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President Kibaki of Kenya was quoted as saying:   

The transitional federal government of Somalia continues to require sustainable international assistance and support to enable it to carry out its mandate of post conflict reconstruction…..   

Mr. Kibaki went on by saying:. 

In the search for durable peace in the region, IGAD member states have urged the United Nations to lift the arms embargo on Somalia. Likewise, we have emphasized the importance of implementation of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration programs. 

Well, what Mr. Kibati failed to say is the fact that it was IGADs officials who ignorantly thought that the UN Arms Embargo on Somalia prohibits the deployment of peace-keeping forces from the Arab or African states into Somalia. Indeed, one could reasonably argue that the UN Security Council resolution (733) regarding the Arms Embargo justifies the deployment of the peace-keeping forces into Somalia! Indeed, the resolution states that it “Calls upon all States and international organizations to contribute to the efforts of humanitarian assistance to the population in Somalia”. It goes without saying that the intention of the peace-keepers is to “contribute to the efforts of humanitarian assistance to the population in Somalia”. In short, President Kibaki is either being mislead by his legal advisers or he is just walking in the dark. Either way, I do not believe the President knows what he is talking!

Click here for the full dispatch by the Chinese News Agency; Xinhuanet.

I think ultimately you’re not going to be able to control something like corruption if you have an entire elite that believes that their primary duty is to their families rather than to the public good and there’s certainly lots and lots of countries around the world for which that’s true. 

Prof. Francis Fukuyama, School of Advanced International Studies, John Hopkins University . The Author of “End of History and the Last Man” 

The Chinese News Agency; Xinhuanet reports:   

East African military chiefs began a three-day meeting here on Monday to review security progress in the region ravaged by conflicts, insecurity and poverty. The East African Chiefs of Defense Staff Meeting which drew military chiefs from 12 states called on regional governments to support the Eastern Africa Standby Brigade to deal with conflicts in Sudan, northern Uganda, Eritrea, Ethiopia and other trouble spots. In his opening remarks, Kenya’s Defense Minister Njenga Karume said the African Union (AU) is assembling a strong rapid response force to deal with conflicts and disasters on the continent. “The African Union has formed a standby force aimed at ensuring quick intervention in conflicts arising within the continent,” Karume told military chiefs from Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Rwanda, Mauritius, Madagascar, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania.   

Well, this is at best another way of wasting much needed resources! The fact is that almost all the countries in the above list are undemocratic and dysfunctional states that have deeply rooted internal conflicts with their own people. Not to mention the fact that majority of them are at war with each other. The question is: how can a country that cannot even protect its own borders help others to achieve peace and security? More importantly, Somalia has no business of forging military alliance with East African States. As I wrote many times before on this page and elsewhere, I do not see any reason why Somalia should be part of failed states club! We have our problems to deal with! Personally, I believe that Somalia should look north politically and economically. Indeed, I have argued that we should leave the African Union altogether. The notion behind the creation of the OAU and African Union is indeed racist! For instance, we have been told that “Europe” is not a geographical location but and idea based on common cultural and religious heritage. Yet, the overriding criterion for the creation of the African Union is indeed skin color. How can you explain Somalia and Ghana being in the same union? 

Click here to view the full article on Xinhuanet. 

David McGuffin; CBC’s Africa Correspondent writes:   

The day we arrived in Wajid, in southern Somalia, they executed a man on the edge of town. We heard the gunshots. He’d been involved in a scuffle over water at a distribution site the day before and shot another man. The town elders say rough, quick justice is the only way to prevent full-blown anarchy. This is how desperate the drought has made life in Somalia. On the edge of town, refugee camps have sprung out of nowhere. Stand in the middle of them and all you can see are sad, makeshift tents crammed together in a dry, dusty, windblown plain.

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Zlatan Milisic, Somalia-Country Director for the UN’s World Food Program was quoted as saying that: 

The humanitarian situation is getting worse…We have a major number of people who desperately need our assistance and we are struggling to move through and distribute to them the necessary assistance. It doesn’t help their society either when they are in a constant situation of attacks and unrest and problems. 

Somalia is in deep crisis, unfortunately no body seems to be listrening!

Click here to view a long dispatch by David McGuffin; CBC’s Africa correspondent, Mr. David McGuffin’s dispatches are also broadcasted on the National Public Radio in the US. 

According to Dansk Børsen:

During the last 10 years the number of immigrants engaged in active employment has gone up considerably. At the beginning of 2005 46 per cent of immigrants aged 16-66 years were working, compared to 34,5 per cent in 1997. Nearly 75 per cent of the Danish population are employed. The rising number of immigrants on the labour market is a result of more immigrants succeeding in finding a job and a growing number of immigrants and their descendants in the years 1997-2005. The group of non-ethnic Danes consist of more than 150 nationalities. Male immigrants from Turkey, Pakistan, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka have an employment frequency of over 60 per cent. On the other hand, less than 20 per cent of the women from Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia and Afghanistan are employed.

Click here to view the full article on Dansk Børsen. 

Source: UNOSAT.  You may like to click here to view the original map.

Click here to view a map showing locations of international NGO’s operating in Somalia. 

Source: OCHA Somalia 

Click here to view map showing Somalia general population movement, specially inter-regional/district movements for December 31st, 06 through March 15th, 2006).

Source: OCHA Somalia 

Save the Children is currently looking for an Emergency Planning & Coordination Adviser to work within Save the Children’s Somalia Programme team to help them develop, shape and finance appropriate operational responses to the situation. This short term role is being put in place to follow-up on an initial viability and scoping study. Depending on how the funding situation develops, there may be opportunities to continue with this position in the longer term. You will predominantly be based in Nairobi, Kenya where our main office for the Somalia is located. There may be occasional trips to the field, usually of short duration.  Information on our existing work in Somalia can be found here.  You may like to click here for job description and how to apply this position.

Ainashe.net strongly encourages qualified Somalis to apply for this position. 

According to OCHA report released earlier this week:   

In the last two weeks UNICEF and WHO reviewed their plans to implement key drought response activities including improving stocks of emergency drugs and supplies, strengthening surveillance and early warning, expanding of health care through mobile clinics, and reinforcing ongoing immunization activities. In support of the drought response, WHO is planning on implementing an intensive course on Communicable Disease Control and Emergency Response in Merka, Lower Shabelle and aimed at MOH, UN, Health coordinators, NGOs and Health Facility representatives and also the hiring of a nutritionist for a 2 month period to carry out specific drought related activities. As malaria is endemic in the south, a recent shipment of 60,000 Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN) will be distributed to vulnerable groups in drought stricken areas.   

Source: OCHA via Reliefweb 

According to OCHA report release this week:

The Gu planting season is under preparation. Major actors include ICRC and FAO covering respectively 23,000 and 24,600 households. With resources available, it is estimated that close to 50% of the estimated needy families will receive planting material (sorghum and cowpea seeds). FAO is procuring some 492 Mt of sorghum and cowpea from Wajid (21 Mt), Baidoa (255 Mt), Belet Weyne (71 Mt), Afmadow (11,6 Mt), Garbaharey (18,4 Mt), Bardheere (107 Mt) and Dolow (8 Mt). Distribution was concluded in Wajid (FAO/ACF). Seeds are being bagged in Belet Weyne for distribution in Belet Weyne (FAO/DRC) and Balcad (FAO/Agrosphere), while seed testing is on-going at both Nairobi and field level, for the samples received from the other locations. Livestock and pastoralist activities continue to focus on de-stocking, animal health and water trucking.   

Source: OCHA via Reliefweb

According to OCHA reports:

5,000 Mt of food is currently being distributed in Baidoa and Dinsor districts while WFP is currently planning their second round of drought relief food distribution. Since late February a total of 11,800 Mt of food have been distributed to 730,000 beneficiaries in south Somalia and a total of 1,700 Mt of food has been distributed in the north. WFP is proposing to do a rapid assessment in the north east - which has still received no rain - and where some districts are reportedly suffering from chronic drought conditions. CARE has recently completed food distributions in Gedo and has begun water trucking and borehole rehabilitation in affected areas of El Waq. Similar activities are in the pipeline for Dolow and Belet Hawa; the next food distribution in Gedo is scheduled to take place at the end of April.  ICRC interventions continue in Gedo, Lower Juba, Bakol, Lower Shabelle, Mudug and Galgadud involving food distributions (and the rehabilitation of strategic water-points, veterinary interventions and seed distributions).

This is too little too late and it will not do much to help ease the hunger and starvation that is ravaging the Somali people in Somalia, in Kenya and the Somali part of Ethiopia! 

Source: OCHA via Reliefweb  

According to Xinhuanet:

The United States on Thursday appealed for calm in Somalia, urging leaders to work together and exercise restrain as tension mounts over a new round of fighting for control of the capital, Mogadishu. A statement issued by the US Embassy in Nairobi urged the Somali leaders to seek reconciliation through dialogue, calling on all parties to cooperate with the Transitional Federal institutions.  “In response to reports of increasing tensions in Mogadishu, the United States calls upon all Somalis to work together to encourage restraint and calm in the city,”  the US said in a statement.  “Provocations and fresh outbreaks of violence in Mogadishu can serve only the interests of extremist elements,” it added.

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Ethan Zuckerman of the The Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard’s Law School writes:

A few months ago, it looked as if Somalia might be on the verge of recovery. Somalia’s parliament in exile finally met in Somalia, rather than in Kenya. The BBC was sufficiently optimistic that they ran a series of stories titled: Somalia, Emerging from Ruins? Unfortunately, recent news from Somalia has been uniformly bad. (An important distinction - “Somalia” exists in name only. Somaliland and Puntland have both declared their independence and formed somewhat functional governments. Though impoverished, both regions are in better shape than the remainder of the nation, which is what I refer to when I write “Somalia”.) In late March, fierce fighting broke out between two coalitions of warlords.

Indeed, a very interesting and informative article! Click here to check it out! 

For those of you who do not know Mr. Zuckerman, he is one of the clever brains behind the “Global Voices” and Blog Africa! 

UK’s Secretary of International Development; Rt. Hon. Hilary Benn, was quoted as saying:  

The majority of DFID funding is provided to three multilateral institutions, the UN system, the World Bank, and through the UK’s contribution to the EC, which includes the European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO). Support to the UN includes to the UN Development Programme (UNDP) for its Rule of Law Programme, the World Food Programme, the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) for drought related activities, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) programme, UN-HABITAT for urban development work and to the United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) for education work. With the World Bank, DFID is for example, supporting the joint needs assessment work they are co-leading with the UNDP to prepare a five-year reconstruction and development programme and a Community Development Programme. We also provide core funding to the African Development Bank that is providing support to the drought in the Horn of Africa.

Source: Proceedings of the British House of Commons

Barbara Stocking, Oxfam’s director was quoted as saying:

This crisis might be getting less attention than the tsunami did, but the number of people needing help is even greater. …The severity of this crisis means assistance is needed on a huge scale. ..This appeal isn’t designed to be just a sticking plaster…We want to help people across the region to recover and be in a better position when the next crisis hits. With the support of the public, we can work with people to build their futures as well as helping them through the terrible situation they face today.

Click here to view a long article on this on the Independent Newspaper in London. 

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) invites applications for the position as Programme Manager for the continuation of a programme in support of returning refugees and IDP’s currently living in Puntland. The position is based in Bosaso in Northeast Somalia. The programme has three main components: Co-ordinated action to meet immediate basic humanitarian needs in IDP settlements; provision of alternative livelihoods for drought affected rural populations; and advocacy for human rights and peace-building including working with traditional leaders on revision of customary law.  

Click here to view announcement or here. 

According to United Press International:

U.S. officials Tuesday denied reports the military had struck a deal with Somalia to conduct anti-piracy patrols along its coastal waters. The announcement runs counter to previous claims by the Somali prime minister, who has repeatedly called for help as attacks hinder humanitarian aid in the drought-stricken region. “The Somali government did not talk to the U.S. Navy. The U.S. Navy has no agreement with the Somali government,” said Lt. Commander Charlie Brown, spokesperson for the Bahrain-based fifth fleet which has already tracked Somali pirates in International waters in the Indian Ocean. The State Department confirmed in a statement that no contracts or agreements had been negotiated, saying it had only held “diplomatic discussions with representatives from (the transitional government of Somalia) concerning a number of areas of possible cooperation, including anti-piracy efforts.” Ali Mohamed Gedi, Somalia’s transitional prime minister, had earlier told reporters that he had reached a “milestone” agreement with the U.S. Navy to enforce security in his country’s territorial waters, where pirates have operated with increasing impunity.  

Cali Maxamed Geedi; the Prime Minister of the Somali Transitional Federal Government looks like an amateur after this diplomatic and media management mishap!

Click here to view the full on UPI.

Luc Lampriere, WFP spokesperson quoted as saying:

It has been raining and typically, these rains run from mid-March to mid-May, but it is likely we will need more than these rains to recover. (…) The drought affected the lives of 150,000 people, of whom 70,000 are in immediate need of food assistance.

Click here to view the full report on IRIN News.

CNN International Reports:

Somalia has granted the U.S. Navy permission to patrol its coastal waters in an effort to combat piracy off the lawless Horn of Africa nation, the prime minister said. Ali Mohamed Gedi told lawmakers Sunday that the United States also would help the transitional government set up a coast guard to secure Somalia’s 621-mile (1,000-kilometer) coastline. The agreement was reached during talks with the U.S. ambassador in Kenya, Gedi said. U.S. Embassy officials were not immediately available for comment. Somalia has had no coast guard or navy since warlords ousted the dictator in 1991 and then turned on each other — carving the nation of an estimated 8 million people into a patchwork of anarchic clan-based fiefdoms. 

Click here to view the full report on CNN.

Lindsey Hilsum of Channel4 News writes:   

Channel 4 News reports on the worsening situation in Somalia where aid is difficult to get through. It’s a land where guns are the law: for 15 years - the world’s only state without a functioning government. It’s almost impossible for aid agencies to operate in Somalia - the UN has even banned delivering supplies by sea because of the risk of piracy. Just this week - three aid workers were shot dead trying to deliver aid in Somalia’s drought-stricken south. Two years of severe drought have left eight million people in need of emergency food aid across the Horn of Africa. Two million of the most needy are in Southern Somalia. The problems encountered in Mererey and Afmadow, show the difficulties of aid relief, in a country with no government.  

Click here to watch the full report on Channel4 News.

General Daa’uud: A symbol of National Pride!

April 12th is the national day for the Somali National Army (Xooga Dalka Soomaaliyeed).

You may like to click here for earlier entries on General Daa’uud.

The Reuters news agency reports:

A Somali man working with a German-based aid group was shot dead in a gun battle involving bandits in the south of the lawless east African country earlier this week, the organisation said on Wednesday. The man and seven others were caught in crossfire between highway bandits and another vehicle on the road from the capital Mogadishu to the southern city of Kismayu, said Stefan Libisch. The incident occurred on Monday at around 5.30 p.m. local time, said Libisch, spokesman for Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe in Stuttgart. Abdulkadir Esse Far’Ade, who was working on a project to clear debris washed up by the Asian tsunami, died at the scene a few minutes after being struck by a stray bullet. “Of course we deeply regret this incident,” Libisch said. “We always try to make sure security is a top priority.” Two other people died in Somalia on Monday when fighting broke out among militia after a United Nations aid convoy was held up at checkpoints. 

Click here to view the full dispatch on the Reuters website (South African Bureau) 

Tension has been mounting in Baidoa, capital town of Bay region in central Somalia after skirmishes left two people dead between militias loyal to President Abdulahi Yusuf Ahmed and local militias (Somali federal Army).  The clashes came after Mr Yusuf’s militias (Somali federal Army) with battlewagons heading to Wajid town forcefully crossed a check point from Baidoa to Wajid where the conflict occurred. It caused the death of two people from local militias who were on the checkpoint.

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The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today began investigating a deadly shooting near one of its food convoys in central Somalia, in which at least one militiaman was killed and a number injured when gunmen attacked the convoy on the road to the town of Baidoa.The 70-truck convoy was subcontracted to a local vendor and there were no WFP personnel involved, a UN spokesman told reporters today, while the UN’s food agency said the violence occurred after negotiations to obtain safe passage for the convoy around road-blocks had failed.

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According to ITV News in London:   

Chancellor Gordon Brown has promised that £8.5 billion will be spent to help educate the world’s poorest children over the next ten years. He pledged the cash during a visit to a primary school in Mozambique with International Development Secretary Hilary Benn. The money will go towards a global target of $100 billion or £55.6bn to get 100 million children into schools. Mr Brown and Mr Benn are to join forces with South African former president Nelson Mandela to challenge world leaders to honor the pledge. Mr Brown said: “In 2005, Make Poverty History forced governments to make promises on aid. “Now, in 2006 it is time for us to keep our promises. None is more important than the Millennium Development Goal that by 2015 every one of the world’s children is able to go to school.” Mr Benn added: “Education is a basic human right, and to get every child into school we need more investment. “Working with developing countries, through increased commitment from the UK, will help train more teachers, build more classrooms and give more children the best start in life.”   

I have always been a“Brownite” at heart!

Click here to view the full article on ITV. 

Chris Tomlinson of the Associated Press Writes:

The United States is backing a new coalition of Somali militants fighting Islamic extremists for control of the lawless nation’s capital, a U.S. official said, as both sides prepared for a battle that could explode in widespread violence. Clan leaders have put aside their traditional rivalries to take on the extremists, whom they describe as terrorists. The extremists, though, say they can offer unity and order after decades of chaos in Somalia. Residents say both sides have recently received an infusion of cash and weapons as they face off for control of the country, which has had no central government since warlords divided it into clan-based fiefdoms in 1991. The State Department said in March that the U.S. government was concerned about “al-Qaida fugitives responsible for the 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam (in Tanzania) and the November 2002 bombing of a tourist hotel and attack on a civilian airliner in Kenya, who are believed to be operating in and around Somalia.”  

Click here to view the full dispatch on the Houston Chronicle. 

The South African Mail & Guardian Newspaper reports:   

At least three people were killed and nine wounded in a gun battle over United Nations food aid in drought-stricken central Somalia early on Monday, police and relief workers said.The incident, which underscores the difficulties, faced by aid agencies working in the lawless nation, occurred shortly after midnight near the town of Baidoa, the temporary home of the transitional Somali Parliament, they said.“The shooting involved gunmen who were escorting a convoy of World Food Programme [WFP] aid and others who were manning a checkpoint,” said a truck driver who was part of the procession of vehicles. “The shoot-out was short but intense and I never thought we would survive,” the driver told Agence France-Presse on condition of anonymity. “By the grace of God we are here to tell the story.” 

Unfortunately, this incident says a lot about the sad realities on the ground in Somalia; many desperate Somalis will kill one another for food. I think it is time that the international community takes a decisive action to fight hunger and starvation in Somalia! The United Nations bureaucracy is proving to be insufficient to avert the food crisis in Somalia. 

Click here to view the full story on the Mail & Guardian.