NATIONAL MEDIA
24 July – Source: Radio Dalsan – 139 Words
At least 80000 flights have been recorded in Mogadishu’s Aden Abdulle International Airport between January and July 2019. Speaking at the launching of the Qatari Airways which recently joined other international airlines to serve Mogadishu the Transport Minister Mohamed Oomaar noted that this is the highest number of recorded flights in Somalia Currently the flag bearer airlines of Turkey, Ethiopia, Kenya, Qatar and Uganda have regular flights to Mogadishu. Mogadishu Mayor, who also doubles up as the Governor of Banadir region, welcomed the news as an indicator of a fully recovered city. “This is a clear sign that Mogadishu is on the right path to recovery. It is a sign that the international airlines have faith in investing in the Mogadishu route since it is profit-making” Majority of passengers using the international airlines are from the Somali diaspora.
24 July – Source: Somaliaffaris – 136 Words
The 5th annual Garowe Book Fair officially kicked off today in the Puntland administrative capital, Garowe, bringing together a host of local and international authors, readers and literary enthusiasts from within and outside the country. The five-day event which started in 2015 and gradually grew into an annual literary festival in Garowe has inspired reading and writing culture in the country with some of the authors featured in the events having nurtured their writing skills through participation in the event. Puntland community leaders who were also the organisers of the event today unveiled this year’s theme as “Education is light.” The president of Puntland State of Somalia, Said Abdullahi Deni, who opened the event has highlighted the importance of education and noticed that he was very impressed with some of the books presented in the event.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
23 July – Source: Xinhua – 257 Words
At least six people were on Tuesday killed and three others injured after a bomb planted on the roadside went off in the outskirts of Somali capital Mogadishu. A police officer, who spoke to Xinhua on condition of anonymity, said a roadside bomb exploded as a public bus was travelling on the road linking Afgoye to Wanlaweyn town in Lower Shabelle region, killing six people and injuring others.
“The car was transporting milk from Wanlaweyn to Mogadishu when it hit a bomb planted on the road causing the death of six people and three others sustained injuries,” the official said. He added that al-Shabab militants had been targeting vehicles carrying charcoal heading to Mogadishu. Ahmed Aden, an eyewitness, told Xinhua he was using the same road when the incident happened. “I was passing the road when I heard a heavy blast and I saw a dark dust and smoke up the air,” Aden said.
The latest incident comes barely a day after al-Shabab militants carried out a car bomb attack in the capital which left 17 people dead and 28 others got injured. The blast came barely four days after security forces warned possible militant attacks in the town ordering the car owners not to park their cars at the roadsides. Government forces backed by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) forced al-Shabab militants out of the capital Mogadishu in 2011, but the terror group is still active in central and southern Somalia conducting attacks, bomb blasts, targeting government installations, restaurants, hotels and other public places.
23 July – Source: The Bulletin – 390 Words
The Brooks area opened its doors in June and July to welcome close to 30 Somali immigrants. The most recent government-sponsored refugees are mostly Somalis who were housed in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Uganda. “For the first year the government assists them because they came through government,” said Bezaye Beyene, a settlement counsellor at Brooks and County Immigration Services (BCIS).
She said families can spend between 10 and 14 days in a hotel until housing is found for them. During that time staff from BCIS and other organizations will work with them helping them to fulfil their needs, such as food and clothes. “When we welcome them here the first day or the first night, we give them information so they can prepare themselves,” she said. While they settle over the next year and beyond, the work with families continues. “We don’t just rush them to work. They need to know the culture, the environment, they need to adapt themselves. They also need orientation and information,” Beyene said. Since education is one of the top priorities BCIS will help each family enrol the roughly 15 school-aged children and also adults in programs such as English as a Second Language. Professionals may choose to upgrade their skills at other facilities.
While the 30 or so refugees settle in the community it is well below the 400 that many long-time Brooks residents posted on social media and a number that reached the ears of Bow River MP Martin Shields. “They’ve averaged 80 refugees per year. That 400 number is nonsense,” he said. It’s unknown if Brooks will settle other refugees but it’s unlikely to be near 400 people, although that number is up to the government. “When they come here we just accommodate them and enter them into our system,” Beyene said.
In addition to the refugees in June and July Brooks also welcomed secondary immigrants, those who have been in Canada for an unspecified period of time, who arrived specifically for employment. According to Statistics Canada, between January and April, Canada received 65,959 permanent immigrants, which was the lowest first-quarter number since 2015. For 2019, the federal government’s total admission target in all immigration categories is 330,800. Of those, the target is 16,500 refugees and protected persons of which 9,300 will be government-assisted refugees.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Our longstanding water shortage is widely known but the failing rains made it worse. Most of our animals died and the remaining ones could not walk all the way to Kismayo for water. This condition forced us to leave our pastoral life and join this village,” says Halima
23 July – Source: ACTED – 716 Words
In Somalia, the majority of the population relies on agriculture and grazing for their livelihoods. However, successive seasons of poor rainfall have caused prolonged droughts and a series of poor harvest and animal deaths. This has had forced previously well thriving families to abandon their traditional livelihoods after series of poor harvest and animals deaths due to the prolonged drought. In Kismayo district (in lower Juba region, southern Somalia), thousands of destitute families were left no option but to join sprawling Internally Displaced Persons camps or move to villages in the outskirts of urban towns.
“86% of the population relies on agriculture and grazing for their livelihoods. 2.2 million Somalis face hunger so severe that it threatens their lives or livelihoods.”
Serious droughts cause major displacements
During a visit to Wadajir village (outskirts of Kismayo), ACTED teams met a 57 years-old mother of seven named Halima. Like thousands of families, Halima’s family fled their home because of the unforgiving drought that swept away their livestock. Before the drought took its toll on their herds of goats and cows, Halima was able to cover the families’ needs such as food, clothing and education. The family survived the recurring droughts by moving their animals from one place to another in search of greener pastures and water. However, the serious drought that hit Somalia in 2016-2017 forced her to flee to other villages in search of aid. “Our longstanding water shortage is widely known but the failing rains made it worse. Most of our animals died and the remaining ones could not walk all the way to Kismayo for water. This condition forced us to leave our pastoral life and join this village,” Halima
Unfolding consequences: Precarious living conditions
With only two cows remaining from her herd of cattle, Halima along with her husband and seven children settled in Wadajir village, now at the mercy of well-wishers and aid organisations operating in the area. As the rainy season approached, Halima started to cultivate a rain-fed piece of land next to her homestead and planted maize for household consumption. However, the family had to walk about four hours every day to fetch water for their basic daily needs. As a consequence, Halima would occasionally buy cheap saline water for cooking and washing. In addition, she would buy a 20 litre Jerrican of fresh water per day for drinking, and, to save water, further limiting the bathing times for her family members to only two times a week.
Safer, closer and more affordable water
To tackle the issue of access to water, ACTED and its local partner Social-life and Agricultural Development Organisation (SADO) built a 400m3 artificial elevated reservoir called a ‘Berkad’, with the support of the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO). The water storage facility has water canals that channel rainwater into the reservoir through a series of filtration systems. Water from the berkad is pumped into the elevated tank using a solar powered generator enabling ease of drawing water. The water installation in Wadajir village came as a relief to the villagers as it made water safer, closer and affordable to the villagers, particularly during dry seasons.
Re-establishing water access in Wadajir
After getting the cheap water at her disposal, Halima now gives water to her cows on a daily basis and uses two-three jerricans of fresh water per day for drinking. Bathing times are no longer limited and all family members can take a bath on a daily basis, which is liberating for the families. Moreover, fetching water far away from home also generated gender-based violence concerns for women. “No one can survive without water, we no longer have to walk all the way to Kismayo for water, we have cheap water at our doorstep, I can comfortably fetch water and then go and look for my daily bread,” Halima. This risk has been reduced as water is now delivered to their doorstep. In addition, the teams created a water management committee composed of villagers to ensure the efficiency of this new water system. The recent rains filled the berkad to half its capacity and the residents agreed to save it for future consumption. As the village continues to rely on other sources during the wet season, this water should help them for the dry season. |
