NATIONAL MEDIA
24 July – Source: Halbeeg – 150 Words
Somali President, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has presided over the graduation ceremony of 152 Somali National Army officials from Turk-Som military academy on Wednesday. The Head of State reiterated the significance of training senior military officials in the country while calling upon the new officers to focus on undertaking their national duty.
The President thanked the Turkish government for its support to train and equip the Somali armed forces. The Speaker of the Upper House, Abdi Hashi, Deputy Defense Minister, Abdullahi Olad Roble and SNA Deputy Chief of Staff, Major General, Abdi Hassan Mohamed were present at the event.
The military base, which was opened in October 2017, reportedly cost $50m and is aimed at training 10,000 Somali troops. Turk-som has the capacity to train at least 1,500 soldiers at a time, according to Turkish and Somali officials. The base spreads over four square kilometres along the Indian ocean in the Somali capital.
24 July – Source: SONNA – 189 Words
The Deputy Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Mr Mahdi Mohamed Guled reached Baidoa, the temporary capital of the South West state of Somalia to officially launch the National Humanitarian Forum.
DPM Mahdi, while addressing the forum requested from participants to brainstorm and come up with a solution that will help in the humanitarian situation in the country. The Ministry of Humanitarian and Disaster Management organised the forum to discuss the current humanitarian situation and come up with a plan that will address the crises. The President of the South West State of Somalia, Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed ‘Lafta-Gareen’ attended the forum and gave a brief speech. He said South West stands for unity and his administration wants all Somalis to be united, adding that if personal interests were set aside, the Somali people could co-exist in harmony.
Meanwhile, he briefly talked about a recently appointed committee to resume dialogue with Somaliland and urged the government to speed up the process in a bid to address the grievances of Somaliland.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
24 July – Source: UNSOM – 199 Words
The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, James Swan, strongly condemns the suicide attack that took place in the offices of Mogadishu’s mayor today and which has reportedly led to casualties, with the mayor among them.
“I deplore this heinous attack which not only demonstrates a violent disregard for the sanctity of human life, but also targets Somalis working to improve the lives of their fellow Somalis in the Mogadishu-Banadir region,” Mr. Swan said. “The United Nations stands with the people and government of Somalia in their rejection of such terrorist acts, and our thoughts are with the victims of this attack.”
Initial media reports indicate that a suicide bomb was detonated within the municipal premises during a meeting, leaving several people dead and injured. According to reports, Mayor Abdirahman Omar Osman ‘Engineer Yarisow’ has been injured. The UN Special Representative had met the mayor and members of his team earlier in the day to hear first-hand about the progress and challenges in the capital and surrounding area. Mr. Swan, who also heads the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), extends his condolences to the families and friends of the victims and wishes a swift recovery to the injured.
24 July – Source: Capital FM – 475 Words
The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) is Friday set for a change of guard as a long-serving member of the U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Thomas Waldhauser retires from military service. Gen. Waldhauser is set to retire after a distinguished 43-year career, his assignment at the AFRICOM based in Stuttgart, Germany spanning four years. U.S. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend is set to take over the helm of AFRICOM, a critical unit in restoring stability in troubled African countries, specifically Somalia, where the US forces in collaboration with the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) are battling to contain Al-Shabaab militants.
“A career infantry officer, he (Gen. Waldhauser) has commanded at multiple levels, to include tours as the Battalion Landing Team Commander, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment; Commander, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Command); Commanding General, Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory; Commanding General, 1st Marine Division; Commanding General, I Marine Expeditionary Force; and Commanding General, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central Command,” reads a statement released by AFRICOM on Tuesday.
The new newly appointed AFRICOM commander, Townsend, previously served as the Commanding General of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. He has led and commanded troops at every echelon from platoon to corps and combined joint task force, to include leading all U.S. and multi-national forces fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as the Commander of the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve.
U.S. Africa Command is one of the six U.S. Department of Defense geographic combatant commands. The command is responsible for all U.S. military operations, exercises, security cooperation, and conducts crisis response on the African continent “in order to advance U.S. interests and promote regional security, stability, and prosperity.”
Since 2017, the US Forces in Somalia have launched tens of airstrikes that killed hundreds of terrorists. In 2017, they launched 35 airstrikes and more than 40 in 2018. In January, one of the airstrikes killed more than 50 terrorists according to AFRICOM. The US Forces have however been on the spot over alleged civilian deaths that have been linked to the airstrikes. In March, Amnesty International released a damning report revealing how 14 civilians were killed in five airstrikes between 2017 and 2018 but AFRICOM refuted the claims…..
23 July – Source: UNFPA – Somalia – 251 Words
This video depicts the journey of one of the teams of the Somali Health and Demographic Survey (SHDS) enumerators during their fieldwork in Amoud Temporary Settlement, Abdaal village in Sahil region. The team interviewed the Nomadic population at their Temporary New Settlement (TNS). The TNS is a method adopted to enumerate and capture the socio-economic data or status of the Somali women living in nomadic settings.
As can be observed in the video the terrain in Amoud is rocky and the team battled with an uneven surface and harsh windy situation. The enumerators travelled from one household to another which is sometimes between a distance of one and five kilometres. This means that the team had to abandon the use of their vehicle to walk up in the rocky area to find the households within the TNS. “It is difficult to climb up the hills. It is too windy and making it more difficult to climb up. The wind is balancing me off. It is an extremely long walk,” the team is heard exclaiming in the video.
Although it is generally a tiresome walk, some members of the team are more adaptable to the conditions than others. Some are heard saying that it is difficult to keep up with the pace of the community guide who is assisting them to find the TNS. The enumerators will be in the area on 23 and 24 July 2019 before they move to another TNS nearby. Twelve teams have been working in the region.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“In Luuq district, a new initiative aims to change this. Female Community Influencers (FCIs) visit women in their own homes to offer health education, and to encourage women to visit a nearby health facility when necessary.”
24 July – Source: Trocaire 600 Words
The rates of maternal death and infant mortality in Somalia are among the highest in the world. To help combat this, Trócaire is working with local partners in Somalia on a new initiative which sees women supporting other women in their community to ensure everyone is accessing the vital health services they need. Bishara Adan Hilowle, aged 30, lives in a small village in Luuq district in the south-west of Somalia. She is a mother of nine but sadly has lost three of her children to childhood illnesses. Despite living 3km away, she had never visited her local health centre. Dangerously, all of her children were delivered at home and they had no access to vaccinations.
Unfortunately this is all too common in Somalia. In Bishara’s village, she lives in severe poverty and like her children, she has never received any education. Her husband works away everyday as a labourer and so she has no one else to look after her other children when one is ill and needs medical care. As well as finding it difficult to travel there, women like Bishara are wary and unsure about going to hospital.
In Luuq district, a new initiative aims to change this. Female Community Influencers (FCIs) visit women in their own homes to offer health education, and to encourage women to visit a nearby health facility when necessary. Like Bishara, many women need more than one visit to convince them to attend. Amina, one of the FCIs, says that it is vital that they do not give up on the women and they continue to visit them until the family are accessing the care they need. “We understand that a behaviour cannot be changed in one sitting,” she said. “But we are trained to be persistent and follow up with mothers like Bishara until they visit the health facility. In some cases, we can even escort them there. We are proud to be able to support women in our community and help them to make healthy decisions.”
It took three visits to Bishara, and the use of Trócaire’s field ambulance to ensure she visited the hospital, but she was very happy and grateful when she did. “I never thought it was this easy to get services at the facility,” said Bishara. Her newborn baby was vaccinated against TB and Polio, and one of her older children needed vitamin A as well as treatment for a skin condition that had affected his head. “Thank you to these women who never gave up on me. They gave me this knowledge so that I was able to get my child protection against these diseases.”
As Bishara now knows how to now access the services, she no longer needs the use of Trócaire’s ambulance and is able to make her own way there. “I will make sure my children will finish their vaccination schedules,” she added. A decision that will possibly save their lives. In just one month, the two local FCIs, Amina and Kafio, have visited 200 households, referring 23 women to the health facility, with all but one having now accessed the necessary services. “We are very proud of the positive changes we have brought within a month,” says Kafio. “We have earned the respect of the community and we are now known as the Health Teachers.” |
