September 20, 2017 | Morning Headlines
Southwest Defends Its Decision To Cut Ties With Qatar
19 September- Source: Shabelle News – 157 Words
Southwest state of Somalia has defended its decision to side with Saudi-led coalition against Qatar on Gulf diplomatic crisis. The State Minister for Security of Southwest administration, Abdulkadir Abdirahman Ali, told Radio Shabelle that the move came following consultations with the people in the region. Ali said the many people from Southwest are living in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE), where some run large businesses, more than any other countries in the Gulf states. The minister added that the Somali government’s recent stand to stay neutral in the Gulf crisis was made without much consideration and consultation with the regional states.
Southwest is the second regional administration in Somalia to side with Saudi-led bloc after Puntland which took the same decision in August, calling the Federal government to reverse its stance. This is a new challenge for the Federal government led by President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, which stood a neutral position on the three-month Gulf crises.
Key Headlines
- Southwest Defends Its Decision To Cut Ties With Qatar (Shabelle News)
- AU Police hands over office equipment to the Somali Police Force (SONNA)
- Yemen: Assisted Spontaneous Returns For Somali Refugees Begins (Garowe Online)
- OFID Funds Solar Lanterns Project In Somalia (Emirates News Agency)
- How effective is Turkey’s Africa initiative? (Hiiraan Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
AU Police Hands Over Office Equipment To The Somali Police Force
19 September – Source: Somali National News Agency (SONNA) – 357 Words
The Police component of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) yesterday handed over an assortment office equipment to the Somali Police Force. The equipment donated by the Danish government was officially handed over to General Ahmed Hassan Malin, the commander of the Banadir Police Station in Mogadishu, by the AMISOM Deputy Police Commissioner Ms. Christine Alalo. “We have a mandate here in Somalia and our mandate is to build the capacity of the Somali police forces. This includes, training, mentoring, operational support; you see the Formed Police Unit (FPU) that undertake day and night patrols. We also do strategic advising, but most of all, we are supposed to support them in terms of logistics and equipment, (and) to equip the police stations,” Ms. Alalo explained, as she handed over the equipment to her counterpart.
The equipment which included office furniture; desktop computers, printers, folding chairs, tables, cabinets, solar torches and solar lamps, will be distributed to various police stations in Mogadishu. General Ahmed Hassan Malin said the consignment will go along way in facilitating the work of police officers, to maintain law and order. “We are grateful for the donation brought to us by our brothers at AMISOM Police. We will distribute them to four police stations in Banadir and I know they will enhance greatly our operations,” General Malin stated. “The cabinets will be used for storing documents and the solar torches for night patrols,” he added.
The Head of Logistics of the Somali Police Force, General Omar Mohamed Hassan lauded AMISOM Police and the Danish government for the donation. “This equipment simplifies our work. Instead of using fuel for lighting, we will use solar. There will be no more typewriters, as the officers will now use computers,” he noted. AMISOM Police skills and mentors Somali police officers to effectively maintain law and order across the country. They also train them on the consequences of sexual and gender-based violence, human rights observance and protection in conflict and post- conflict environments, community policing, traffic management and basic criminal investigation techniques, which are critical areas in the maintenance of law and order.
Yemen: Assisted Spontaneous Returns For Somali Refugees Begins
18 September – Source: Garowe Online – 480 Words
In the first UNHCR-assisted spontaneous return movement for Somali refugees from Yemen, 133 refugees departed yesterday for Somalia. Given the current life-threatening conditions in Yemen for many civilians, including refugees, UNHCR is supporting the voluntary returns of Somali refugees who constitute 91% of Yemen’s over 280,000 refugees and asylum seekers, or some 256,000 individuals. Returning refugees are being assisted by UNHCR and partners with documentation, transportation and financial support in Yemen to facilitate the journey, as well as return and reintegration assistance upon arrival in Somalia.
The first group of UNHCR-assisted returnees left the Port of Aden last night on a vessel chartered by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which is working in partnership with UNHCR for these returns. The sea journey takes approximately 16 to 18 hours from the time of departure with the vessel expected to arrive in Somalia’s Port of Berbera. UNHCR has also been working in close partnership with relevant national authorities in both Somalia and Yemen, including Somalia’s National High Commission for Refugee and IDPs (NCRI) and Yemen’s Immigration, Passport and Naturalization Authority (IPNA) to facilitate the returns, including with the issuance of relevant documentation and the coordination of assistance.
Those returning were residing in either the Kharaz refugee camp in Lahj Governorate or the Basateen District in Aden. Returnees or those intending to return have informed UNHCR staff that the prevailing situation in Yemen and fears for their safety and personal security are driving their return. Though most Somali refugees who are registered in Yemen originate from the Banadir, Lower Shabelle, Bay, Middle Shabelle and Woqooyi Galbeed regions in Somalia, most refugees opt to return to Mogadishu in the anticipation that assistance and services will be more accessible and available. Upon departure returnees received a cash grant and on arrival in Somalia, they will be assisted with enhanced reintegration assistance, including an initial reinstallation grant, non-food items or cash equivalents, food vouchers, and subsistence allowances among other assistance.
In Yemen, UNHCR has been providing protection and services for refugees and asylum seekers including by providing legal assistance, supporting education and livelihoods programs, and providing access to health and pyscho-social services and a cash programme for people with specific needs amongst others. With current circumstances in Yemen life-threatening for many civilians, including refugees, UNHCR, Yemeni national authorities and humanitarian partners face significant challenges in ensuring adequate protection, humanitarian assistance, and access to essential, life-saving services for refugees. In response to the intentions of a number of refugees who have expressed their intention to UNHCR to return home to Somalia, UNHCR is providing support for up to 10,000 Somali refugees who have made the choice to return, based on the information received at Return Help Desks on conditions in Somalia and on the assistance package offered. UNHCR’s humanitarian operations in Yemen will continue to provide support to refugees who remain in Yemen.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
OFID Funds Solar Lanterns Project In Somalia
19 September – Source: Emirates News Agency – 417 Words
Lanterns will be distributed to female headed households within IDP (internally displaced persons) communities in Mogadishu, as part of a renewable energy project financed by the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID). Solar lanterns can significantly improve safety, especially for women and girls in IDP communities, and provide the opportunity for school children to study after dark. The lanterns are also a clean and safe source of light that can replace potentially hazardous forms of lighting such as candles and kerosene lamps, helping to reduce the risk of fire, and the negative health impacts of burning kerosene indoors.
Each household will receive a pair of lanterns: one which can be used for cooking and charging mobile phones, and to provide safety by lighting the way to toilets and other areas of the camps, and one for the specific purpose of enabling children to study in the evenings. Mr. Elmi Omar Elmi, Deputy Minister for the Federal Ministry for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, thanked OFID and UNDP for their ongoing support as the solar lanterns were handed over. “Internally displaced people need special attention and the support from OFID and UNDP in providing clean energy gives new hope for vulnerable IDP communities in Mogadishu” he said.
Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, Director-General of OFID, reiterated that providing safe sources of energy is vital to increasing the safety and well-being of marginalised communities. “The lanterns will offer people in displaced communities a chance to move forward towards better standards of living, despite the difficulties they continue to face,” he said. Speaking at the handover, UNDP Somalia Country Director George Conway, said UNDP’s energy work is delivered in partnership with the Somali Government and in line with the Government’s National Development Plan. “UNDP will continue to work closely with both the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation and the Ministry for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, as well as with international partners such as OFID, to assist with the delivery of clean and renewable energy across Somalia,” he said.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“In 2017, the Global Humanitarian Assistance Report ranked Turkey the world’s second largest humanitarian donor after the U.S. and the world’s most generous nation compared to its gross national income. In doing so, Ankara has devoted 0.75 percent of its gross national income (GNI) for humanitarian assistance and donated more than one fifth of the total $27.3 billion humanitarian aid in the previous year.”
How Effective Is Turkey’s Africa Initiative?
18 September – Source: Hiiraan Online – 1548 Words
Turkey’s engagement policy in Africa is effective and fruitful, paving the way for a new era in bilateral relations between Africa and Turkey Turkish foreign policy has shifted in the last two decades mainly due to the end of the Cold War and the subsequent disappearance of the Soviet bloc. Since then, Ankara has adopted a multilateral and comprehensive foreign policy by establishing relations with eastern regions, particularly regions with which it had historical ties before the creation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923. These regions include Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. So now it’s imperative to examine Turkish engagements in Africa. As a young African man with considerable understanding of the continent and strong cultural connections with the Middle East, I think Turkish engagements in Africa are effective and beneficial for both sides.
Historically, the Ottoman Empire, which ruled some parts of the world for over 500 years, had a foothold in Africa. North Africa, which is geographically nearer to Spain and the rest of Western Europe than Turkey and the Middle East, was regarded as part of the greater Ottoman state and was defended against Spanish incursions. In sub-Saharan Africa, Ottoman influence was minimal and to some extent did not exist. When the Turkish Republic was created in 1923, Ankara adopted a foreign policy based on Westernization and secularism, which reflected the Kemalist perception of international relations. The building blocks of this policy were secularism and modernization by looking to the West for direction (westernization) and cutting ties with the Ottoman past, keeping the country together through securitization based on the defined borders of the republic, and pursuing inward-looking non-interventionist/non-
The end of 2017 will mark two decades of Turkish activism in Africa. Following its “opening to Africa policy” adopted in the Action Plan 1998 as well as the subsequent declaration of 2005 as “The Year of Africa,” Turkey has been active on the African continent since 2002 when the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), Turkey’s ruling party, came to power. In the same year, the African Union granted Turkey observer status at the organization’s headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and in 2008, the first ever Turkish-Africa economic summit was held in Istanbul with representatives from 50 African countries attending. The same year, then Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan declared that Africa had a significant place in Turkish foreign policy, and for this reason, Turkey increased its diplomatic missions in the continent by opening 15 new embassies. Since then, the Turkish presence is hugely felt on the continent, and its cooperation with African states has increased considerably. In 2011, the African Economic Outlook (AEO) jointly produced by the African Development Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), described Turkey as one of the most important partners in Africa.
Considering these successful gains in bilateral relations, there are at least four main entry points of Turkey’s involvement in Africa: First, Turkey has had historical ties with Africa that date back to the 15th and 16th centuries. During this period, North Africa was an integral part of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey developed relations with sub-Saharan Africa in the 19th century when the decolonization process began. Second, Turkey is determined to make allies by increasing economic and political ties with various states on the continent. One notable project that has marked a turning point in Africa-Turkey economic relations was the launching of “The Strategy Development of Economic Relationships with Africa” in 2003. Ever since, Turkey has pursued a very robust, cohesive foreign policy to increase its ties with African states. Ankara now operates 39 embassies across Africa. As part of the opening to Africa policy, Erdoğan, as both prime minister and president, embarked on 39 trips to Africa and became the first Turkish leader to visit 23 African countries in the history of the Republic of Turkey. On the economic front, Turkish flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) has extensively increased its operation and daily flights to and from the African continent.