NATIONAL MEDIA
5 September – Source: Halbeeg – 168 Words
The Somali government has called upon the South African government to protect and safeguard the lives and property of Somali citizens in the country. Press Statement from the Ministry of Information called for Pretoria to take more measures to curb the violence targeting business properties. “Somali government is closely watching the xenophobic violence meted against foreigners in South Africa and therefore calls upon the government to take measures to ensure the safety of Somali citizens and their property.”
The federal government further called upon its citizens in South Africa to exercise vigilance amid the increasing violence while appealing them to establish close contact with the embassy. “Government calls upon its citizens in South Africa to be extra vigilant and seek more information from the diplomatic mission in the country.” Several businesses were torched since the violence started, among those affected include Somali business centres mainly in the major cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria. So far two Somalis have been confirmed to have been killed in the xenophobic attacks
4 September – Source: Garowe Online – 224 Words
Liberian President George Weah has pleaded with the government of Japan to help extend the ongoing Somalia Drive Road project. Speaking at the Roberts International Airport in Margibi County upon his arrival from the seventh edition of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Yokohama, Japan, President Weah said his appeal was to enable the ongoing Somalia Drive Road project connected with the Gabriel Tucker Bridge in Monrovia and the Hotel Africa Road. “We asked them to see how best they can complement the Somalia Drive Road to be able to connect to the Gabriel Tucker Bridge and to also extend it to the Hotel Africa route,” President Weah told journalists.
The plea, according to President Weah, was made during a negotiation with his Japanese counterparts, aimed at bringing specific benefit between both countries as well as strengthening Liberia-Japan tie. The governments of Liberia and Japan in a bilateral meeting held on Friday, August 30, at the Aegean Intercontinental Yokohama Grand in the City of Yokohama agreed to strengthen cooperation and international relations as well as committed to infrastructural developments. President Weah said composition surrounding the conference started early June 2019, describing it as successful and a platform that presented good debates. During the conference, President Weah expressed regret over Liberia’s backwardness in socioeconomic growth, attributing it to improper application of technology.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
5 September, Source: AMISOM – 587 Words
After exercising control and managing peace and security in the area for five years, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on Monday handed over Warsheikh Forward Operating Base to the Somali Security Forces, as dictated by the Somali Transition Plan. The Somalia Transition Plan is a comprehensive guide to transfer security responsibility to Somali National Security Forces ahead of AMISOM’s anticipated exit in 2021. Warsheikh Forward Operating Base (FOB), which was a base for the Burundi National Defence Force (BNDF) since 2014, was handed over to HirShabelle Police Commissioner, Hassan Dhiisow Hassan, by AMISOM Deputy Force Commander in charge of Operations and Plans, Maj. Gen. James Nakibus Lakara at a ceremony held in Warsheikh District. “AMISOM has handed over the Somali National University, Mogadishu Stadium, Jaalle Siyad Military Academy, Via Afmadow in Kismayo and now we are handing over Warsheikh,” Maj. Gen. Lakara said.
Paying tribute to Burundi forces, Maj. Gen. Lakara said that BNDF had sacrificed a lot in Somalia and had worked hard with the local communities to maintain peace in the area. He then urged the Somali Security Forces taking over the base to observe discipline and secure the area. Situated about 70 kilometres to the north of Mogadishu city, Warsheikh was captured in 2014 during “Operation Indian Ocean” and it has since served as a key route that secures the Mogadishu-Cadale Main Supply Route (MSR) to enable the free movement of goods and people. This handover is part of the implementation of the Somali Transition Plan that specifies a gradual transfer of security responsibility to the Somali Security Forces and the Somali Federal Government.
Somalia’s Deputy Minister of Internal Security, Abdinasir Seid Musse, described the handover as a testament to the positive trajectory the country is making towards lasting peace and saluted AMISOM for its efforts to bring peace and security to Somalia. “It’s clear that the Transition Plan is in full swing and we are here to witness that Warsheikh will, from now henceforth, be the responsibility of the Somali Police Force,” Abdinasir, said. The base will now be under the control of the Somali Police Force who completed AMISOM Police training in Jowhar and it will serve as the operational base to secure over 50 villages around Warsheikh district. Warsheikh is the third FOB that the Burundian forces have handed over after Somali National University in July 2017 and Jaalle Siyaad Military Academy in March 2019…….
5 September – Source: The Star – 109 Words
Basuba ward residents have reason to be happy after the opening of a Sh7 million health centre at Kiangwe village six years since terrorists torched their dispensaries. They have been without a medical facility since 2014 when al Shabaab militants looted, vandalised and torched their dispensaries. The health centre will serve the over 3,000 residents from the Boni villages of Kiangwe, Basuba, Mangai, Mararani and Milimani. Lamu Medical Services chief officer Mohamed Kombo said the new facility is fully equipped with drugs, equipment and staff. “We can’t allow terrorism to win and that’s why we are ensuring our people continue to access the services they need,” Kombo said.
4 September – Source: Max Planck Foundation – 182 Words
On 27 August 2019, the Minister of Interior, Federal Affairs & Democratisation of the Puntland State Government in Somalia, HE Mohamed Abdirahman Ahmed, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Max Planck Foundation on the continuation of cooperation. This cooperation is aimed at enhancing the capacities of the Ministry on issues of comparative public law related to the establishment of a federal state structure in Somalia. The Memorandum of Understanding covers a period of seventeen months and includes a number of capacity building workshops and advisory activities facilitated through a Foundation trained Somali Legal Adviser embedded in the Ministry. Through the project “Capacity Building and Legal Advice on Political Decentralisation and Federalism in Somalia”, the Foundation supports the main actors of the Somali decentralisation and federalisation process, including the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation of the Somali Federal Government, and the Federal Member State Governments of Galmudug, Hirshabelle, Jubaland, Puntland and South West State, as well as the self-declared independent Republic of Somaliland. The project is generously funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Somali-Americans said that young people may be more hesitant to share their addiction with members of the older generation, many of whom have dealt with their own traumas as refugees and stigmatize drug use. “It’s really hard when you as a parent are dealing with your own stuff and you have your child dealing with something that’s pretty unknown to you,” Abukar said.”
4 September – Source: Star Tribune – 960 Words
After Khadar Abi descended into drug addiction, he went to jail. He saw friends overdose. Yet he struggled to be open about it with his family. “In Somalia … we have a stigma [that] whoever uses drugs, he’s crazy, he’s sick,” said Abi, 21, now 1½ years sober from alcohol and opioids. Substance abuse, particularly opioids, strikes people from all different backgrounds. But discussion of it is gaining more attention in the Twin Cities’ East African community. Religious leaders are talking about the problem at mosques, treatment centres are opening for East African clients and members of the community are gathering to speak more openly about addiction. “People are dying, so we’re going to have the conversations to talk about addiction and mental health,” Yussuf Shafie, an addiction counsellor.
Shafie several years ago opened Alliance Wellness Center in Bloomington — where Abi works as part of the support staff supervising patients — to treat addiction in Somali-Americans, among others. He spoke at a forum of several hundred Somali-Americans in Burnsville last month. There, community leaders discussed how to approach the growing issue of addiction, particularly when the problem — especially with opioids — is often presented as a white one. “The perception that this affects suburban white males is inaccurate. … All of the funding flows from that and public perception and support for these things flows from that larger understanding,” said Jordan Hansen, director of ventures for the Professional Education and Solutions team at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. Hazelden recently helped form an advisory council to discuss racial disparities in opioid use in the Twin Cities, looking at how blacks — apart from the immigrant community — experience disproportionately high overdose rates. “Even if substance use disorders affected everyone from all walks of life, from any cultural backgrounds, the experiences that people have access to when they’re seeking recovery are very different,” Hansen said.
At the forum, the crowd saw a demonstration of how to administer naloxone, known by the brand name Narcan, to stop an opioid overdose. Noting that some question whether the practice enables drug addicts, overdose prevention trainer Randy Anderson said, “The only thing I think Narcan enables is breathing … no one will have a chance at recovery if they’re dead.” Zakaria Abukar mentors young Somali men; one succumbed to an opioid overdose several months ago. He believes that people are not paying enough attention to the experience of “third-culture kids,” or those raised in a culture different from their parents. Somali-Americans said that young people may be more hesitant to share their addiction with members of the older generation, many of whom have dealt with their own traumas as refugees and stigmatize drug use. “It’s really hard when you as a parent are dealing with your own stuff and you have your child dealing with something that’s pretty unknown to you,” Abukar said.
Starting the conversation
Some community leaders have stressed the importance of linking addiction treatment to the Islamic faith. But Islamic prohibitions against using any intoxicants — neither drugs nor alcohol — can make it difficult to address. “Somali culture is derived from the Muslim religion, so it’s very hard to separate the two,” said Ayan Mohamed, who is the founder and executive director of Changing the Narrative, a group that helped organize the forum. “When you talk about mental health and addiction, you have to talk about Islam.” She said many older imams who hold higher positions are not very receptive to it. “That’s what we’re trying to do with this initiative, have people come out and hopefully get the conversation going with the older leaders,” Mohamed said……… |
