UN, AU Launch Joint Police Patrol Training In Somalia

19 July – Source: Xinhua – 398 Words

The United Nations and African Union missions in Somalia on Tuesday launched a joint training program for police officers from Puntland and Galmudug states to carry out joint patrols in Galkayo, as part of a ceasefire agreement.  The UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) said the trainees will also support ongoing initiatives to restore stability and the rule of law, and also act as focal points for rebuilding confidence and peace in Galkayo.  “The training aims to promote trust and confidence in Galkayo, by preparing a group of selected police officers to establish and implement joint police patrols in Galkayo, under a common command,” UNSOM Police Commissioner in Somalia Christoph Buik said in a statement released in Mogadishu.

The trainees will also support ongoing initiatives to restore stability and the rule of law, and also act as focal points for rebuilding confidence and peace in Galkayo. The training is taking place under the auspices of the Galkayo Ceasefire Agreement signed on Jan. 1 by the Puntland and Galmudug State Presidents.  Under the agreement, patrol teams from both states would be trained to help enforce the cessation of hostilities between the two administrations.  Buik said the joint patrol teams would provide security to the Joint Ceasefire Committee members, while on visits to a buffer zone established between both sides. According to the UN, at least 100 police officers who will oversee the implementation of the Galkayo Ceasefire Agreement are taking part in the inaugural joint training launched at Galkayo Community Centre on Monday.  “We are ready to ensure the implementation of peace in Galkayo,” noted Mohamed Hashi Abdi, the Vice President of Galmudug State.  “Somalis, we have to hold each other’s hands, support one another and tell our people that we are one as brothers and sisters,” he added.

Key Headlines

• UN AU Launch Joint Police Patrol Training In Somalia (Xinhua Net)
• NISA Officer wounded In Car Bomb Blast In Mogadishu (Shabelle News)
• Government Installs 5KW FM Transmitter To Expand Reach Of Radio Muqdisho – Officials  (Horn Observer)
• Young Somali Poet Wins BBC Award (Daily Nation)
• Meet The Woman Who May Be Somalia’s Only Female Auto Mechanic (Public Radio International)

NATIONAL MEDIA

NISA Officer Wounded In Car Bomb Blast In Mogadishu

19 July – Source: Shabelle News – 108 Words

A bomb planted under a car seat has injured a Somali Intelligence officer in Mogadishu on Wednesday,  the latest in series of attacks in the capital. The officer Mr. Abdullahi Nur Samatar was critically wounded after an explosive device attached to his vehicle exploded outside the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Mogadishu.
Al-Shabaab claimed credit for the car bomb through a statement, saying it targeted a top official working for the country’s National Security and  Intelligence Agency (NISA). According to witnesses, the blast sent a thick plume of smoke into the sky, and was heard distance from the area. The local police sealed off the scene following the explosion.

Government Installs 5KW FM Transmitter To Expand Reach Of Radio Muqdisho – Officials

19 July – Source: Horn Observer -314 Words

Somalia government has on Wednesday installed a new 5 kilowatt transmitter which will increase the coverage of the State run radio Mogadishu, officials said. “The media development in the country is key to the progress that the Federal Government aims to achieve so that people can be given opportunities to take part in the rebuilding of the country.” Mahdi Mohamed Guled (Khadar), Somali Deputy Prime Minister  who cut the ribbon of the new transmitter said

Deputy PM encouraged the ministry of information to continue expanding the reach of radio Mogadishu to rural areas in the country. Bar Kulan Trust in cooperation with the Ministry of Information successfully completed the installation of the new transmitter with the support of USAID and UNSOS, the statement added.”The new 5 kilowatt transmitter will increase the coverage and the reach out areas of Radio Mogadishu, and is part of the over plan of the ministry to expand its reach to more citizens, especially those in rural areas.”Abdirahman Omar Osman (Eng. Yarisow), Minister of Information, Culture & Tourism of the Federal Republic of Somalia said in a statement released by the ministry. “This cooperation in maintaining and improving media in Somalia demonstrates the importance of the media sector, recognized by the international organizations that have been involved in this and other Somali media development initiatives.”

UNSOS through BKT has provided support to Radio Mogadishu and the Ministry during 2011 to 2014. This included assisting in the digitization of the Radio Mogadishu archive and playing a part in the first Somali Cultural Festival in 2014 and other assistance in the past. Radio Mogadishu has been instrumental in spreading counter propaganda against the militant groups that are fighting against the government. The new 5 kilowatt FM transmitter will replace the Radio Mogadishu’s old transmitter which  has been broadcasting to the capital city and surrounding area since it was installed in 2011.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Young Somali Poet Wins BBC Award

19 July – Source: The Daily Nation – 380 Words

Deqa Nuux Yonis has won the BBC Somali Young Female Poet award as the broadcaster celebrated its 60 years of service in the Horn of Africa country. Ms. Yonis won a poem writing competition sponsored by the broadcaster. Other finalists were Farhiya Adan Yusuf and Shugri Jamac Ibraahim who were selected from all Somali-speaking regions. The broadcaster was hailed as among others that have over the years put the war ravaged country on the international map attracting attention by various interest groups including governments.

The event held at Hiddo Dhawr, a cultural centre in Hargeisa, was broadcast and streamed live on radio and all social media platforms. Ms Caroline Karobia, the editor BBC Somali, said: “We have achieved 60 great years of broadcasting and have made many improvements to keep up with our audiences.  “This is an exciting time for BBC Somali and with the recent introduction of Somali TV we are looking to engage with our audiences of the future.”  The Somali community globally, including Somali businesses, congratulated the media house for the pivotal role it has played in opening up Somalia to the outside world especially in attracting investors both international, local and Somalis in the diaspora.

For instance, Abdirashid Duale, CEO of Dahabshiil, a leading money transfer company, said: “The principles that BBC holds like impartiality, a trusted brand and its global reach have not only created awareness of the challenges facing the community in all corners of the world but also informed people of the opportunities and inspire possibility.” He added: “We are able to deliver remittances from the diaspora which in turn have helped improve the lives of those in Africa and in Somalia”  In mid 1990s, Dahabshiil partnered with the broadcaster to help rebroadcast its programmes via satellite and the Internet, enabling it, at the time, to reach a wider audience including the Somali in the diaspora.

BBC Somali, part of the BBC World Service, has since gone on to become the most listened to international station among Somalis.  It broadcasts to Somali-speaking audiences, providing radio and online news services and recently, it began broadcasting its flagship new TV programme.  BBC Somali was launched on July 18, 1957, and now reaches Somali-speaking audiences around the world on TV, online, social media and on radio.

OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE

“At age 18, Ibrahim is believed to be Somalia’s first and only female car mechanic. It all began with a broken car. Ibrahim had hitched a ride east, her sights set on the Somali capital, Mogadishu, some 200 miles away. By road, the trip usually takes two days and two nights. But car trouble stalled her journey, stretching out an already dangerous trip to 10 days, much of it spent along the side of the road, hungry, waiting for the car to be fixed.”

Meet The Woman Who May Be Somalia’s Only Female Auto Mechanic

19 July – Source: Public Radio International – 898 Words

Nasra Hussain Ibrahim was 11 when she realized she’d have to do something drastic if her family was to survive. They lived in Hiiraan, a rough region in south-central Somalia where al-Shabaab, a hard-line, al-Qaeda-linked group, and local clans clash. The militants force children to fight, they take over and shutter schools and rape and force girls to marry fighters, while imposing a warped, violent version of Islam. Those who don’t obey face execution by stoning.   Growing up, Ibrahim and her family often didn’t have enough to eat. Her father is elderly — she estimates he’s 90. Like most women in Somalia, Ibrahim’s mother, who is at least half her husband’s age, has never worked outside the home.

Ibrahim, 18, the second-eldest of six kids, started selling snacks and farming when she was 8 to help make ends meet. Every day was a struggle.   “When I saw the situation of my family, I saw I needed to leave,” she recalled. Ibrahim’s sweet demeanor, sparkling eyes and broad smile mask a layer of toughness. It’s this toughness that helped her survive, three years ago, when she snuck out of her parents’ house in search of opportunity. She found it in a place where women typically don’t go in Somalia: a garage.

At age 18, Ibrahim is believed to be Somalia’s first and only female car mechanic. It all began with a broken car. Ibrahim had hitched a ride east, her sights set on the Somali capital, Mogadishu, some 200 miles away. By road, the trip usually takes two days and two nights. But car trouble stalled her journey, stretching out an already dangerous trip to 10 days, much of it spent along the side of the road, hungry, waiting for the car to be fixed. Despite the very real threats of rape and robbery, Ibrahim said she was not afraid. “I felt guarded because my parents always pray for me,” she said.

Her mother cried tears of relief when Ibrahim called to tell them she was alive and in Mogadishu. They worried she had gone on the dangerous sea journey to Europe, like thousands of other Somalis before her, some of whom drowned before even making it to Europe. In Somalia, youth unemployment is almost 70 percent; people are desperate for opportunity. In 2012, Ibrahim’s cousin Rahma died in the water off the coast of Libya on a boat bound for Italy. She was 21. Ibrahim might not have jumped on a dinghy to cross the Mediterranean, but she took a leap all the same. Whether at home or in Mogadishu, Ibrahim faces grim statistics on the status of women. Somalia has among the highest rates of female genital mutilation, maternal mortality and sexual violence. “Here, rape is normal,” a woman said in a Human Rights Watch report from 2014.