NATIONAL MEDIA
29 July – Source: Goobjoog – 138 Words
The Somali Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ahmed Isse Awad on Sunday received the new Country Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Somalia, Mr Cesar Arroyo, at his office.
The meeting discussed the mutual cooperation between the Federal Government of Somalia and the World Food Programme and its activities throughout the country, including encouraging Somali farmers by purchasing their agricultural produce, providing employment opportunities for young people, empowering women and paying attention to residents of remote rural areas in the country in a bid to improve livelihoods to reduce recurrent droughts.
The WFP Somalia Country Director thanked the Minister for his warm reception and reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to help the Somali people in dealing with food crisis and droughts. WFP operates in Somalia to address basic food needs, strengthen coping mechanisms and support efforts to achieve food security.
29 July – Source: SONNA – 133 Words
Somalia’s Finance Minister, Abdirahman Beileh, who is on a working visit to the United States, met with officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington and discussed ongoing efforts by the Finance Ministry to reform financial system of the country.
Minister Beileh said that he shared with the officials the status of the Somali government’s reform progress and thanked them for their continued support. During his stay in the United States, Minister Beileh attended the Somali Diaspora Summit in Washington where called on all Somalis everywhere to work harder and together to contribute to national development.
He specifically praised the Somali diaspora for contributing positively to the economic recovery of the country and their sustained support to members of their families back home. The summit was organised by the Somali mission in Washington.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
29 July – Source: Daily Nation – 495 Words
Insecurity in Somalia is diminishing the numbers of refugees willing to return home from the Dadaab camps in northern Kenya, the United Nations said recently. A total of 84,230 Somalis have taken part in the UN’s voluntary return programme since its inception five years ago. So far this year, fewer than 1400 have gone back to Somalia under UN auspices. The total population of the nearly 30-year-old Dadaab refugee complex, which the Kenyan government is seeking to close for security reasons, has dwindled only slightly in recent months. Kenyan officials have said that Dadaab is the scene of al-Shabaab plotting and recruitment. The Dadaab head count stood at 210,472 at the end of June. That represents a decline of only 84 persons over the past three months.
“Diminishing interest in voluntary repatriation is continued to be observed in the three camps” that make up the Dadaab complex, the UN refugee agency said on Friday. “This may be linked to the limited number of return areas due to political developments which have impacted on the security situation in the country,” the UN agency added.
It noted that prior to the start of Somalia’s election season last October Somali refugees were able to return voluntarily to as many as 10 areas designated as safe. But since last October, the UN agency has been able to assist returns to only two areas: Kismayo and Mogadishu. Those refugees who agree to return to Somalia from Dadaab can currently do so only by air. “Facilitation of road movement remains suspended due to military operations en route to Kismayo, Baidoa and other major return areas,” the UN agency said.
Meanwhile, thousands of Somalis who took part in the voluntary repatriation programme have returned to Dadaab, likely due to threatened or actual violence and inability to find work in their homeland. Nearly 3,300 Somalis who had agreed to go home have come back to Dadaab in recent months and are awaiting processing in the camps. They are among a total of 15,302 “undocumented persons” who are living in Dadaab but are apparently not included in the UN agency’s overall count of residents in the camps….
29 July – Source: Hapa Kenya – 301 Words
IBS Bank has launched the World Elite Mastercard debit card, providing its high net worth cardholders with a range of priceless benefits and privileges that can be accessed at home and abroad. The new offering gives cardholders an unrivalled array of specially curated travel, lifestyle and insurance benefits. These include access to handpicked luxury experiences and shopping opportunities in cities around the world, discounted car rental and chauffeur services, complimentary nights at select hotels and resorts, as well as access to premium airline services.
Cardholders also have the added convenience of a dedicated 24/7 concierge service to book travel or exclusive lifestyle experiences such access to the best and exclusive events, reserving the chef’s table for a special anniversary, planning the getaway of a lifetime and lining up a celebrity guest for a birthday celebration. A Lounge Key ensures that travel always feels like a privilege for IBS Bank’s customers with unlimited, complimentary access to over 1000 lounges in more than 450 cities in over 135 countries, worldwide.
For additional peace of mind when travelling, the offering also includes several insurance benefits including travel medical insurance, vehicle collision damage waivers, and luggage and purchase protection. A plug and play points’ exchange rewards programme also allows IBS Bank’s customers to exchange their points for major loyalty currencies at airline and hotel programmes.
Mahat Mohamed Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer, IBS Bank, had this to say, “By introducing World Elite in the Somalia market, IBS Bank is implementing its wider strategy of opening up the market to more exclusive financial services by deploying new and exciting offerings. In this agenda, IBS Bank is determined to introduce innovative products that create convenience in banking to meet the ever changing lifestyles of the people in Somalia and the wider region, thereby growing the financial sector.”
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“It wasn’t at the back of my mind. I’ve been at this for a long time, and trying to get any film made where the lead is female, and the narrative is not told in relation to a male character, has been nearly impossible. I really believe in telling this story, but the odds are stacked against us. In European cinema, there is no film that I’m aware of which is a single-character narrative of a first-generation immigrant woman into a white country, and that’s taken off.”
27 July – Source: The National Student – 943 Words
A Girl from Mogadishu, from writer-director Mary McGuckian, depicts the harrowing true story of Ifrah Ahmed, a refugee from war-torn Somalia who was trafficked to Ireland in 2006. Ahmed later became an international activist against gender-based violence and female genital mutilation, of which she was a victim. We spoke to McGuckian about her latest film, which stars Aja Naomi King as Ahmed.
When and how did you first come across Ifrah’s story?
Mary: I first met Ifrah at a UN event, an event for young, emerging filmmakers from Africa – and I thought she was one of the filmmakers, but she wasn’t – somebody had brought her along to see if I, as an Irish female filmmaker, would want to make a documentary about her. So I met her; I knew who she was. She’s an extraordinary person and when you’re thinking about making a film, there’s always three questions I ask before committing: first is, would I be fascinated by the topic? I knew what FGM was, but I didn’t know much, so that was shocking. The second was, in Ifrah’s story is there a compelling character that could carry a narrative? And of course there is. The third was, is there an underlying thesis that warrants more than a documentary treatment? I felt there was once I spoke to her and understood the power of testimony, and how she used her story as a campaign to change world views.
Was Ifrah involved in the making of this?
Mary: Hugely; she had to be. She was very, very young, I was taking a very sensitive topic and turning her experience into a movie. I didn’t want her to have a cinema legacy she wasn’t comfortable with, and the point of making the film is partly to support what she does. So she had to be involved. The fundamental question for me was always, is there a universal thesis that warrants a cinematic telling of the story. And in order to be true to Ifrah’s story and to give it voice, a voice that I didn’t necessarily have – I had half a voice, I’m female, I’m Irish – but I’m not an African immigrant and I’ve not experienced FGM… and in that exploration of how I would facilitate her story, was this idea of the power of testimony. The whole structure of the film is in her own telling. What’s extraordinary is that we started the film around the time that #MeToo happened, and the premise of the film is the power of one young girl’s courage to stand up and tell her truth. There’s an overwhelming focus on the experiences of white, middle-class women in this #MeToo and Time’s Up era…. |
