SOMALILAND FEATURED IN THE METRO NEW YORK NEWSPAPER

"Most people confuse Somaliland and Somalia. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to get a new name? The name is always under discussion, but this has been our name since 1888. We’re an old country."

President Ahmed Mohamud Silaanyo, Somaliland

Ahmed Mohamud Silaanyo rules a peaceful country with democratic elections, functioning businesses, a police force — even broadband. He’s the president of Somaliland, the region of Somalia that declared independence 19 years ago. There’s just one problem: No country officially recognizes Somaliland. President Silaanyo, who was elected earlier this year, has made recognition his goal and travels around the world to lobby for his country. He enjoyed the first fruits of his labors earlier this year, when the U.S. announced it will increase aid to Somaliland and send more diplomats there.

http://www.readmetro.com/show/en/NewYork/20101220/1/9/

Unemployed African youth to benefit from UN-backed finance programme

Some 200,000 low-income youth in sub-Saharan Africa will benefit from a United Nations-backed initiative announced today to increase access for them to financial services in a region where youth unemployment rates are two to three times that of adults.
YouthStart, co-sponsored by UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the MasterCard Foundation, which has made a four-year, $12 million contribution, is a competition-based programme that will identify and support up to 12 financial institutions to pilot and roll out sustainable financial services tailored to youth.

“We are excited about the potential for YouthStart to accelerate the establishment of youth financial services in sub-Saharan Africa,” UNCDF Executive Secretary David Morrison said.
“Our strong expertise in ensuring that more households and small businesses gain access to credit, savings, insurance and other financial services that expand opportunities, combined with the Foundation’s network and resources, presents another boost for reducing poverty and accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” he added, referring to UN targets to slash a host of social ills by 2015.

UNCDF will encourage collaboration among financial institutions and providers of non-financial services to spur innovation and influence policy decisions, enabling youth to participate in inclusive financial sectors.
Today, more than a quarter of the population of sub-Saharan Africa are between the ages of 12 to 24, making this group of youngsters the largest ever to be entering adulthood. Half of them remain illiterate, and young women in particular face a more challenging transition to the workplace and independent adulthood since they are more likely to fail to complete primary education and face increasing insecurity and discrimination in the labour market.
Early findings suggest that financial services aimed at youth can best promote asset-building and sustainable livelihoods when complemented with entrepreneurship and financial literacy training. However, less than 5 per cent of youth in the region have access to financial services. Few financial institutions have experience serving youth or working with youth support organizations to design and deliver youth-centric programmes.

Through the provision of technical assistance, market research and advice on how to partner with youth support organizations, YouthStart will help microfinance providers develop effective channels to deliver demand-driven services to youth.
“The MasterCard Foundation is committed to helping youth start out right,” said its President and CEO, Reeta Roy. “Through YouthStart, The MasterCard Foundation is opening up pathways for 200,000 sub-Saharan African youth, half of whom will be girls and young women, to gain access to financial services.”
UNCDF, the UN capital investment agency for the world’s 49 least developed countries, creates new opportunities for poor people and their communities by increasing access to microfinance and investment capital. It focuses on Africa and the poorest countries of Asia, with a special commitment to countries emerging from conflict or crisis.

It provides seed capital – grants and loans – and technical support to help microfinance institutions reach more poor households and small businesses, and local governments finance the capital investments – water systems, feeder roads, schools, irrigation schemes – that will improve poor peoples’ lives.

Source:http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=37052&Cr=youth&Cr1=

DOES MOGADISHU NEED A MAYOR?

Especially given the heightened insecurity in the city and lack of order, is it possible to achieve much as a mayor? Food for thought...

But some are willing to take on the challenge despite the odds and the best anyone can do is support them. Mohamed Ahmed Noor is currently the Mayor of Mogadishu, a true African hero of the highest order and an inspiration to many including Africa Project 53.

Mohamed Ahmed Noor was under no illusions when he agreed to take on the job of mayor of Mogadishu, capital of Somalia. He was living in the relative safety of London when the offer was recently made. He sat his family down and told them he may not be coming back. "I explained the dangers of the job, that I may be killed and that one day they may hear on the news that the mayor of Mogadishu has been assassinated, or killed in an explosion."

...

Mayor Noor feels that Mogadishu gets a bad press. "I think there is a misunderstanding about Mogadishu. It is not more dangerous than Baghdad, or Kabul. "If you compare death rates, or daily accidents in the capitals, on a bad day in Mogadishu you can have 10-20 deaths, but in Baghdad we hear of 50 or 100 casualties in a day. In Kabul it can be more than that."
Mr Noor does recognise the limitations the security situation presents, however. "I cannot work effectively, I cannot go wherever I want, I don't have resources to provide services." But since taking office four months ago, he says he has tried to do whatever he can to improve the lives of Mogadishu's people. "I am lighting the streets of Mogadishu so people can start to lead a normal life. "I am cleaning the streets, the markets. All that is an improvement," he said. Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11847336

So far, all he has received is a $50,000 budget for a capital where garbage has not been collected in 20 years, and where electricity is nonexistent unless one owns a generator or buys it from someone who does. "The government has not kept its promise," he said. But that hasn't stopped him. He persuaded a generator operator to light up a few streets at night by threatening to bring in two large generators and drive him out of business. He hired 10 trucks to pick up garbage; that made a small dent in one neighborhood. He replaced officials who had been chosen because of clan ties and installed people with experience. In some neighborhoods, he created community-policing units to prevent spies from al Shabab, the al Qaeda-linked militia seeking to take control over the country, from infiltrating government areas. "Security has improved," he declared, radiating with optimism.

For more information on Mohamed Ahmed Noor Mayor of Mogadishu Somalia background and his life journey that has prepared and led him to this enormous task visit here http://www.washingtonpost.com

Dr. Hawa Abdi & Her Daughters: Angels in Somalia

Dr. Amina Mohamed Abdi, Dr. Hawa Abdi and Dr. Deqa Mohamed Abdi

On a still, hot morning last May, hundreds of Islamist militants invaded the massive displaced-persons camp that Dr. Hawa Abdi runs near Mogadishu, Somalia. They surrounded the 63-year-old ob-gyn’s office, holding her hostage and taking control of the camp. “Women can’t do things like this,” they threatened. Dr. Abdi, who is equal parts Mother Teresa and Rambo, was unfazed. Every day in Somalia brings new violence as bands of rebels rove ungoverned. Today Somalia remains what the U.N. calls one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. On that morning in May, Dr. Abdi challenged her captors: “What have you done for society?” The thugs stayed a week, leaving only after the U.N. and others advocated on her behalf. Dr. Abdi then, of course, got back to work. Her lifesaving efforts started in 1983, when she opened a one-room clinic on her family farm. As the government collapsed, refugees flocked to her, seeking food and care. Today she runs a camp housing approximately 90,000 people, mostly women and children because, as she says, “the men are dead, fighting, or have left Somalia to find work.” While Dr. Abdi has gotten some help, many charities refuse to enter Somalia. “It’s the most dangerous country,” says Kati Marton, a board member of Human Rights Watch. “Dr. Abdi is just about the only one doing anything.” Her greatest support: two of her daughters, Deqo, 35, and Amina, 30, also doctors, who often work with her. Despite the bleak conditions, Dr. Abdi sees a glimmer of hope. “Women can build stability,” she says. “We can make peace.” Source:Glamour Magazine

"We've celebrated the most famous women in the world, but the women readers tell us they're the most moved by, year after year, are the women they've never heard of before," says Glamour's editor-in-chief Cindi Leive speaking at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards event 2010 New York City

How to Help:
Glamour is working with the nonprofit Vital Voices to distribute funds to support Dr. Abdi’s crucial work. Donate here.

“Everyone in the Dr. Hawa Abdi hospital is a Somali—no clan affiliation is allowed here. If someone brings such affiliation, he or she will be expelled from here,” she recently told Hiiraan Online.

...Asked how she would explain her two daughters’ decision to become OB/GYN doctors, just like her, Dr. Dhiblawe said: “My daughters want to follow my roots, because they love their nation and their people. They are dedicated to help their people. Sometimes, when I told them to stay away from the medical profession, they declined, and decided to work for their people.”

...she distinctly remembers one fateful day after the 1991 civil war that brought down the military regime. Her hospital was overflowing with injured men from one of the sides who were engaged in the war. Militiamen from the other side marched on her hospital and demanded to get access to the injured men of the opposite group, so that they can kill them.

Engrossed with deep respect for humanity, Dr. Dhiblawe told the attacking militiamen to “kill me first, before you can kill my patients.” It was a defining moment in her career. That stubbornness saved her patients.

Dr. Dhiblawe’s mother died when she was 12. As the eldest of her siblings, she had to help with family chores, but that didn’t stop her from pursuing her medical studies dream. The daughter of an educated father, she became a doctor at a very young age.

“giving up and leaving the whole country,” something she’s fully capable of. But, she added: “Then, I think about who is going to take care of my patients. If I could get a Green Card for all of my patients and all the displaced people here, I would ship them to the United States.”


If you need to take part on Dr. Hawa Abdi's humanitarian work, please contact her at
E-mail: dwaqaf@yahoo.com
Source:Somalionline

Dr Hawa Abdi received her medical training in the Ukraine, the former Soviet Union nation, and returned to Somalia in 1983 to open her own clinic in the outskirts of Mogadishu.

MORE INFORMATION:

Dr Hawa Abdi Foundation http://drhawaabdifoundation.org/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=63336303744
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/11/09/eveningnews/main7038748.shtml

GOOGLE NEEDS AFRICA & AFRICA NEEDS GOOGLE

Smartphone owners in South Africa will now be able to enter a voice command in Afrikaans and Zulu which will return written search results via Google's search engine.

It is also using computer and human translators to ensure there is sufficient content on the Internet to make searches in such languages worthwhile.

In a continent where literacy remains a significant issue, the company hopes it will encourage more people to get online in a way that suits them and has pledged to deliver search results in audio in the not too distant future.

...

"We see speech technology as the way to cross the digital divide," he said. "It's not realistic to expect someone in a far corner of the Limpopo to use web technology but boy they can talk."

His team took the new offering to rural areas where many people had never heard of Google and the mixed response they received reflected a general mistrust of technology in African communities, he said.

"You have a group of people who are horrified - they see speech as a human thing and don't want to talk to a machine," he said. "Then you have a group who are fascinated. They're proud of their language and when a phone responds to them in it, it means they're taking ownership."

The latest launch forms part of Google's mission to nudge more Africans online and onto its sites such as Gmail, Maps and Chat. At present, Africans make up 14 per cent of the world's population but only five per cent of its Internet users.

Key to Google's mission is to capitalise on the widespread use of mobile phones, which outnumber desktop computers tenfold.

Mobile technology has already given millions of people in Kenya access to banking, and Google recently won a Mobile World Congress award for an "SMS tips" service, which answers users' texted questions about health or agricultural issues.

Harnessing Africa's myriad languages is also vital - it already offers a service in 24 of them, but is now seeking to encourage locals to enter their own content to boost the material available in each.

Google Baraza is one of the flagship projects it is using to make itself more relevant. Users can send in questions such as "Where can I buy a reasonably priced camera in Accra?" and "What is the best university in Nigeria?" and other users get points for providing helpful answers.

But there are still obstacles to getting Africa online. Google's cheapest Android phone in South Africa costs R1,399 (£127), locking out the majority of potential users, and even in big cities, internet access is still unreliable.

The average Internet cafe modem struggles to load Gmail and Streetmap, while cataloguing South Africa in time for the World Cup, is yet to make a dent in some of the continent's most populous townships.

Richard Mulholland, a motivational speaker for businesses and founder of South Africa's Entrepreneur magazine, said that like Baraza, much of what Google will become known for in Africa will be alien to its fans elsewhere, and 90 % will be SMS and voice-based.

"In many areas, it will find it's providing the platform to the content creation and the community itself comes up with the algorithm," he said.

"For a local, start-up company, that would be impossible but that's why a brand like Google works."

The company is still to make a profit in the region and most of the services it offers are free.

But Denis Gikunda, Google's localisation manager for African languages, said it was happy to play the long game since, once Africa's massive audience is engaged, there's the potential for considerable profit through relevant advertising.

"In order for us to succeed in Africa from a business point of view, we need people to be using the Internet and using it successfully," he said. "It's a big commitment but then Google is a company that can make that commitment."

Mr Mulholland believes that Google will reap other rewards from its African adventure too.

"Africa needs Google but in the same way, Google needs Africa because it's going to push it to work out all kinds of new solutions, which is what it actually does best," he said.

Source:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/8113690/Google-launches-first-African-voice-recognition-technology.html

UN GLOBAL COMPACT LEADERS SUMMIT REPORT

UN Global Summit Report

The Leaders Summit provided companies with a platform to demonstrate how they are making a contribution to development and the MDGs. Participants were encouraged to come to the Summit prepared to share a new commitment or announcement. Approximately 25 % of companies at the Summit made a commitment to support UN development objectives. Among these, 50 % cited that the company would engage in partnership with the UN, an NGO or other organization to advance a development project.

FULL REPORT HERE http://www.unglobalcompact.org/docs/summit2010/2010_Leaders_Summit_Report.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_source=MonthlyBulletin&utm_content=413464749&utm_campaign=UNGlobalCompactBulletinNovember2010subscribers&utm_term=Download

Salvaging the Horn of Africa

Just to share some of the experiences we come across as AP53 embarks on its initiatives within the Horn of Africa. Finding solutions to the challenges within the Horn of Africa is not easy at ALL!

It was early on the disreputable day of October 21st, 2010 that I tuned into the BBC at 7.00am. They have been covering a press conference held by Johnny Carson, the American Undersecretary of African Affairs. Mr. Carson was talking about the Obama administration’s new ‘double track’ policy towards the Somali dilemma: supporting the TFG while dealing with the peaceful administrations of Somaliland, Puntland and the central areas of Somalia without recognizing them as separate entities. After the press conference, the BBC organized a brief debate convened by Mohamed H. Hussein (Shiine) between a woman from Somalia, Sadia, whose only first name I was able to catch and Anis Abdillahi Essa, a strong advocate for Somaliland.
Mr. Carson used the term ‘Somaliland’ to refer to the Republic of Somaliland in his press conference, while our sister Sadia insisted on using ‘The Northern Regions’ in reference to Somaliland. Embarrassed for Sadia, Mr. Anis requested from his sister to at least follow the American Under-secretary in using ‘Somaliland’ in her communiqué. In response, Sadia staunchly refused by stating that she will never in her life utter the word ‘Somaliland’, but will continue using the term ‘The Northern Regions.’ The standard of hatred, animosity and bitterness has reached such a level and this discouraging, while scary scrutiny is not restricted to Sadia alone, but is at least shared by most of the Diaspora and the TFG who are envious and resentful of the victories scored in Somaliland.
This is far from a benevolent or compassionate human response to a successful story of some of your brethren, much akin to a neighbor who has put his house in order while steering clear of your side of the fence. In contrast to their diasporic counterparts, Somalia’s local population has shown their admiration of what is going on in Somaliland. The despair and the grief they have shown on the death of President Egal is something unforgettable. This was followed by the joy they demonstrated after the recent successful transfer of power between two popularly elected presidents, the likes of which neither Somalia nor Somaliland has ever seen.
Why such an acrimony? Why not appreciate the gains scored by your fellow Somalis to salvage a part of the greater Somali region from havoc and disastrous wars? Why not appreciate and make use of the rich experience they have accumulated in finding solutions to their differences through peaceful dialogue and the Islamic\traditional mechanisms of conflict resolution. Why is Somaliland not given the chance to take part in the international and regional arena where the dilemma of Somalia has been discussed for the last two decades? Are they not the brothers with whom we shared the same Republic for almost thirty years of unification? Are we not the closest to monitor and sense their inner feelings and preoccupations? Why we are not offered at least an observer’s status in such efforts? I admit that the authorities of Somaliland were too busy focusing on the reconstruction of their own nation at the initial stages. But, one should not undervalue President Egal’s offer of hosting a Somali reconciliation conference that was undermined in 2000.
This is a brief account of the realities on the ground of two countries divorced from one another, yet locked together by a prejudiced world public opinion and injudicious antagonistic Somali view points. It is not only the people of Somaliland who seceded from the rest of Somalia; the reality is that the people of Somalia and the subsequent so-called governments have cut the country into two parts. For Somalilanders, 18th May is the day they officially restored their sovereignty. The fact is that Somaliland was cut off from Somalia long ago. 18th May marks only the date that our people have reached a verdict on their self- determination.
Somalis in the South and the world at large talk about the war in Somalia for the last twenty years and the fact remains that in Somaliland the civil strife started in 1981 and ended in 1991. This is ten against twenty. This is the reality. The first ten is not accounted for, but the other twenty is counted and this makes Somaliland a separate entity. Let us ask ourselves the one million dollar question: Which is the country where a devastating civil war has been going on for the last twenty years in the Horn of Africa? The answer is simple: Somalia and not Somaliland. In Somaliland, we are not talking about wars instead we are talking about the noble and cherished accomplishments we share with the developing world using our meager resources and mechanisms of conflict resolution. At certain instances the world recognizes this and Mr. Carson in his press conference has admitted that Somaliland has realized a successful presidential election unlike many other African countries. He went to the extent of congratulating former president Dahir Ra’yale Kahin for the peaceful transfer of power. On the other hand, two groups of international electoral observers declared the presidential elections of 26/6/2010 to be credible, free and fair.


Author
Aw Farax Mohamed xaqa_u_gargaar@hotmail.com

Text source and more information http://www.somalilandtimes.net/sl/2010/457/40.shtml

Why Djibouti Succeeded In Attracting Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars In Investments

BEAUTY OF DJIBOUTI

Djibouti may initially seem the most unlikely place to attract foreign investments. The country lacked natural resources and everything else that investors considered before putting their money in a new overseas venture.
But these harsh realities were not to deter Djibouti’s president Ismail Omer Gualleh from abandoning his dream of turning his country to Africa’s Dubai.

He envisaged that Djibouti by virtue of it location at the mouth of the Red Sea and close proximity to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, could became a regional hub for transshipment of goods between land-locked Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
But the realization of this vision depended on obtaining funds for the modernization and expansion of the country’s existing port infrastructure.

In order to be able to lure the necessary investments for the development of it’s port infrastructure, the Djiboutian government had no other option except to introduce far- reaching incentives that conferred an attractive range of both tax and non-tax benefits.
This was followed by president Gulleh’s bold decision in 2000 to sign a concession agreement with Dubai Ports International, a subsidiary of Dubai World, that allowed the Gulf investors to manage Djibouti Port for a period of 20 years. Traditionally ports have been considered national assets that must remain in the control of governments. But the port liberalization policies adopted by the government allowed Djibouti to attract hundreds of millions of dollars in direct foreign investment. Encouraged by the country’s newly-acquired business-friendly environment, investors from Dubai and the government of Djibouti agreed to expand their joint venture involving the management of Djibouti’s old port by establishing a container terminal at Doraleh, 13km from the city. Operational since December 2008, Doraleh container terminal is said to be most technologically advanced in Africa.

In 2004 Djibouti port’s Free Zone was created. The Zone is managed by Jebel Ali Free Zone. To attract investments, Djibouti Free Zone operates on the basis of “one stop shop” meaning that you can finalize all your formalities under one roof. Investments are exempted from all direct or indirect tax except VAT. People who want to establish export business in the Free Zone are not obliged to have local partners while restrictions on repatriation of capital or profits are non-existent. The direct foreign investment received by Djibouti in the last 10 years have already substantially increased the productivity and competitiveness of the country’s two ports. Allowing foreign entry into the service sector has also facilitated the spill lover of knowledge and skills to Djiobutians.

By accepting and welcoming the participation of foreign investors in the ownership and management of the country’s public infrastructure such as ports and airports, Djibouti has demonstrated a firm determination to succeed where other countries in the region have failed.

Text source http://www.somalilandtimes.net/sl/2010/457/12.shtml

Ga’an Libah High School students Complain Of Shortage Of Teachers

Hargeysa, Somaliland, October 30, 2010 (SL Times) - Students at Ga’an Libah High School in Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa, went to the ministry of education this week to complain about the shortage of teachers in their school, a problem that has affected other aspects of the school’s operations. The students said they brought the issue to the ministry’s attention many times in the past but nothing was done.
As reported by Haatuf Newspaper, the Director General of the Ministry of Education, Mr Ali Muhammad Ali was present when the students reached the ministry, but instead of listening to the students’ complaints, the Director General accused the press of being behind the problem and warned the press to be careful about spreading that kind of news.
That there are problems at Ga’an Libah can be gleaned from a quick look at the performance of students from this school in the national examinations which have gone down in the last few years. A lot of public schools are facing the same problems of shortage in teachers and lower performance in school exams as Ga’an Libah. Moreover, a growing number of excellent teachers have left public education and are now teaching in private schools where the pay is higher. Therefore, it did not come as a surprise when nine of the ten highest scores in the 2009-2010 national examination belonged to students from private schools.

Text source and more information: http://www.somalilandtimes.net/sl/2010/457/8.shtml
Photo by Guleed

Somaliland's Diaspora: From Manager To Minister In A Flash

H.E Eng. Hussein Abdi Dualeh

Minister of Mining, Energy and Water Resources
Somaliland

By Michael Logan

Hargeysa, Somaliland, October 23, 2010 – Just four months ago, Hussein Abdi Dualeh was an engineer with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), managing maintenance contracts and living a comfortable life with his wife and three sons. Today, he's helping run a self-proclaimed - although internationally unrecognized - nation in the Horn of Africa. Dualeh, 54, is typical of the highly-educated diaspora politicians who have returned to Somaliland - a breakaway state in the north-west of war-torn Somalia - to serve in the new government of President Ahmed Mohamed Sillanyo.

'I came for the inauguration and they told me: `You`re not leaving,`' says the erudite and articulate Dualeh, who heads up the Ministry of Mining, Energy and Water Resources. He's only half-joking. Sillanyo, elected in late June, slashed the size of his government and looked to the diaspora to fill key posts in his 20-member cabinet. As well as the energy docket, the information, planning, foreign affairs and fisheries ministries are in the hands of Somalilanders who have just returned after decades in the United States, Britain and Canada.

'They promised to have an effective government and to have qualified people in the right positions,' says Dualeh. 'The president realized he would have to look elsewhere and tapped up quite a few people from overseas.' Dualeh, like many of his peers, left a Somalia languishing under the brutal reign of dictator Mohamed Siyad Barre, who seized power in 1969 and oversaw 21 years characterized by repression and civil war.

While Somaliland was struggling to reclaim the independence it gave up in 1960 - when the former British protectorate joined with Italian Somaliland to form the Somalia of today - Dualeh was pursuing his education and career abroad. He graduated with a degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Oklahoma in 1983 and worked at Chevron for five years. In 1989, two years before Siyad Barre was finally ousted and Somaliland declared its independence, Dualeh joined Metro. Somaliland set about quietly rebuilding as the rest of Somalia descended into the failed state it has become today. The stability and democratic credentials of Somaliland are a stark contrast to the rest of the Horn of Africa nation.

The ineffective Western-backed government in Mogadishu is hemmed in by Islamist insurgents who control much of south and central Somalia, and pirates based in the breakaway region of Puntland terrorize international shipping in the Gulf of Aden. The international community is showing increasing signs of backing Somaliland with aid, if not recognition, viewing it as a buttress against al-Qaeda-linked militant Islamist group al-Shabaab.

But the freshly arrived ministers, still reeling from culture shock, still have a big job on their hands. Somaliland`s annual government budget is 50 million dollars - half of the value of the contracts Dualeh managed for Metro. The self-proclaimed state is drought-prone and poverty-stricken, with poor infrastructure and high unemployment. Its 3.5 million residents are heavily reliant on livestock - although there is real innovation and growth in the telecommunications and money-transfer industries.

The capital Hargeisa is a dust bowl, where goats pick through rubbish littering the side of the bumpy dirt roads and makeshift huts housing displaced people far outnumber the few big houses erected by the diaspora. It's a far cry from Los Angeles. 'It's a sacrifice. I was making a six-figure salary and drove a Merc, but dropped it all to come here,' says Dualeh, who has left his family behind in California. 'I want to see if I can help the country of my birth.' While the personal sacrifice is tempered by the fact Dualeh has given up a job as an anonymous middle-manager to become a important man, he and the other diaspora ministers appear to have a genuine desire to help Somaliland fulfill its potential. Not everyone is happy with the appointment of people who have lived the high life abroad to such exalted positions, however.

Ahmed Hassan Ahmed, who lived in India, the US and Canada over the last 30 years, returned to become the Director of Awareness in the Ministry of Information. Ahmed - who ironically has the remit of educating the returning diaspora on Somaliland`s culture - admits there is resentment among the locals.

'The biggest complaint is that there are so many expats (in the government), but it`s my country too,' he says. Despite the grumbles, many others believe the diaspora brings back valuable skills and experience, and Dualeh says Somaliland was always in the hearts of those who left. 'Even though we were never here, we lived it,' he says. Source: Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA)


More information and source
http://www.somalilandtimes.net/sl/2010/456/11.shtml

http://www.ministryofminerals.com/

Business strategies for achieving the MDGs

The report, Delivering Results: Moving Towards Scale, highlights the best practices, lessons learnt and challenges that companies face when developing inclusive business models. The report is the result of a half-day forum at the United Nations MDG Summit in New York on September 21, 2010, which brought together more than 200 leaders from companies, governments, international organizations, aid agencies, and NGOs from around the globe. The MDGs are eight targets that aim to reduce poverty, hunger, maternal and child deaths, disease, inadequate shelter, gender inequality and environmental degradation in developing countries by 2015, agreed upon by 189 states in 2000.

The report identifies eight main focus areas that will prove essential in advancing the future development of Inclusive Business, including the need for experimentation and room to innovate; the imperative for understanding low-income consumers; the necessity for collaboration; the importance of the right government policies and regulations to incentivize companies to further invest; the need for practical tools and resources to support inclusive business development; the importance of leadership; the necessity for striking a balance between short and long-term business goals, and overcoming infrastructure challenges through innovative partnerships.

Reports are available for download at: www.inclusive.businessfightspoverty.org.Videos, podcasts, presentations and reference materials from the event are also available online at this site.

About the Event Organisers

Business Action for Africa (BAA)BAA is an international network of over 200 businesses, business organisations and development partners, working collectively to accelerate growth and poverty reduction in Africa. www.businessactionforafrica.org

Business Call to Action (BCtA)BCtA is a global membership network of companies, governments, and development organizations working to identify and promote business models that contribute to long-term commercial and development goals. www.businesscalltoaction.org

The CSR Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School The CSR Initiative at Harvard’s Kennedy School is a multi-disciplinary and multi- stakeholder program that seeks to study and enhance the public contributions of private enterprise. www.hks.harvard.edu/m-rcbg/CSRI/

International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF)An independent, not-for-profit organisation working with business leaders and their companies globally to deliver innovative responsible business solutions to sustainable development challenges worldwide.

International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)ICC is the voice of world business championing the global economy as a force for economic growth, job creation and prosperity. www.iccwbo.org

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)UNDP is the UN's global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. www.undp.org

UN Global CompactThe UN Global Compact is a strategic policy initiative for businesses that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. www.unglobalcompact.org

United Nations Office for Partnerships (UNOP)UNOP promotes new collaborations and alliances in furtherance of the Millennium Development Goals and provides support to new initiatives of the Secretary-General. www.un.org/partnerships

World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)WBCSD is a unique, CEO-led, global association of some 200 companies dealing exclusively with business and sustainable development. www.wbcsd.orgUK

Department for International Development (DFID) DFID is the UK Government’s department that manages Britain’s aid to developing countries and works to get rid of extreme poverty. www.dfid.gov.uk

US Agency for International Development (USAID) USAID is the principal US agency to extend assistance to countries recovering from disaster, trying to escape poverty, and engaging in democratic reforms. www.usaid.gov

Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) Sida is the Swedish Government agency interested in promoting the idea of “international development cooperation” and supports over 2,000 projects in over 100 countries. www.sida.se/English

The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC)TCCC is the world's largest beverage company with more than 500 brands. http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship

Diageo Diageo is the world's leading premium drinks business trading in approximately 180 markets and with offices in 80 countries. www.diageo.com

Text Source and more information:

http://businessfightspoverty.ning.com/profiles/blogs/new-report-highlights-business

http://businessfightspoverty.ning.com/page/inclusive-business-workshop

Islamists ban cash transfers back to Somalia

The Islamic insurgent group that controls much of southern Somalia has banned remittances and mobile money transfers, threatening the foundations of the economy.
Al-Shabaab said these services were contrary to Muslim teachings and threatened “traditional Islamic banking methods”.

Foreign remittances are estimated to bring about $1.6bn into Somalia every year. About 1m Somalis live abroad and the funds they send home are crucial to many livelihoods.
Mark Bowden, the UN’s humanitarian co-ordinator for Somalia, said: “Diaspora remittances provide a vital lifeline to millions of Somalis who depend upon them for day to day subsistence.”

For more

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/31374914-dd2b-11df-9236-00144feabdc0.html

WATER IN THE HORN OF AFRICA-SOMALI'S NEVER ENDING WATER PLIGHT

Women collecting water in Afgooye via Oxfam

WATER PROFILE IN SOMALIA via USAID

Since 1991 when Siad Barre's government fell, Somalia has been a largely stateless society. Parts of the country such as Somaliland, Puntland, Galmudug, Maakhir, and Southwestern Somalia are internationally “unrecognized” autonomous regions. The remaining areas, including the capital Mogadishu, are divided into smaller territories ruled by competing warlords. Although the north of Somalia has some functioning government institutions, conflict prevails in many parts of South-Central Somalia. Instability and natural disasters have forced many Somalis to abandon their rural homes for peri-urban areas. However, rural flight is due not only to conflict, but is also part of a larger trend of permanent urbanization as rural Somalis seek better economic opportunities.

Somalia’s water supply and sanitation (WSS) sector hardly exists outside of the relatively stable

Somaliland and Puntland regions. The remaining two- thirds of the country (South-Central Somalia), including rural areas, is devoid of any real WSS institutional organization or oversight. Most Somalis obtain water from boreholes and shallow wells.Shallow wells are typically located within settlements where the water quality is often polluted due to nearby latrines seeping their contents into the groundwater. This causes frequent outbreaks of water related diseases such as cholera and diarrhea. The latest estimates suggest that less than 29 percent of the total population in Somalia has access to a clean, sustainable water source.
...
In the absence of a central government, a local private sector has developed to fill the void in
services. Entrepreneurs throughout the country are building cement catchments, drilling private
boreholes, or shipping water from public systems in the cities.
...
Somalia is a water scarce country and precipitation variability appears to be increasing. Many of its regions have experienced severe droughts followed by severe flooding. In both cases, rural populations are particularly vulnerable, because of their limited resources or adaptive capacity. In addition, brutal conflicts have erupted in localized areas as water scarcity has increased. Multiple humanitarian agencies have had to implement major water trucking operations and other measures to provide water to drought-affected communities

....

Donor involvement in Somalia’s WSS sector is primarily a humanitarian operation. Very little focus has been devoted to WSS financial, managerial, and technical issues. Somalia receives aid from several multilateral and bilateral sources. The United States is the largest bilateral donor while the European Union is the largest multilateral donor to Somalia. Other major donors include the World Bank, Italy, Japan, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Britain and Denmark. Minor donors include Canada, Finland, Germany and Egypt. Several UN agencies, particularly the United Nations Development Program and United Nations Children's Fund, provide assistance as well. Most humanitarian operations are coordinated through UN – Somalia.

For more visit here http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADO923.pdf






A water tanker delivers much needed water to IDPs to the south of Mogadishu the water was delivered by the Local Civil Society groups, Mogadishu, Somalia, 9 April 2007.










Also in the news positive vibes on water from Somaliland worth sharing--Via Irin News

The availability of water purification tablets, digging of shallow wells in rural areas as well as privatisation of water services have resulted in more people in Somalia's self-declared republic of Somaliland gaining access to clean water and proper sanitation, officials said. At least 45-50 percent of the Somaliland population now has access to safe water, compared with 35 percent in 2000, according to Ali Sheikh Omar Qabil, director of environmental health in the Ministry of Health and Labour. "Most of the urban centres such as Hargeisa [the capital], Borama, Berbera, and Gabiley have central water supply systems and chlorine is routinely mixed into the water provided," Qabil said. Sheikh Ali Jawhar, director of the water department in the Ministry of Minerals and Water, said: "The installation of chlorination equipment units in water supply dams in the main urban centres and at shallow wells in remote areas is one of the factors that has increased water sanitation in the country." However, Jawhar said the region had yet to meet international standards in terms of quantity, with the average safe water availability being 14l per person per day in the capital and 8l in rural areas. The international standard is 20l/person/day. Water purification tablets are widely available across the region, supplied and sold by the NGO Population Services International (PSI).

Water situation in Refugee camps...here are two experiences from Oxfam blog

“There are no schools, latrines or reasonable toilets in the camp, besides some old toilets in the old building. We face a shortage of water here. We have to buy one barrel of water for fifteen thousand Shillings (just under $10) that is brought by a donkey cart as there is no running water pipe in the camp.”...“My children and all the other children in the camp don’t go to school but they go to the market to try and earn some money or beg. This is the money we use to purchase the water.”...“We have to limit our toilet visits to daytime as we face the danger of gunmen who try to rape us. Old people never go out of the building for fear of being attacked.‘’

Hawo Guled, a 40 year-old mother of seven residing in Shingani district.

“Our life today depends on the small amount of money that my husband earns as a radio repairer at Lafoole market. We usually eat one good meal a day – when we are lucky we have two meals. We don’t have any lunch – we have forgotten the name ‘lunch!’”, ...“Luckily, we don’t have to pay water fees any more because we now have a well where we get the water free of charge.”...Initially, Maadino had to get water for her family from community water tankers. “That was a difficult life,” she remembers. “We had to wake up as early as 3am so we could make it to the water tankers in time, and then we had to queue for long hours to fill up a maximum of two jerry cans of water.”...“The amount we now access allows everyone to have water for drinking, washing, bathing, and good hygiene.”

Maadino mother of four at Burdaar Refugees Camp in the Afgooye Corridor.

BLOG ACTION DAY 2010----WATER SAGA

Starring: Water
Producer: Water
Director: Water
Consumers: Any Earthling that needs H2O

Blog Action Day 2010: Water from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

STILL OUR COMMON INTEREST BY THE COMMISSION FOR AFRICA

Commission for Africa today launched its new report – Still Our Common Interest – which calls upon African leaders to step up efforts to convert unprecedented economic opportunities into poverty reduction and development.

The new report, Still Our Common Interest, follows up on the previous report published in March 2005. It looks at what has happened in Africa in the past five years, conducts an audit of progress against each of the recommendations made in the 2005 report and makes recommendations for next steps.

Still Our Common Interest:

• Celebrates the progress Africa has made in the past five years.
• Calls on African governments to continue to promote growth and channel revenues into poverty reduction and key services.
• Calls for donors to increase their support to Africa to take account of new challenges, in particular climate change.
• Calls for the international community to support the capacity-building efforts of African governments by, for example, helping them access the best legal advice in negotiating deals for their natural resources.

More:
http://www.commissionforafrica.info/articles/still-our-common-interest-the-commission-for-africa-launches-new-report

MOHAMED IBRAHIM INDEX FOR AFRICA

Mo Ibrahim Africa Governance Index is here again. Do African countries really value this indices?

Maybe an interview with all the 53 countries on what they think about their report cards perhaps?

For more you can visit them here: http://www.moibrahimfoundation.org/en/section/the-ibrahim-index

EDUCATION IN MANY AFRICAN COUNTRIES STILL FAIRING POORLY

Well, according to a recently published report by the The Global Campaign for Education 'Back to School?' on the worst places to be a school child in 2010, many African countries seem to be trailing behind the pack. There those who challenge the authenticity of the report in regards to how the information/data was gathered, analysis etc etc etc

At the end of the day EDUCATION IN AFRICAN COUNTRIES IS NOT WHERE IT SHOULD BE and WE NEED TO PULL UP OUR SOCKS!!!

It would be great if we in Africa could set up our own institutions to conduct this kind of research and report/share their findings periodically. Serve as leading authority on this, given this are our issues.

Full report can be found here:

http://www.campaignforeducation.org/docs/reports/1goal/1Goal%20School%20Report.pdf

Photo Loreto High School, Kenya

The International Contact Group (ICG) on Somalia meets in Madrid

The ICG convened its 18th session on Monday and Tuesday this week in Madrid. The meeting was chaired for the first time by Ambassador Mahiga, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, who emphasized that crucial decisions were needed. He called on the international community to convey its concerns to the TFG as well as recommendations for effective action and for implementation of the transitional tasks needed for the new political dispensation after August 2011. He called for the speedy appointment of a new Prime Minister and for a united and cohesive cabinet. Ambassador Mahiga appealed to the international community to redouble its efforts to assist the TFG and AMISOM to address the political and security challenges facing the TFG. He urged full implementation of the agreements signed between the TFG and Ahlu Sunna wal Jama’a, and encouraged the TFG to engage all groups ready to contribute to peace and renounce violence. Extended political space and a more secure environment would facilitate the speedy delivery of humanitarian assistance throughout Somalia. He welcomed the recent elections in Somaliland, and underlined the continuous security and economic challenges facing Puntland. The international community has rallied behind the governments of Iraq and Afghanistan. It should do the same for Somalia.

President Sheikh Sharif of the TFG expressed the hope that its outcome would provide tangible assistance for the Somali people. He called on the international community to confront Al-Qaeda and its affiliated terrorist groups in a serious manner. He expressed the readiness of the TFG to make every effort to accomplish the transitional tasks before next August. Referring to the existence of differences within the TFG leadership, he praised the ability of the TFIs to handle the challenges. He called on the international community to redouble its efforts to strengthen the police, military and intelligence services to enable the TFG to build peace and stability.

During the meeting, the representatives of the United States and Norway urged the TFG leadership to stay cohesive. They called on the international community to provide the necessary support to the TFG and AMISOM. Dr. Tekeda Alemu, Ethiopia’s State Minister of Foreign Affairs, highlighted the justified frustrations of the international community over the continuous squabbles within the TFG, but also emphasized that there was no alternative to supporting the TFG. The Djibouti Process was the only peace process available and the international community must make more efforts to strengthen it. He warned against being hoodwinked by statements from those whose activities were still devoted to undermining the TFG and the peace and stability of Somalia, and indeed more widely. He stressed the international community should always act on the basis of empirical evidence not on the basis of mere assertions.

It was noted that some in the international community have been trying to unravel the Djibouti Peace Process and question the legitimacy of the TFG. On the other hand, others including IGAD, the Arab League, the African Union, the Organization of Islamic Conference, were united in expressing their support for the TFG, pledging to continue to strengthen it. They agreed that Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam were not prepared to accept peace or national reconciliation. Delegates from Sudan and the Arab League noted that Sheikh Hassan Dahir ‘Aweys’ had been invited to Sudan from Asmara in April 2008 in an attempt to persuade him to make peace with the TFG. Despite ten days of effort, they had made no progress; Sheikh ‘Aweys’ remained adamant in his determination for conflict.

Delegates emphasized the need to support areas that have created relative peace and stability. The ICG applauded the successful election held in Somaliland and underlined the need to increase support to enable the people of Somaliland to sustain their relative peace and stability and their democratic progress. Somaliland was also the subject of a sideline meeting called by the UK and Norway on Tuesday. This commended the peaceful transfer of power after the election, and emphasized the need to provide the necessary support to ensure continuity of democratization, in terms of direct budgetary support and capacity building, in security issues and to encourage the new administration in its reform agenda. There was agreement on the need to assist in enhancing infrastructure, including the Berbera corridor, as well as building up social services, including, for example, Hargeisa’s water supply. Partners agreed to create a coordination framework for helping the administration immediately. Somaliland had set an example to all Somalis, and indeed to Africa in general, in democratization; and it had also played a major role in regional security. While its new administration hasn’t abandoned the issue of recognition, it also attaches great importance to development cooperation and to having close working relationships with partners. The sense of the meeting was that as much as possible should be done to assist its progress short of recognition. The same applies to Puntland.

The ICG meeting itself produced a series of recommendations. The TFG was called on to produce within two months a roadmap outlining management of the remaining transition period. The Transitional Federal Institutions must intensify their efforts to complete the key transitional tasks, particularly the finalization of the Constitution-making process, and explore various options for the post-transition arrangements. While making clear the Djibouti Peace Process remains the sole basis for the achievement of Peace and National Reconciliation in Somalia, the ICG called on the TFG to increase its outreach and reconciliation efforts towards all those who have expressed their willingness to join the Peace Process and renounce violence, and take immediate and concrete steps towards full and effective implementation of the agreement signed with Ahlu Sunna wal Jama’a.

The meeting made concrete suggestions to strengthen existing partnership and coordination mechanisms within the security sector, to address the impact of piracy and its causes, to build sustainable institutions and to increase humanitarian assistance. The ICG meeting this week was the latest in a series of meetings which have underlined the importance of bringing an end to the status quo in Somalia, of stopping Al-Shabaab’s offensive and assuring the security of the TFG. There was the extra-ordinary Council of IGAD Ministers’ meeting, the IGAD Chiefs of Defense Staffs meeting, and the IGAD Heads of State and Government Summit. This defined the crisis clearly and accurately as a conflict between the people of Somalia and international terrorism. The African Union Summit in Kampala endorsed this. So did the UN’s mini-summit in New York. Now the ICG meeting has taken place in Madrid. All of these have highlighted the Djibouti Peace Process as the sole basis for peace and reconciliation in Somalia and stressed the necessity for the TFG to really push for this. There can be no accommodation with Al-Shabaab and extremism, nor can there be any compromise with those who continue to support Al-Shabaab. This is why it was a mistake to invite Eritrea to the Istanbul conference on Somalia. This is why all IGAD countries rejected the idea of allowing Eritrea to participate in the mini-summit in New York. Eritrea has refused to respond to UN resolutions, and even in the last few weeks has sent armed fighters into Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State, and flown arms supplies down to Al-Shabaab in Kismayo. Eritrea has, in fact, shown no capacity, no interest and no will to be involved in peace-making. As IGAD members made clear Eritrea has been so deeply involved in acting as a “spoiler” or a regional trouble-maker that it would have been a mockery for it to be represented at such a conference.

Source: http://www.mfa.gov.et/Press_Section/Week_Horn_Africa_October_01_2010.htm#4
Photo by Guleed

Somaliland’s Health Care System Needs Special Attention!

The Horn of Africa is one of the world’s regions where you don’t want to be hospitalized for any reason, and unfortunately, Somaliland ranks the worst of all. Although not in the health care profession, I have noticed how Somaliland’s health care system is disorganized, unregulated, and deteriorates day after day, when compared with other nations in the Horn of Africa, or for that matter, the rest of the world. In the ex-Somalia, the health care system was in fairly good condition within the capital of Mogadishu, but rest of the country suffered tremendously in all aspects of its infrastructure system including the health care system.

Mogadishu was overwhelmed with the construction of new hospitals from the 1960s to the last days of the old dictatorial regime. These new hospitals were outfitted with state of the art equipment, while Hargeisa, Buroa, and the rest of Somalia were overlooked by the dictatorship. Clearly, those who were part of that regime never looked back to their places of birth.

Paradoxically, Somaliland has some of the best doctors in the region. Most of them were trained either abroad or had extensive experience in Mogadishu hospitals. Many acquired plenty of experience during the civil war that devastated the country. However, today the health care infrastructure that would have allowed them to practice their profession is almost non-existent. The situation in Hargeisa is a good example. The Hargeisa General Hospital is the primary hospital for the city’s 650,000 residents and for those who come from the surrounding countryside seeking medical care. The British government built it when they were the colonial power and today remains substantially the same. There have been no improvements to it since that time, much less construction of new hospital facilities. The Edna Maternity Hospital stands out as a notable exception. We are all aware how this facility was made possible through the efforts and persistence of a single brave woman, Mrs. Edna Aden, who had far better vision than our so-called leaders. As Mrs. Ismail took the task of building maternity Hospital, we need a visionary who can establish a Children Hospital that is badly needed in the nation.

The health care system in Hargeisa is a reflection of the whole nation.

Today in Somaliland you can find almost any medical doctor or specialist in any field, but to access them, you must be in the capital and see that physician at their private clinic, or hope to see them during the few hours they volunteer in the General Hospital. As a result there are as many clinics as pharmacies in Hargeisa, since each doctor either owns or owns a share in that pharmacy. (While I’m not against doctors owning piece of the pie, there is a clear conflict of interest in this system. They should take high road and avoid using the medical needs of the infirm to reap outrageous profits for themselves.)

The health minister and health organizations that are there to assist the people of Somaliland should look deeply into the needs of the nation’s hospitals and clinics and implement a decent plan to adequately equip each hospital and clinic with the basic necessities. The most obvious needs are basic surgical equipment and accessories that are currently bought by relatives of the patients who are admitted to hospital, or are in clinics for outpatient care. Medical equipment readily available in the private sector is simply unavailable at many public hospital or clinics. It’s embarrassing to realize Hargeisa General Hospital doesn’t have oxygen bottles for those who are suffering oxygen deficiency in an emergency situation. As a visitor in Somaliland last August and a potential resident, I visited many hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies, and saw the absence of the basic things we take for granted in hospital beds overseas such as oxygen supplies, heart monitors and routine medicines. It’s heartbreaking to watch people suffering needlessly from minor injuries due to lack of medical equipment and medicine that are readily available in rest of the world or, for that matter, in some pharmacies in the country, at prices the average Somali Lander cannot afford.

While these problems are not easy to solve without international assistance, the Somali government, the local NGOs, and citizens of Somaliland need to place emphasis on improvements to the health care system, including the development of programs to promote the rehabilitation of existing hospitals and clinics. Last but not least, the health care system in Somaliland can only be improved if doctors act as doctors instead of as businessmen who are primarily interested in their profits, and if the legislature came up with statutes to regulate the importation of medicine and equipment into this country.

Eng: Abdirizak M. Farah, (Abdi wiiwaa)

Hercules, CA 94547

Photo from the Edna Adan Maternity Hospital Hargeisa

http://www.somalilandtimes.net/2003/76/7604.shtml

Somali Refugees Not Welcome In Some Countries - UNHCR

By Cosmus Butunyi

Nairobi, Kenya, September 18, 2010 – As the war rages in Somalia, civilians fleeing the clashes are no longer welcome in some of the countries where they seek refuge.

Besides Kenya, Ethiopia is the other country in the region that is receiving huge numbers of refugees from the country in which fighting between the transitional government and the Al-Shabaab, over the past two weeks, has claimed over 200 lives, and left about 400 wounded and 23,000 displaced.

“High populations of Somalis, mainly from Mogadishu are having asylum doors closed; they face discrimination,” the UN high commissioner for refugees, Antonio Guterres told The EastAfrican on his recent visit to refugee camps in Kenya.

The countries discriminating against the refugees and asylum seekers, which he declined to name, were putting obstacles in their way to safety and instead are driving them back to their country.

Mr Guterres appealed to the international community to keep the asylum space open for the fleeing Somalis as they went through a difficult time and not to have them return to Southern and Central Somalia.

He noted that Kenya is amongst countries that have been able to protect refugees over time without exhibiting xenophobic tendencies.

The Somali refugees make up over 80 per cent of the refugee population in Kenya that stands at 411,667, according to latest figures from the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). This year alone, 37,000 refugees have arrived from the country. Ethiopia, on the other hand, has received more than 20,000 individuals since the beginning of the year.

These are amongst the 68,000 Somalis who have fled the country this year into its neighbors within the region, putting Somalia on the third position in the ranking of countries generating the largest number of refugees across the world behind Afghanistan and Iraq. Even within the country, up to 1.4 million Somalis have been displaced.

The huge refugee population in Kenya has led to congestion in the Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps, overstretching the available facilities.

Dadaab, which has three camps – Ifo, Hagdera and Daghaley- that were set up about two decades ago to accommodate 90,000 individuals, now hosts 283,268 people, most of whom are Somalis. Kakuma, on the other hand, which was meant for Sudanese refugees, is also dominated by the Somalis, who make up 41,898 out of the 74,367 individuals in the camp.

Mr Francis Baya, an assistant minister for immigration and registration of persons, said that the lasting solution to the refugee problem would be ensuring that negotiations between different clans in Somalia succeed.

“We would like to see a peaceful neighbor working towards development,” Mr Baya added.

The decision to allow refugees to stay in Kenya, he argued, is an effort to ensure that as few people as possible are injured in Somalia.

Besides passing the Refugee Act in 2006, the country has put in place a fully fledged department to handle their issues, including registration and overall coordination of activities.

Mr Baya said that plans are underway to extend registration to the border points instead of the current point, several kilometers within Kenyan territory.

The only challenge that the refugees destined for a safe haven in Kenya may encounter is the difficulty in fleeing Mogadishu.

A statement from the UNHCR indicates that the trip out of the city has lately become dangerous and difficult.

“As they leave Mogadishu, they face new risks and difficulties en route to Somalia’s Puntland in the north or Ethiopia and Kenya to the west and south,” it indicates.

Besides the collapse of the state, the UN refugee agency blames violence and anarchy, coupled with poverty, for the humanitarian crisis in the country. This has compromised security in the region.

However, a section of the refugee population want more than just being allowed to settle in Kenya as they await the situation to improve in their country. From work permits to lesser restrictions to movement, they insist that more needs to be done to improve their lives in their new homes.

Mr Moulid Dugsuye Hirsi, one of the community leaders at Dadaab’s Ifo Camp, says that those amongst them who seek specialized treatment face challenges in leaving the camps.

“Some of us have been around for close to 20 years; we should be given freedom of movement and our children given employment,” he adds.

Already, Mr Baya has directed the provincial administration and the medical authorities to liaise with the office of the director of refugee affairs to shorten the bureaucratic process of medical referrals.

Source: The East African