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

SOMALIA: FROM FINEST TO FAILED STATE

The contemporary Somalia attests to be a classical case of failed state, distinguished from that of medieval Somalia cited in thePeriplus of the Erythraean Sea and numerous books written in the middle ages as a prosperous country connecting Africa to Arab World and as far as Southeast Asia.

The Moroccan scholar, Abu Abdullah Mohammed Ibn Battuta, considered as the greatest traveler in his time, wrote in his Rixla that Mogadishu – Somali capital – was one of the most affluent cities in 1331, larger than Damascus, which was the capital of Mamluks at the time. In the words of Ibn Battuta: “Mogadishu is a very large town. The people are merchants and very rich. They own large herds of camels…and also sheep. Here they manufacture the textiles called after the name of the town; these are of superior quality and are exported to Egypt and other places.”

He further described the city as a town of enormous size: “Its merchants are possessed of vast resources; they own large numbers of camels, of which they slaughter hundreds every day (for food), and also have quantities of sheep. In this place are manufactured the woven fabrics called after it, which are unequalled and exported from it to Egypt and elsewhere.” The civilisation was evident in the city-state as the Sultan sent Ibn Battuta two small welcoming gifts: a plate of betel leaves and areca nuts, and a vial of Damascus rosewater. Mentioning the possession of the ruler from the palace to the mosque, Ibn Batutta made this invigorating description:

Sounded drums Over his head were carried four canopies of colored silk, with the figure of a bird in gold on top of each canopy. His garments on that day were a large green mantle of Jerusalem stuff, with fine robes of Egyptian stuffs with their appendages underneath it, and he was girt with a waist wrapper of silk and turbaned. In front of him were sounded drums and trumpets and fifes, and before him and behind him were the commanders of the troops, while the qadi, the doctors of the law and the sharifs walked along side him. People of Mogadishu, as Ibn Battuta observed, were generous, urbane, fat and erudite. In fact, they were genuine followers of Prophet Muhammad’s instruction: “Travel in search of knowledge, even though that adventure takes you to China.” Piracy was extraterrestrial to Somalis when Ibn Battuta was stormed by Hindu pirates off the coast of India. Medieval Mogadishu, which boasted to be a city-state, was under the rule of Sultan Abubakar Sheikh Omar, who preached tolerant and cohesive Islam dissimilar to born-again ‘jihadists’ whose interpretation of Islam justifies today that murdering innocent civilians is a part of wider ‘jihad’ toward infidels.

What went wrong Ibn Battuta was not the first to record such an account and chronicle on Somalia, but he was the first explorer to write in detail. Ibn Said and Al-Idrissi were Arab travellers who visited Mogadishu, Merka, Seylac, Berbera and other cities. Most historians agree that cattle and camel were plentiful and meat was in abundance in those cities during this period. So the sociological and anthropological questions that hunt for answers now are what went wrong, then. How exactly did we get here? The purpose of this article is to examine these questions and attempt to look at how Somalia descended into from Schopenhauerian World to Al-Shabaab’s Shawshank. It is historically believed that some time in the end of middle ages Somali people began to fight along clan lines, as occurred in 1991 after many years of brutal rule and state fragmentation. Using every metal and weapon available to them at the time, they destroyed ruling kingdom Ajuuraan, which was a powerful empire that ruled Mogadishu and most parts of Somali territory. During the rule of this kingdom, an ancient cotton-weaving industry was profitable in Mogadishu, though people rebelled for rising unpayable taxation and constant fines. Prior to this time, there were other kingdoms, Ifat and Adal, which ruled other parts of Somalia, even though there still is a historical debate about the ethnic composition of those kingdoms. One finding by Oxford History of Islam reveals that Ifat and Adal, which emerged as major Muslim kingdoms from 1420 to 1560, were Arabs who recruited its military force mainly from Somalis. Under the command of Ahmed Gurey, the Imam and General of Adal sultanate, Somalis were crucial for the campaign historically known as the Conquest of Abyssinia or Futuh al-Habash in which Muslim population in the Horn of Africa conquered two thirds of Solomonic territories of Ethiopia, defeating Ethiopian Emperor Lebna Dengel along with Portuguese reinforcements.

Defeat and death Most historians in the Horn of Africa acknowledge that strong Somali forces contributed much input to Imam’s victories. It appears that Gurey’s defeat and death in 1543 by Portuguese sharpshooter marked the beginning of an end for Somalis, who were always deeply divided along clan and sub-clan lines and suddenly started to suffer. It would take many centuries to come to recover a trauma caused by Imam’s death. The result was experiencing Ethiopian expansion and its consolidation of control among nomadic Somalis, European colonisation and post-colonialism period. Before European settlers; Britain, Italy and France divided Somalia into five territories, the country was at odds into clan fiefdoms. For instance, Mogadishu alone, in this particular time, had two sultans and was divided into two sections: Shingani and Hamarweyne. It was when French explorer Charles Guillain visited Sultan of Geledi, and Britain’s Richard Burton went to Haji Sharmarke Ali Saleh, the Sultan of Seylac. Some other explorers came also to see clan sultanates in the area, discovering customs, cultures and traditions to pave the way for future colonization. It should probably be later on when the East African man uttered stridently, “Somalis, Bwana, they no good; each man his own sultan.”

Hostile history Equally astounding was when certain clans created their own sultanates, imposing their power on others, like Sultan of Bender Qasim and self-styled Sultan of Hobyo. Consequently, each clan had its Sultan and traditional leader as well as a very long hostile history of its own. As clans made traditional boundaries, no-one was authorized to enter the others’ precincts. It was exactly the same way as present-day Somalia when every clan is electing its own president, and fiefdoms and semi-states, like Somaliland, Hiiraanland, Puntland, Ximan and Xeeb, Galmudug, Maamulka SSC, Bartamahaland, to mention just a few, are booming to produce a situation of ‘each sub-clan, one state’ system. Undoubtedly, the history of the Dir clan differs in some details from the history of the Raxanweyn, the history of Hawiye clan differs from the history of Daarood, the history of Reer Hamars differs from the one of Bravenese, the history of very skilled clans of Tumaal, Madhibaan, Gabooye, Midgaan, Yibir differs from that of Jareerweyne, yet Somalis are quite similar in many ways. They share common language, religion, culture and tradition.

(Mohamed Haji Ingiriis is a Somali based in London who writes extensively about Somali history and politics. He has a background with philosophy, media law and administration. He contributes to local London newspapers. ingiriis@yahoo.com).

http://www.somalilandtimes.net/sl/2010/451/12.shtml

Somaliland: Private Schools Earn Highest Marks In National Examinations

Hargeysa, Somaliland, September 18, 2010 (SL Times) – The ministry of Education announced the examination results of the intermediate and secondary schools for the year of 2009/2010. Most of the top 10 students are from private schools.

A well-organized ceremony that the ministry of Education Miss Zamzam Aadan and the General Secretary of the ministry Mr. Abdirahman Maal participated were announced the results of the examinations.

Abdirhamn Mohamed Maal, the director general of the ministry told that 8968 students sat for the examination of the intermediate schools in which 8104 students passed whereas 659 students failed. He also told that 204 registered students for the exam were absent during the examination period.

The General Secretary also added that 3980 students took this year tests in the secondary schools in which most of them passed the exam except less than 200 students. The ministry of education honored the top 10 students for each Intermediate and secondary schools for the year 2009/2010 in well-attended ceremony. The list of students with their school name is as follow:

Top Ten Students for the GCSE Examinations (2009/2010)

Name of the student School Name

1Cabdilaahi Xasan Cadnaan Cabdilaahi………. ILAYS. (Private)

2-Yaxye Cabdilaahi Muxumed Kaahin……….. Nuuradiin. (Private

3-Khaalid Muxumed Cabdilaahi Guunje……. Nuuradiin. (Private)

4-Axmed Ibraahim Muxumed Baaruud……… Nuuradiin. (Private)

5-Foosiya Yuusuf Nuur Maxamed……………. ILAYS. (Private)

6-Mursal Maxamed Jaamac Suldaan………… ILAYS. (Private)

7-Sayid Cabdilaahi Taani Cabdilaahi……….. 26-ka Juun. (Public School)

8-Cabdifataax Jaamac Axmed Maygaag……. ILAYS. (Private)

9-Khadar Cabdi Ibraahim Muxumed……….. Al-jesiira. (Private)

10-Maxamed Axmed Xuseen Furre………….. Nuuradiin. (Private)

Top Ten Students for the Intermiate Examinations (2009/2010)

Name of the student School Name

1) Cabdisalaan Cismaan Xuseen Faahiye…… Sheekh Cali Ibraahim(Public School)

2) C/samad Muxyadiin Aaden Burhaa…. Qudhac-dheer (Public School)

3) Aaden Xasan Axmed Maxamuud………. SMART (Private)

4) Siciid Maxamuud Faarax Maxamed……. Ceel-afwayn (Public School)

5) C/fataax Cismaan ibraahim Xasan……. Qudhac-dheer. (Public School)

6) C/rixiin Axmed Maxamed Diiriye…….. SMART (Private)

7) C/raxmaan Ismaaciil Cabdi Guuleed…. Sheekh Cali Cismaan (Public School)

8] Jamaal C/rashiid Cismaan Xasa……. Nuuradiin (Private School)

9) Caasha Bashiir Cabdi Sulaymaan……. Blooming (Private School

10) Mahad Axmed Maxamed Maxamuud…… SMART (Private School

There was record This is the year that highest number of students sit for the examinations of intermediate and secondary schools. Students from privately funded schools received top grades in this year exams. Only one student from 26-June secondary school which is a public school was in the top ten students of the GCSE exams. The top students of the GCSE exams got scholarships to attend overseas universities in Malaysia, Sudan and Libya.

Students from Nuuradiin and Ilays secondary schools, which are privately owned, have earned top grades in GCSE exams in this year. Tuition costs in Somaliland private is between $7-$30 per month. The median household in the country cannot afford to send their kids to private schools. Students in private school receive better education than their counterparts in Public schools. Like most institutions in the country privately owned schools, hospitals and institutions are regard to have better services than state operated ones.

Source: SomalilandPress
http://www.somalilandtimes.net/sl/2010/451/9.shtml

U.N.: Mini-Summit on Somalia in New York - 23 September 2010 Communique

Today, the United Nations Secretary-General convened a Mini-Summit on Somalia, with high-level representation from the region and the wider international community. The President of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia, H.E. Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, briefed the mini-Summit on recent political and security developments in Somalia. The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Jean Ping, provided an update on the operations of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

With less than one year remaining in the transitional period, the TFIs need to further consolidate their internal cohesion and unity, in order to counter the threat posed by increased insurgent attacks by al-Shabaab and other extremists. Against this backdrop and the lack of sustainable funding for the TFG security forces and AMISOM, the mini-Summit provided an opportunity to consolidate unity of purpose and action in several important areas.

First, the Mini-Summit reaffirmed that the Djibouti Peace Agreement and the Peace Process represent the basis for a resolution of the conflict in Somalia. The meeting also reaffirmed the strong determination of the United Nations and the international community to work with the TFIs and the people of Somalia to break the cycle of lawlessness, violence and despair in the country. Collective and coordinated action is crucial to building a peaceful and prosperous future for the Somali people.

Second, participants called on the TFI leaders to complete the remaining transitional tasks by August 2011, in particular the constitution-making process, which should include wide consultations within Somalia and with the Diaspora. Other priority tasks for the TFIs include: agreeing on post-transition arrangements in coordination with the UN and the international community; reaching out to more opposition groups that renounce violence, with a view to expanding its political base; strengthening the capacity of TFG security forces; and improving the delivery and access to basic services for the Somali people. In this context, participants called for a road map of achievable objectives and clear timelines to be developed for the remaining transitional period.

Third, achieving these priority transitional tasks requires more cohesion within the TFIs. It is therefore crucial for the Somali leaders to resolve their internal differences and to work together towards peace and stability, in the spirit of the Djibouti Agreement.

Fourth, participants commended the contributions of the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD), African Union (AU) and the League of Arab States, in their efforts towards the stabilisation of Somalia. They also expressed their appreciation to the Governments of Burundi and Uganda for providing troops and equipment to AMISOM.

Participants called for increased financial support to AMISOM and stressed the importance of predictable, reliable and timely provision of resources to AMISOM. They also called for more support for the development of the Somali security forces. The Mini-summit noted the Communiqué of the IGAD Council of Ministers and expressed commitment to support the decisions adopted by the AU Summit of 10 July 2010.

Fifth, the mini-Summit welcomed and encouraged the UN's efforts to improve its internal coordination and effectiveness in Somalia, as well as its intention to enhance its political presence in Mogadishu and establish a light foot print, security permitting, as well as in "Puntland" and "Somaliland". The meeting welcomed the efforts of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to advance the political process in Somalia, including through the revitalization of the High-Level Committee and the Joint Security Committee, and urged him to work closely with regional initiatives.

Sixth, the meeting expressed great concern about the humanitarian situation and condemned all attacks on humanitarian aid workers including al-Shabaab’s September 16 expulsion of humanitarian aid organizations from Somalia. Participants condemned the terrorist acts in Uganda in July 2010 as well as the repeated attacks by al-Shabaab and other extremist groups against the civilian population, TFIs and AMISOM personnel, which have resulted in population displacements and aggravated Somalia’s humanitarian situation.

Seventh, participants recognised the challenges posed by piracy and welcomed the commitment shown by the international community and the TFG to address the roots of the problem, in particular through the enhancement of the lives and livelihoods of affected population and through the efforts of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia.

Finally, participants noted that gains in the political and security areas needed to be supported by reconstruction activities to ensure long-term stability. In this context, participants recalled that the Istanbul Declaration identified six initial priority areas for intervention and welcomed the Task Force formed under the co-chairmanship of Turkey and the Islamic Development Bank to follow up. They also commended the work of the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Conference in Somalia.

Participants also noted the meeting of the International Contact Group on Somalia that will take place in Madrid on 27-28 September, which will offer an opportunity to continue discussing the important issues addressed today.

The participants welcomed the pledge from the TFG to continue its outreach and reconciliation efforts and expand partnerships with regional and local administrations, in line with the Djibouti Peace Agreement. The TFG also vowed to consolidate unity and cohesion within its institutions and address any divisive forces that may hinder its work. The TFG confirmed its commitment to finalising the draft Constitution without delay. The TFG also reaffirmed its responsibility to provide security to the people of Somalia by increasing the number of trained Somali recruits, ensuring integration of all security forces, including those of the Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a into the national army, and improving the control and command structure of the Somali Forces.

The participants in the mini-Summit on Somalia were:
Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Burundi, China, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Somalia, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, African Union, European Union, League of Arab States, Organization of Islamic Conference, United Nations.

23 SEPTEMBER 2010
NEW YORK

Puntland support the new US "two track" Somalia engagement policy

MINISTRY OF PLANNING & INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

PRESS RELEASE | The government of the Puntland State of Somalia welcomes the statement by the US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Ambassador Johnnie Carson during his September 24, 2010 joint press conference at the United Nations General Assembly with P.J. Crawley, US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs unveiling the United States’ new “two-track” Somalia engagement policy. The government of Puntland appreciates this new and pragmatic approach which we think better reflects the current political reality in the country as well as how best the long lasting present quagmire can be ended. The TFG’s glaring lack of capacity to fulfill its mandate by upholding the charter, fostering national reconciliation, embracing and encouraging the constitutional development process, and fighting and defeating violent extremist groups can no longer be ignored.

This new policy will not only be viewed as a strategic reward of the commitment to peace and institutional governance chosen by the people of Puntland and Somaliland, it stands also, if vigorously pursued, to create demonstrable incentives significant enough to entice the rest of Somalia to appreciate the fruits of peaceful state building, adherence to the rule of law, good governance and the rejection of the kind of anarchic tendencies that encourage terrorism, piracy and similar criminal activities.

Puntland State stands ready to work with the government of the United States and the rest of the international community in creating a terror-free, peaceful and democratic Somalia at peace with herself and with the rest of the international community including our neighbors. The United States’ new engagement policy will most certainly help us move closer to the attainment of this much cherished albeit heretofore elusive goal. Puntland will cooperate with the international community in particular, the United States, the EU, the United Nations, the AU, the OIC, the LAS and IGAD among others in the search for more effective ways of rebuilding and strengthening the federal institutions in Somalia. To this end, we are ready to, if necessary, provide to both the most essential international agencies and key transitional federal institutions with safe and operational office space inside Puntland for as long as needed.

Moreover the government of Puntland will spare no effort to do everything possible to ensure the success of this new American policy toward Somalia and calls on the rest of Somalia as well as the international community to welcome this fresh approach by the US government.

Finally, the government of Puntland welcomes and deeply appreciates Ambassador Carson’s strong and unambiguous support for Somali unity, national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

H.E. Abdulkadir Abdi Hashi
Minister of State for Planning and International Cooperation
Puntland State of Somalia
Garowe, Puntland, Somalia
Mobile (World) 410. 872-6976
Mobile Somalia. 25290794234
Email: stateministermopic@gmail.com

EARLY MARRIAGES IN AFRICA'S 21 CENTURY!!!

http://www.ntv.co.ke

It is back to school for several girls, but not the usual way. The girls have been rescued from forced marriages and now have to rebuild their lives. Some of them were married off as early as age 13. But as Rose Wangui reports, they are putting that past behind them, one book at a time.

Somaliland: Recognition Will Never Come

By: Cali Caraale

Somalilanders are an optimistic lot. They have been waiting for recognition from the international community for almost twenty years without success yet not once have they doubted that their holy grail is just round the corner; that Africa, America, Britain Ethiopia or perhaps even Israel will see the justice of their cause and award them the recognition they believe they richly deserve.

Watching Europe and America recognise over twenty new nations in Europe and Eurasia during the same period they were struggling for the same right does not seem to dim their cheery expectation that their day will come too. Being resolutely ignored and on occasion deliberately humiliated by all regional and international institutions is dismissed as mere temporary impediments on their historic journey to ultimate glory.

One can only admire their naïve convictions but there is a terrible truth Somalilanders must one day wake up and face: they are not going to be recognised any time soon and perhaps never will be. Not by Europe loth to have yet another begging-bowl stretching African non-state calling on their recession depleted foreign aid packages. Not by America whose African policy is currently shaped by a cabal of African-Americans brought up on the romantic notions of Negritude and Pan-Africanism and who consider any further breaking up of `big village mother Africa’ as tantamount to racial treachery.

And they are certainly not going to be recognised by dictatorial Arab nations viscerally opposed to any form of geopolitical change in their region lest it gives their restless populations unwanted ideas. Somalilanders dillydallying with that tiresome Western stuff called democracy does not help matters at all.

And forget the AU members, unless, perhaps, Somalilanders could muster a slush fund to grease the palms of those eager, smiley lawmakers across the continent who are open to negotiations on all affairs, for the right price. Somaliland has no access to such wealth at this stage; partially because they are forced by lack of recognition to spend most of their meagre resources on maintaining an oversize army in order to survive in this bad neighbourhood. Analysts in Hargeisa, the capital like to point out if Somalia were to attack Somaliland tomorrow as it did in the late 80s it will not be seen as a foreign invasion but as a civil war or even, incredibly, a Nation State justifiably ‘pacifying’ a rogue region.

And finally to kill off any chance of this desert entity ever getting on a world map, they have managed to accumulate an extraordinarily diverse collection of enemies determined to smother the place to death before it gets born. Egypt is one such enemy. Cairo believes that a strong, united Somalia is essential element in its biblical, existential struggle with Ethiopia over the life-giving waters of the Nile. Cairo is completely deluded as usual (Modern Egypt has a history of bad analysis, planning and strategy on regional matters) because Somaliland will never be part of Somalia again but the Mubarak regime still issues telling statements about ‘the sovereignty…and territorial integrity’ of Somalia every time the issue of Somaliland is raised by sympathisers in the AU, UN or the Arab League.

Saudi Arabia is equally hostile to the very idea of a free, democratic, secular little new nation across its red sea waters. The UN bureaucracy is so hostile to the place it even refuses to mention its name.

All of this rule out any chance of recognition unless there are tectonic, miraculous political sea changes in the area. Somalilanders may still hope but miracles only occur in ancient religious tales not in cold, modern-day political realities. They need to face this awful truth not matter how painful and spend their energies on ways of living without recognition rather than hankering after its mirage.

(Next time: Ways of surviving in State of non-recognition)

By: Cali Caraale
carraale@hotmail.co.uk
http://alturl.com/6skaq

U.S. BOOST TIES WITH BREAK AWAY SOMALIA REGIONS

NEW YORK, Sept 24 (Reuters) - The United States is increasing ties with two semi-autonomous regions in Somalia, hoping to build stability for the embattled central government and African Union forces deployed in the virtually lawless nation, a top U.S. diplomat said on Friday. Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson said U.S. officials were developing ties with authorities in both Puntland and Somaliland, both of which declared themselves independent in the early 1990s when the Horn of Africa nation descended into civil war and anarchy.

Carson said the United States did not plan to recognize either government as an independent state. But he said increased U.S. cooperation, particularly on aid and development, could head off inroads by Islamist Al Shabaab insurgents, who stepped up their fight to topple Somalia's Western-backed central administration last month.

"Both of these parts of Somalia have been zones of relative political and civil stability and we think they in fact will be a bulwark of extremism and radicalism that might emerge from the south," Carson told a news briefing.

Carson said the United States would also reach out to groups in south central Somalia, including local governments and family clans, that are opposed to Al Shabaab but not aligned formally or directly with the government in Mogadishu.

Carson stressed he United States would continue to recognize only a single Somali state and would work to strengthen the transitional government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, which has lost control of much of Mogadishu and much of southern and central Somalia to the Al Shabaab rebels.

"We do not contemplate and we are not about to recognize either of these entities or areas as independent states," Carson said.

But he added that both regions could expect more concrete U.S. help with education, agriculture and water projects. "In the past we have not engaged these areas and political entities aggressively. We will now start to do so," Carson said.

FUNDING MORE PEACEKEEPERS

The United Nations this week convened a "mini-summit" on Somalia on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York, hoping to drum up fresh support for expanding the peacekeeping operation in the country.

Al Shabaab, which has links to al Qaeda, is increasingly seen as a regional threat and have used suicide bombers to devastating effect over the past two years, killing five government ministers and dozens of African Union peacekeeping troops. The group was also behind attacks in Uganda in July that killed at least 79 people.

There have been repeated calls to strengthen the African Union force, known as AMISOM, made up of about 7,200 troops from Burundi and Uganda.

Uganda has said it is ready to contribute more troops, but that it will need help to fund them. Carson said the United States was actively pressing both Asian and Arab nations to help with cash and military equipment.

"We believe that the problem in Somalia is both a regional and a global problem and in fact should be shared globally," Carson told a news briefing, arguing that increased piracy off Somalia's coast is a direct threat to both oil shipping and other trade between Europe and Asia.

Carson said he had spoken to Japan about increasing its support, but believed countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia also had a direct stake in stabilizing Somalia.

Source: Reuters

FRENCH COMPANY BOLLORE AFRICA LOGISTICS WINS TENDER TO DEVELOP PORT OF BERBERA IN SOMALILAND

Dominique Lafont, CEO of Bollore Africa Logistics, announced in Nairobi that the facility will help ease Ethiopia import and export needs through maritime transport system and open new income stream for the government of Somaliland. "We shall be setting the port up as the national port of Ethiopia," said Lafont. The port will be run under concession basis, which marks the company’s entry into the infrastructure concessions in East Africa. The company already manages the ports of Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Cameroon and the Republic of Congo. It also manages the rail lines of Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Cameroon. "We are interested in entering concession agreements for ports in East Africa and along the Indian Ocean but the challenge is that most of the ports are run by the governments." "We are keen to work along the development of transport systems within the East Africa Common Market," said Lafont. The company has a strong presence in East Africa and around 40 African countries through its logistics arm SVD Tansami.

http://alturl.com/6hacn
http://www.bollore-africa-logistics.com/en/pages-accueil/default.aspx

BOYS RIGHT TO EDUCATION

In the County of West Pokot, the nomadic life somehow but inadvertently favours girls to be in school. Boy's education is sacrificed for the sake of livestock. But a new unofficial pattern has been introduced to save the schooling of the boy-child So as not to miss on Education, Lessons take place early in the mornings, ideally before the boys go out to graze the herds, and later in the evenings as they return home.

CIVIL WAR DEFINED?

"... there were a variety of ways to define what constituted a civil war. One methods requires the conflict to claim 1,000 lives overall. Another method says unrest can only be categorised as a civil war if it results in 1,000 deaths each year.Other definitions have much lower thresholds, ranging between one casualty and 25 casualties per year."

Halvard Buhaug, senior researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo's (Prio)
Centre for the Study of Civil War.

According to Buhaug Climate change is not responsible for civil wars in Africa,...traditional factors - such as poverty and social tensions - were often the main factors behind the outbreak of conflicts.

"Climate variability in Africa does not seem to have a significant impact on the risk of civil war,"

"If you apply a number of different definitions of conflict and various different ways to measure climate variability, most of these measurements will turn out not to be associated with each other."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11204686