July 29, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Education Ministry Announces National Examinations Results
29 July – Source:Goobjoog News – 261 Words
The results of the National Examinations results for 2015 have been released with 12.7% of candidates failing to attain the required minimum grade.There has been anxiety across the country over the last few weeks as candidates and parents waited for the results of the Form Four examinations released on Thursday.
Somali Minister for Education, Abdikadir Abdi Hashi, observed that despite a few challenges witnessed during the administration of the examination, the credibility of the tests was not affected. A total of 11,574 sat for the secondary school examinations last year as compared to 7,000 recorded in the previous year. At 326, Imaam Shaafihi in Hodan district recorded the highest number of candidates last year.Speaking during the official release of results, Hashi said the government was committed to ensuring no candidate was barred from taking national examinations due to lack of a school of examination fees. Hashi said there was an increase in enrollment for national exams as a result of the government’s effort to increase the number of candidates.
The government is presently working towards streamlining the education system including centralising exams to avoid a situation where students become holders of different certificates.However, an umbrella of non-governmental organizations operating across the country in the field of education, and which have been administering parallel national examinations, have been reluctant to let go of their function. They maintain they have filled the education gap for over two decades and should be allowed to continue.
Key Headlines
- Education Ministry Announces National Examinations Results (Goobjoog News)
- Somalia Set To Import Air Control Systems Equipment As Country Seeks To Regain Airspace Control(Kismaayo News)
- Puntland Says It Will Respond To Any ‘Aggression’ From Somaliland (Goobjoog News)
- Somalia’s Two Athletes Gear Up For Rio (Africa Review)
- Somalia Mulls Legislation To Fight FGM (Xinhua)
- Émigré Buri Hamza Left Family In Canada To Help Bring Order To Somalia (Globe and Mail)
- The Unstoppable Rise Of Somalia’s Premier League (Goobjoog News)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Set To Import Air Control Systems Equipment As Country Seeks To Regain Airspace Control
29 July 2016 – Source: Kismaayo News – 130 Words
In an effort to regain control of its airspace, the government of Somalia will soon import air control systems equipment.
Transport and Aviation Minister Ali Ahmed Jama told a Cabinet meeting that three containers full of the equipment were expected at the Mogadishu seaport in the next few weeks. This, he said, was a prerequisite for the implementation of the transition program, which would transfer full control of Somali airspace to the central government.
Somalia’s airspace has been under control of the Civil Aviation Caretaker Authority for Somalia (CACAS) mandated by the United Nations to manage the country’s airspace and collect over-flight revenues for Somalia. A transfer agreement was signed between the two sides in late 2014, which required Somalia to acquire the necessary manpower and equipment before full transfer.
Puntland Says It Will Respond To Any ‘Aggression’ From Somaliland
29 July – Source: Goobjoog News – 192 Words
The semi-autonomous regional state has vowed to take a firm response to any ”aggression” from the Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland.The move comes barely a week after forces from Somaliland and Puntland clashed in Sool region where over ten people lost their lives.
During a Cabinet meeting in Puntland, ministers are said to have vowed to regain their land allegedly grabbed from them by the Somaliland administration. Puntland has also severally accused Somaliland of financing and training the Al-Shabaab militants believed to be hiding in Galgala mountain ranges. Somaliland has however denied these accusations.
Both Somaliland and Puntland are in the north of the Horn of Africa nation and have enjoyed relative peace, while the south of the country has experienced anarchy since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.Somaliland, formerly the colony of British Somaliland, claims independence as a sovereign nation.Puntland on the other hand remains part of greater Somalia but generally administers its own affairs through its own military and government institutions.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia’s Two Athletes Gear Up For Rio
29 July – Source: Africa Review – 236 Words
Somalia’s only two athletes for the Rio games are intensifying training in Mogadishu.Maryan Nuh Muse and Mohamed Daud Mohamed will be participating in the track and field races and say they hope to create a personal record even if they do not win.The male Somali athlete, Kenyan born Mohamed Daud Mohamed is a former football player who now excels in the 5.000 metres.Mayan Nuh Muse will be competing in the 400 metres race and counts on her experience in international youth competitions.“My first trip abroad for competition was Botswana, in 2013. Then the Youth Olympic Games in China in 2014 and Congo-Brazzaville the same year. And more recently Tanzania in 2015. And now I am very happy to run in the 2016 Olympics” she said.
While in Rio, the Somali athletes will meet other competitors with better training facilities.They however say this has not reduced their confidence in any way. Somalia had many top athletes in the 80’s who either sought greener pastures or went on exile.“We have been training for seven months now and I hope that our efforts will bear fruits,” Mohamed Addow, who coaches the two athletes said.
Somalia Mulls Legislation To Fight FGM
28 July – Source: Xinhua – 294 Words
Somalia’s government said it will enact legislation to help end female genital mutilation (FGM) which is rampant in the Horn of African nation.Attorney General Ahmed Ali Dahir reaffirmed the government’s commitment to fighting FGM and other forms of gender violence in the country.”We need to specifically fight FGM. We need an enabling law…We should be specific about FGM and not mix it up with circumcision in general,” Dahir told a forum held in Mogadishu late Wednesday.
The forum brought together women leaders from all the regions in Somalia, federal government officials, representatives from regional states, religious leaders, legislators, clan elders and members of the civil society.Although FGM is against the constitution in Somalia, there is no legislation which bans it.A statement from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) said the Attorney General emphasized that Somalia needed to develop homegrown solutions to eradicate retrogressive practices.
According to the UN, FGM is considered a social ritual which is entrenched in Somali culture. It is defined as any procedure which involves altering or injuring the female genitalia for non-medical reasons.The UN Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) says the prevalence of FGM in Somalia is about 95 percent and that it is primarily performed on girls aged between four and 11.
Minister of Religious Affairs, Abdulkahdir Sheikh Ali Baghdad, backed calls for a complete end to the age-old practice.According to Ifrah Ahmed, the Founder of Ifrah Foundation, the conveners of the meeting, intense lobbying for legislation against FGM will continue. She said her organization would work with the Ministry of Women and Human Rights and partners such as AMISOM to ensure appropriate legislation is passed.AMISOM Gender Officer, Mane Ahmed, reiterated the mission’s commitment to supporting efforts to end the practice.
Émigré Buri Hamza Left Family In Canada To Help Bring Order To Somalia
28 July – Source: Globe and Mail – 1256 Words
As the Somali poet Warsan Shire notes, “No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark.” For many reluctant immigrants who find a safe new place to live, there remains a clash between gratitude for their new-found security and the lingering guilt of leaving behind everything they knew, as it crumbles.
Somali-born Buri Mohamed Hamza resolved his own conflicting impulses with grace and fortitude, first finding a safe haven in Canada for his young family during a time of political upheaval, then returning years later to help steer his country as a legislator. He was nominated in 2012 to the first Federal Parliament of Somalia, which restored political stability after years of unrest.
Mr. Hamza’s efforts to bring peace and order to his homeland ended in tragedy last month, however. He was among 15 people killed when al-Shabab militants detonated a car bomb at the Nasa Hablod Hotel in Mogadishu.Buri Mohamed Hamza was born on November 15, 1947, the first of seven siblings and half-siblings, in the southern Somali city of Barawa (also known as Brava). He was a member of the Benadiri ethnic minority, a people originating from the country’s southern coastal region. His father, Mohamed Hamsa Abdulwahab, died when he was three, and although his mother, Fatima Haji Mumin, remarried, he was raised primarily by her father, his grandfather, Haji Mumin. From a young age, he stood out as a leader within his community, helping others read and write in English and filling out forms for people. He took care of his mother and siblings, helping them all resettle outside of Somalia amid the political unrest over the years.
Mr. Hamza also departed from his homeland, moving to Long Beach, Calif., as a young man to study biology at California State University, graduating in 1970. He earned a master’s degree in zoology from Cairo University soon after. In both cities, Mr. Hamza sought out the company of other young Somali students, finding among them kindred spirits and comforting reminders of home.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“While Somali Premier League still doesn’t match Kenya’s Premier League, for instance, one advantage the local league enjoys is the undivided passion among Somalis for soccer in this country. From the young kids to women to the old, the Somali people have a very great affection for soccer, and the recently concluded Inter State Tourney is prove to this fact.”
The Unstoppable Rise Of Somalia’s Premier League
29 July – Source: Goobjoog News – 1,428 Words
Every weekend soccer supporters from around the world are treated to great entertainment from different leagues around the world. From English Premier League (EPL) to LA LIGA, SERIA A and LEAGUE 1, soccer is beamed in our living rooms for those who prefer to enjoy it with the family, while those who prefer to engage rival fans will flood into local pubs to down a few pints soda or alcoholic beverage while hoping to catch a moment of brilliance from their favorite superstars, such as Wayne Rooney of Manchester United or Olivier Giroud of Arsenal FC.
In most cases this is the highlight of the weekend after a long week of hard work trying to put food on the table for the family. Usually it is a welcome relief as they recharge for the coming week.What’s surprising, though, is that this craze for soccer scene — minus, perhaps, the lack of authentic Somali social joints — is replicated week in and week out all over the country, from Jubbaland in the south to Puntland in the north. The local appeal for Somali Premier League coupled with emerging regional broadcasting agreements, has made the SPL an economic juggernaut.
Since its inaugural season back in 2010, the SPL has grown from a minnow into a whale. Before that, from the early 1940s, the league was known as an edition: for example 13th edition and so on.SPL is slowly gaining corporate recognition besides attracting foreign talent. In 2013/2014 season Nation Link Telcom entered into the scene by becoming title sponsors for at least two seasons ending in 2014/2015.The recently concluded 2015/2016 season did not have a title sponsor. The Somali Football Federation could not get any title sponsor and therefore had to finance the participating clubs directly. .
“The Somali Premier League really has grown from strength to strength,” says GoobJoog Sports Editor, Hussein Hadafow: “Increasing broadcasting awareness has been the major reason for the league’s success with new sporting Channels like Gool Fm dedicating resources to broadcast sports as well the new Kid On The Block Mogadishu Cable, who promise to air several matches in the coming months.”
TOP TWEETS
@fqdayib:We are a sovereign entity. #Somalia is bleeding because of us. We are the homegrown solution to our homegrown mess.
@EUNAVFOR:ESPS Santa Maria joins her #OpAtalantacolleagues during refueling. EU warships keeping seas off#Somalia safe.
@UNGeneva:”@Refugees is committed to ensuring that all returns to #Somalia are voluntary” – UNHCR reps at@UNGeneva.
@ExxAfrica:Next government #Somalia will face inter-clan disputes, rivalry among autonomous administrations and its neighbours
@amisomsomalia:It’s the responsibility of all of us to save our girls from this retrogressive practice. #Somalia. #SomEndFGM
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Participants at a recent workshop on FGM organised by the Ifrah Foundation.
Photo: Radio Muqdisho