September 19, 2013 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Somalia explains donor funds use
19 Sept – Source: Daily Nation – 423 words
Somali President Hassan Sheikh has said that a joint financial board, including Somali officials and representatives from the donor community, will manage the funds pledged during the New Deal for Somalia conference in Brussels on Monday.
“The joint financial board will manage the nation’s (Somalia) economy in the most transparent manner,” remarked Mohamud. He added that donor countries and organizations are going to have a significant representation.
The Somali leader’s remarks comes after it was declared that a total of Euro 1.8bn ($2.4bn) was pledged by more than 70 countries and organisations that took part in the New Deal for Somalia conference.
Key Headlines
- Somalia explains donor funds use (Daily Nation)
- Efforts to contain Shabelle river floods continue (Radio Dalsan)
- Ahmed Madobe arrives in Denmark (Kismaayo Online)
- Hizbul Islam splits while leader is in jail (Somali Current News)
- Sudan FM affirms firmness of relations with Somali government and people (SUNA News)
- Armed guards now deployed on 80% of container ships and tankers says Seatrade (Emirates News Agency)
- New hope for Somalis as Iran increases humanitarian aid (Press TV)
- Aggressive patrolling has deterred piracy in Somalia: Experts (Business Standard)
SOMALI MEDIA
Efforts to contain Shabelle river floods continue
19 Sept – Source: Radio Dalsan – 135 words
Local efforts continue in the town of Jowhar, the capital of Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region where heavy floods from the Shabelle river poured and cut off the main roads. Local organizations including the Somali Red Crescent Society and the regional administration launched efforts to counter the floods mitigating the flooding channels of the river.
As reported by Dalsan Radio reporter Maka Bella, the locals managed to shut at least 15 metres of the thirty metres where the floods were pouring to the main road connects Jowhar town to Mogadishu, the country’s capital city.
Meanwhile it was reported that the floods reached new rural villages on the north of Jowhar, where the efforts to avert were not possible.
Ahmed Madobe arrives in Denmark
19 Sept – Source: Kismaayo Online/Dhanaan Online/Kismaayo News – 98 words
The Interim Jubba Administration leader Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Ahmed Madobe) arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark on Wednesday after attending the Brussels Somalia conference. The leader’s entourage includes former Somali Prime Minister Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke and Prof. Mohamed Abdi Gandi who is a member of the Somali parliament.
Ahmed Madobe is set to meet on Thursday night with the large Scandinavian Somali community who will have the opportunity to be briefed on the latest situation on Jubba, the Addis Ababa agreement and the reconciliation process of which its first phase was recently concluded in Mogadishu.
Hizbul Islam splits while leader is in jail
19 Sept – Source: Somali Current News – 135 words
Dispute looms between officials of Hizbul Islam group, which is among the Somali Islamists led by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys who was arrested by the Somali government and is currently in custody for the third month in Mogadishu.
The spokesperson of Hizbul Islam, Mohamed Moallim told reporters in Mogadishu that his faction renounced violence and wanted to hold talks with the Somali government to support peace and reconciliation in Somalia.
“Hizbul Islam had a meeting in Mogadishu recently and we decided to stop the fighting and be part of the political reconciliation process in the country,” Mohamed Moalim said.
Separately, Ismail Haji Addow, the general secretary of the group’s consultative council denied that his group was ready to have a dialogue with the Somali government and added that they fired Mohamed Moallim from the organization.
Telecom foundation gives business grants to IDP widows
19 Sept – Source: Radio Ergo – 227 words
The charitable arm of the telecommunications company Hormud has given grants of $300 each to 10 IDP widows to help them start their own small businesses. Halima Jaylani Mohamed, a mother of six children, is one of the beneficiaries. For years, she has been struggling to get food for her children. She said she is now very hopeful about setting up a small business that will provide a lifeline for her family. “I will use this money to buy vegetables, charcoal and other commodities from big markets and then I will sell them around my camp,” Mohamed told Radio Ergo’s local reporter.
Another widowed mother, Jamila Adan Yusuf, said her husband was killed in a mortar attack on Mogadishu’s main market several years ago, as he was out to get food for his family. Since then, she had been the sole provider for her seven children, all under the age of 18. “I believe this grant will build our hopes and help us to improve our living conditions,” Yusuf told Radio Ergo in Mogadishu.
The head of Hormud Foundation, Abdullahi Osman, said their aim was to help displaced and widowed mothers make their own businesses to provide for their families. He said this was the first allocation of an ongoing plan to support displaced and poor families in Mogadishu.
One killed, another wounded as government forces clash
18 Sept – Source: Radio Mustaqbal – 131 words
At least one person has been killed and another one was wounded in clash between government forces in Wanleweyne district in Lower Shabelle region, Southern of Somalia.
Report said that the clash was between troops loyal to the district commissioner and deputy security chairman of Wanleweyne. The Radio Mustaqbal correspondent reported that the fighting erupted after dispute between the two individuals emerged.
Confrontations inside of government troops mostly take place in areas where the government of Somalia controls. No Comment still from the administration of Wanleweyne district and also the entire administration of Lower Shabelle region.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Somalia explains donor funds use
19 Sept – Source: Daily Nation – 423 words
Somali President Hassan Sheikh has said that a joint financial board, including Somali officials and representatives from the donor community, will manage the funds pledged during the New Deal for Somalia conference in Brussels on Monday.
“The joint financial board will manage the nation’s (Somalia) economy in the most transparent manner,” remarked Mohamud. He added that donor countries and organizations are going to have a significant representation.
The Somali leader’s remarks comes after it was declared that a total of Euro 1.8bn ($2.4bn) was pledged by more than 70 countries and organisations that took part in the New Deal for Somalia conference.
Sudan FM affirms firmness of relations with Somali government and people
18 Sept – Source: SUNA – 173 Words
The Foreign Minister, Ali Ahmed Karti, has affirmed the deeply-rooted relations between Sudan and the government and people of Somalia, pointing to the different initiatives and efforts extorted by Sudan for reaching peace in Somalia.
This came when he headed Sudan delegation for the International High-Level Conference on Somalia which was held in Brussels by the European Union in collaboration with the government of Somalia on September 16.
The minister has called on the countries participating at the conference and the European Union to give concern to the issues of regional cooperation between the countries at the region, stressing that the regional cooperation contributes to boosting the joint interests and helps creating better opportunities for the region.
Armed guards now deployed on 80% of container ships and tankers, says Seatrade
18 Sept – Source: Emirates News Agency – 752 words
Seatrade Middle East Work Boats ‘&’ Offshore Marine 2013, the region’s leading event for workboat operators, builders and the offshore marine market, returns to the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) on 30 September to 2 October 2013, with a dedicated forum on day one, focusing on operational excellence in Africa, Seatrade. organisers of the event announced.
Piracy, especially the lessons learned, will heavily feature at the event, when the topic of marine security is raised during a panel session on the opening day.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
New hope for Somalis as Iran increases humanitarian aid
19 Sept – Source: Press TV – 293 words
Iran’s Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation, I-K-R-F has recently donated sewing machines to women in the Somali capital Mogadishu as part of its humanitarian relief and support to the Horn of Africa country.
As many as 50 women and girls, living in Mogadishu, have taken training courses to learn how to work with these machines. Iran has several vocational training centers in the city that take up the responsibility of teaching work skills to Somali women.
These women have received certificates after passing the sewing courses and now they can open up their own business. Iranian officials here say they’re prepared to assist a friendly Muslim country that’s on the path to self-sufficiency.
Aggressive patrolling has deterred piracy in Somalia: Experts
19 Sept – Source: Buinsess Standard – 225 Words
Piracy in open waters off the coast of Somalia has dropped significantly as a result of aggressive patrolling by international naval forces coupled with the use of private armed security contractors’ onboard vessels, experts said.
Piracy attacks off the coast of Somalia have now plummeted to the lowest levels since 2006 as a result of increased patrolling by navies from the US, Europe and Asia as well as the employment of armed guards onboard ships, organisers of Seatrade Middle East Work Boats and Offshore Marine 2013 said. Seatrade is the region’s leading event for workboat operators, builders and the offshore marine market.
“According to Thomas Kelly, the US State Department official in charge of counter-piracy policy, four out of five container ships and tankers now deploy armed guards. Once pirates realise this, they will look for a softer target,” Seatrade Chairman, Chris Hayman, said.
In the Gulf of Aden and Somalia, eight piracy incidents, including two hijackings, were recorded by the International Marine Bureau’s (IMB) global piracy report in the first half of 2013.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
If Aweys is released, it could lead to frustration and demoralisation among the numerous people who were harmed during conflicts with the group he led,”
What the jailing — or freeing — of Aweys means for Somalia
18 Sept – Source: Sabahi Online – 873 Words
Former al Shabaab leader Hassan Dahir Aweys has been in Somali government custody for more than two months, but President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s administration has yet to make clear whether it plans to prosecute the militant or let him go.
The 77-year-old surrendered to Himan and Heeb authorities on June 25th after fleeing factional fighting in Barawe between forces loyal to top al Shabaab commander Ahmed Abdi Godane and second-in-command Ibrahim al-Afghani, who is now deceased.
Himan and Heeb authorities then handed Aweys to Somali government authorities who promptly arrested him, sparking protests among his loyalists demanding his release.
When the federal government last issued a statement on Aweys in July, Mohamud said his administration would announce its decision later, without going into detail. The prolonged wait has led people to question how the Somali government intends to hold accountable those who are accused of committing crimes against civilians.
Top tweets
@tresthomas_HOA Reminder to come hang out with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud this Friday in DChttp://www.wilsoncenter.org/
@JACQUESCAMERON_ #Somalia has remained the country with the largest number of children associated with armed groups @childreninwar.
@farahblue An Old Deal for #Somalia is back hours after the#newdeal concluded @TheVillaSomaliapic.twitter.com/4qCQAtNUYq.
@StateCSO Promising signs from the international community as the EU promises further aid to #Somalia: http://ow.ly/oZzWK.
@onderul Turkish business activity in #Somalia creating jobs, teaching Somalis skills and creating less aid dependency.http://qz.com/124918.
Image of the day
Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta (L) welcomes Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud prior to a meeting at Chigi Palace in Rome on September 18, 2013. Photo: AFP/Getty Images.