July 12, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
Birr In Use In Parts After Fake Shilling Floods Market
11 July – Source: Radio Dalsan – 151 Words
Traders and consumers in Galmudug have introduced transactions using the Ethiopian Birr. Residents of Dhusamareb confirmed to Radio Dalsan that following the flooding of fake Somali shilling in the market traders have opted to instead use the Ethiopian currency. Most of the areas where the Birr is used as the mode of exchange are under the control of Ethiopian troops. Reports of fake currency circulating in neighbouring Hiiraan markets in the government controlled towns raised panic among traders.
The main economic activity of the region livestock was switched to trading by the dollar in the headquarters Beledweyn. Al-Shabaab which controls mainly rural villages in region followed suit with the banning of the Somali Shilling Al-Shabaab administration instructed traders and forex bureaus not to accept fake notes. The fake notes are alleged to have originated from Puntland region. A Hirshabelle official accused Puntland of printing and sending fake money to the region.
Key Headlines
- Ethiopian Birr In Use In Parts After Fake Shilling Floods Market (Radio Dalsan)
- Al-Shabaab Bans Somali Shilling In Hiiraan After Fake Currency Floods Markets (Radio Dalsan)
- Birth Spacing To Save Women From Dying in Childbirth And Improve Lives (Somali Update)
- WANTED: Police On The Hunt For 6 Suspected Al Shabaab Recruiters (Capital FM)
- Accidental Internet Cut-off Hits Somalia Hard (Daily Mail)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Al-Shabaab Bans Somali Shilling In Hiiraan After Fake Currency Floods Markets
11 July – Radio Dalsan
Somali militant group Al-Shabaab has banned the use of the somali shilling currency in its areas of control and other Hiiraan districts following reports that fake notes had entered the market. Reports of fake currency circulating Hiiraan markets in the Hirshabelle controlled towns raised panic among traders .
The main economic activity of the region livestock trade has stitched to trading by the dollar in in Beledweyn. Al-Shabaab which controls mainly rural villages in the region followed suit with the banning of the Somali shilling. Al-Shabaab administration instructed traders and forex bureaus not to accept fake notes. The fake notes are alleged to have originated from puntland region. Hirshabelle official accused Puntland of printing and sending fake money to the region.
Birth Spacing To Save Women From Dying in Childbirth And Improve Lives
12 July, Source: Somali Update – 412 Words
As a major international summit on modern child spacing was held in London on Tuesday, a parallel event was held in Mogadishu where Somali Government officials and local and international partners discussed preventing maternal deaths. Somalia has been defined by some as one of the worst places to be a woman. Maternal mortality ratio stands at above 850/100,000 live births according to latest UNICEF, World Health Organization and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates, with one out of every 12 women dying due to pregnancy related causes. One out of every ten Somali children dies before seeing their first birthday.
At the summit in London, The UK announced a package of global support for modern birth spacing. In Somalia, UK aid launched an additional £89 million five-year Health and Nutrition programme in 2016, which provides support on reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health and nutrition. “The UK is proud to be the largest bilateral donor to the health sector in Somalia. In 2015, I know that Somalia took a bold step to become 1 of 38 countries to make commitments to the FP2020 partnership.” said UK’s Deputy Ambassador to Somalia Mary Shockledge during the event in Mogadishu.
The five-year package through Somali Health and Nutrition programme (SHINE) will run until 2021. Over the next 4 years, it will provide approximately 200,000 pregnant women with access to antenatal services and delivery. It will also result in the distribution of more than 200,000 modern methods of family planning in Somalia, increasing access to birth spacing services to 39,000 women and girls. In addition to the SHINE programme, the UK has funded a number of other programmes in Somalia which, since 2010, have resulted in: 80,000 births being attended by skilled professionals; over 170,000 children being immunized; and more than 1.3 million children benefiting from basic and emergency nutrition. “Many challenges remain and this represents an opportunity to reaffirm commitments and address those challenges.” added ambassador Shockledge.
Somalia Minister of Health Dr. Fawziya Abikar Nur said the support will ensure women to receive voluntary contraceptives through family planning services, help avert thousands of unwanted pregnancies; as well as help prevent the trauma of stillbirths and newborn deaths. “The Federal Government of Somalia is committed to significantly lower the number of childbirth related deaths by distributing modern methods of family planning in Somalia, increasing access to birth spacing services to 39,000 women and girls” said the Minister.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
WANTED: Police On The Hunt For 6 Suspected Al Shabaab Recruiters
12 July – Source: Capital FM, Kenya -395 Words
Police have released photographs of six men suspected of having links with the Al-Shabaab terror group. One of them, Rama Mbwana Mbega aka Junia, is suspected to be hiding in Boni Forest where the terror group has operational bases. The others are Abdullahi Jarso Kotolo aka Seyfdeen, Hassan Jarso Kotolo, Hassan Abdalla Mushi, James Kimanthi Masai and Hamisi Swalleh Abdalla. “Investigations carried out by security agencies have revealed several Kenyan nationals fighting alongside Al-Shabaab and involved in enticing youths within the country to travel to Somalia to join the terror group Al-Shabaab,” a statement from the police said.
Seyfdeen is believed to be from, Marsabit and is suspected of holding a senior position in Al- Shabaab’s military wing. “He is the brother to Hassan Jarso Kotola. The brothers who hail from Marsabit are both believed to be keen members of the terror group are wanted for several deadly attacks in the country,” it stated. He is also believed to have participated in the Mpeketoni attacks in June 2014. Police say that before leaving for Somalia to join the terror group, Abdullahi was a preacher at Daru Salaam Masjid along Nyayo road within Shauriyako area of Marsabit. “While here, he used the opportunity to preach to the youth encouraging them to join Al-Shabaab. His access to the youth who went to pray at the mosque meant he could be able to interact with them and he therefore recruited them in the process,” it indicated.
James Kimanthi Masai aka Rafat who hails from Mutomo, Kitui is also mentioned among the individuals who crossed over to join Al-Shabaab. Also on the list is Hamisi Abdalla Swaleh who is wanted for a number of terror attacks and abductions in North Eastern Province. Rama Mbwana Mbega aka Junia comes from South Coast but was recruited into Al-Shabaab while in Mombasa. He returned to Kenya in 2012 and is suspected to have been part of numerous attacks. Rama went back to Somalia in early 2014 and is still in communication with his fellow Jihadists in Kenya to recruit more youths from the Coast and the North Eastern.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“The Somali government and Dalkom hope engineers will have the cable fixed and internet services restored perhaps later this week. It will not come a moment too soon for Somalis whose lives are in limbo such as the sick child’s mother, for whom a downloadable visa form and online submission are all that stands between her child and medical care in Turkey,”
Accidental Internet Cut-off Hits Somalia Hard
12 July – Source: Daily Mail – 597 Words
Last month, a baby was born in the Somali capital Mogadishu with a terrible eye defect that requires treatment abroad.The infant was cleared for treatment in Turkey but before the paperwork was complete a container ship, believed to be the Panama-flagged MSC Alice, docked outside Mogadishu port, accidentally dragging its anchor through the main fibre optic cable connecting Somalia with the rest of the world. Since that evening of June 24 most of the Horn of Africa nation has been cut off from the web, costing it an estimated $10 million (nine million euros) a day in lost business according to the government, and freezing the lives of those, like the sick child, whose hopes depend on international connections. There are a wealthy, fortunate few with the wherewithal to get online via satellite link-ups, but the vast majority of the 6.5 million people in Somalia’s south-central region are in the dark, said Mohamed Ahmed Jama, chief executive of Dalkom, a Somali telecommunications company that is part of the consortium providing the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System.
The blackout has wreaked havoc in Somalia, where decades of conflict have combined with irrepressible entrepreneurialism to create a far-flung diaspora of almost two million people who earn money abroad and send it home to their relatives. The internet is what connects these Somalis with Somalia.”In Somalia the telecommunications sector has thrived, even during some of the worst years of conflict,” said Ahmed Soliman, Somalia researcher at the Chatham House think tank in London. “Urban Somalis have become increasingly connected online since fibre-optic was rolled out in 2014.”
The World Bank estimates that at $1.4 billion annually, international remittances make up a quarter of national GDP.Habiba Mohamud, a customer relations officer at Mogadishu’s International Bank of Somalia, said the international transfers department has been cut off since last month’s anchor incident. Mohamud has been personally affected too. Unable to check her email in recent weeks she struggles to communicate with her family, most of whom live in Nebraska in the United States. With international phone calls expensive, she commonly gets in touch via the WhatsApp and Viber messaging services.
TOP TWEETS
@HarunMaruf: Faces of the six men wanted by Kenya for alleged links with Al-Shabab https://www.
@YvonneNdege: In #Dadaab Refugee camp Kenya today, shooting a video on Voluntary Repatriation of refugees to Somalia for @UNHCR_Kenya
@DalsanFM: Ethiopian Birr In Use In Parts of Somalia After Fake Somali Shilling Floods Market – http://radiodalsan.com/en/
@HarunMaruf: Replying to @HarunMaruf @M_Farmaajo Somali govt statement on the phone conversation between Pres Farmajo and Secretary Tillerson.
@HarunMaruf: #IED explosion hits AMISOM convoy in Huriwa district of Mogadishu, one soldier suffered “life-threatening” injuries – per security sources.
@StateDept: US announces $639 million in additional humanitarian assistance to people affected by famine in#SouthSudan, #Nigeria, #Somalia, and #Yemen.
IMAGE OF THE DAY
SRCC, Francisco Madeira cuts a tape during the handover of the SNU’s Gaheyr campus.
Photo: Dhacdo.com