifying for debt relief and that goal can be achieved in two years,” a statement from Villa Somalia website reads.
Somalia currently is eligible for HIPC initiative assistance but is yet to start the process. The IMF/World Bank HIPC Initiative which also includes significant number of Paris Club creditors launched in 1996 seeks to ensure that no poor country faces a debt burden it cannot manage. The second step in debt relief process (completion point) qualifies the country to receive full and irrevocable reduction in debt available under the HIPC Initiative. But Somalia will first have to meet step one (decision point) threshold which involves eligibility to the World Bank’s International Development Agency, which provides interest-free loans and grants to the world’s poorest countries. This will start with clearing loans owed to the World Bank and the IMF.
As of August 30, 2015, Somalia’s long standing arrears to the IMF stood at about $331.7 million while the World Bank is demanding $287.4 million from the Horn of Africa country. Arrears to the African Development Bank as of the same date was $94.5 million. In a report last week, the Financial Governance Committee advised the government to clear arrears to the International Financial Institutions as a first step to towards the HIPC debt process. “The FGC recommends that the FGS and its creditors develop a milestones-based debt relief roadmap setting out how Somalia can qualify for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt relief process, with arrears clearance to IFIs as a first step,” the report reads.
The newly adopted National Development Plan needs to be strengthened to qualify as an interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), the FGC recommends. A PRSP developed through a broad based process is a basis for debt reduction at the decision point but its adoption and implementation for one year enables the country to move to the completion stage which translates to debt relief. The FGC also called on the government to push for increased direct donor financing to enable it support the state building efforts and grow the economy to allow for debt repayments.
Government Forces And AMISOM Conduct Security Operations In Beledweyne
25 April – Source : Goobjoog News – 114 Words
Security operation launched by Somali security forces backed by African Union Mission In Somalia (AMISOM) in Beledweyne town has led to the arrest of several Al-Shabaab suspects. The security officers conducted house to house search in different suburbs of the town following public tip off according to the police officials said that operation was meant to inspect and hunt down Al-Shabaab suspects and to enhance safety of the town.
According to security officials the operations will continue until the security of the district is assured following recent attacks. Beledweyne administration believes that armed groups have used residential areas to prepare attacks and then mingled with residents in the town to carry out coordinated attacks.
Military Court Executes Police Officer For Killing A Civilian In Hudur Town
25 April – Source : Goobjoog News – 135 Words
A police officer convicted of killing a civilian and injuring two others in Hudur in Bakool region has been executed following a military court ruling. Addressing reporters at the scene of the execution, military court official, Mumin Hussein said they executed Ali Burow a police officer by firing squad after being convicted of the killing in Hudur town. Somali military court previously executed soldiers charged with murder and mainly convicted Al-Shabaab members.
On Monday, the court executed four people who were convicted of being Al-Shabaab members and carrying out twin bomb attacks in Baidoa which claimed lives of over eighty people. The EU has variously called for a ban on death penalty in Somalia including this month’s execution of four Al-Shabaab militants found guilty of killing a senior government official in Puntland last December.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
UAE Ship Carrying More Than 4,000 Tonnes Of Aid Leaves For Somalia
25 April – Source : The National,UAE – 144 Words
The Dh10.3 million in aid from the Emirates Red Crescent includes 3,819 tonnes of food, 356 tonnes of water, 23 tonnes of tents and mattresses, and 51 tonnes of clothing, blankets and medical supplies for children.The shipment will be delivered to Berbera Port to support people who have been displaced and affected by the country’s third famine in 25 years. It is expected to arrive early next month.
It was sent under the directives of the UAE’s leadership and follow-up of Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, Ruler’s Representative in Al Dhafra Region and Chairman of the Red Crescent, reported Wam, the state news agency.The Red Crescent announced the UAE’s For You, Somalia aid campaign this month. The UN Assistance Mission in Somalia estimates that 6.2 million people in the country need relief, including 2.9m who urgently need life-saving aid.
Measles Surges Among Children In Famine-Threatened Somalia
25 April – Source : Reuters – 320 Words
Thousands of children have been infected by measles in famine-threatened Somalia, already hit by an epidemic of cholera, the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF said on Tuesday, as it launched a campaign to vaccinate some 360,000 children in one month.The United Nations is racing to avoid a repeat of famine in the drought-hit Horn of Africa nation where more than 250,000 people died of starvation in 2011.”We know only too well from the 2011 famine that measles, combined with malnutrition and displacement, is an especially lethal combination for children,” Steven Lauwerier, UNICEF’s representative in Somalia, said in a statement.”Among vaccine-preventable diseases, none is more deadly than measles.”
Almost 5,700 cases of suspected measles have been reported across Somalia since the start of 2017, more than the total number of cases in 2016, it said.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 country as people flee drought.Children suffering from severe acute malnutrition are nine times more likely to die from diseases like measles than healthy ones, Lauwerier said.More than 6 million Somalis – half of the population – need emergency aid, including close to 1 million acutely malnourished children.
Many of the children have never been immunised before as they come from remote areas health workers often cannot reach due to conflict.Somalia has been mired in civil war since 1991 and continues to face an Islamist insurgency.The vaccination campaign is starting this week in the central city of Baidoa, where large numbers have been arriving in search of aid – at least 70,000 in March, UNICEF said.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“The IHH, with the help of philanthropists, distributes food and water aid to Somalis and aims to conduct infrastructural works to solve water supply issues on a more permanent basis. It has also prepared a report called “Project of Immediate Aid for East Africa,” which analyzes the current situation in the country in regards to the human toll and migration,”
Turkish Humanitarian Aid Becomes Lifeline In Drought-stricken Somalia
25 April – Source : Daily Sabah – 367 Words
Turkish aid is becoming the lifeline for people in Somalia, with aid organizations like the Turkish Red Crescent, the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation and the Turkey Diyanet Foundation (TDV) reaching out to those suffering from the consequences of civil war and a severe drought. Turkish humanitarian relief organizations have undertaken important steps to counter the effects of the drought in Somalia and the ensuing famine, which is believed to have affected as many as six million out of the total population of 12 million.
Since 2011, the Turkish Red Crescent has been operating in the region and distributing humanitarian assistance by sea and air. The organization also established a refugee camp for 30,000 displaced people in addition to founding mobile bakeries and kitchens. Last March alone, it supplied one ton of baby food and kitchen supplies to the region.
The Turkish Red Crescent, which cooperates with the Red Crescent Society of Qatar, also aims to implement infrastructural and environmental works in the region. Additionally, it has invested in the establishment of educational facilities. Financial resources that the Turkish Red Crescent has transferred to Somalia amount to 180 million Turkish lira (approximately $50 million).
The Turkey Diyanet Foundation (TDV), a religious organization under the roof of Turkey’s Presidency of Religious Affairs (DİB, better known as Diyanet), began to hand out food aid to 18,000 families situated in South Sudan, as well as Kenya and Ethiopia, which have also been affected by the drought. TDV also opened three large wells in Somalia and plans to drill further wells in the Banadir, Galmudug and Awdal regions with a capacity of 10 tons of water each, which will the secure drinking water supply for approximately 20-25 years.