If the world could only have one father, the man that we would choose to be our father would be Nelson Mandela

Peter Gabriel, British Pop artist and political activist.

The trouble started when government soldiers went to the market and, at gunpoint, began to help themselves to sacks of grain last week. Islamist insurgents poured into the streets to defend the merchants. The government troops took heavy casualties and retreated all the way back to the presidential palace, supposedly the most secure place in the city. It, too, came under fire. Mohamed Abdirizak, a top government official, crouched on a balcony at the palace, with bullets whizzing over his head. He had just given up a comfortable life as a development consultant in Springfield, Va. His wife thought he was crazy. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

“I feel this slipping away,” he said.

By its own admission, the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia is on life support. When it took power here in the capital 15 months ago, backed by thousands of Ethiopian troops, it was widely hailed as the best chance in years to end Somalia’s ceaseless cycles of war and suffering.

The TFG has been a life support for far too long…It is time for it to accept failure and disband.

Click here to view the article on NY Times.

High levels of malnutrition and the difficulties of delivering aid make Somalia the world’s most pressing humanitarian crisis, the U.N. refugee agency’s representative there said on Tuesday. More than 1 million people have fled their homes in Somalia, which is convulsed by fighting between Ethiopian-backed government forces, Islamist insurgents and an assortment of warlords. “I’ve never seen anything like Somalia before,” Guillermo Bettocchi, representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said during a visit to London. “The situation is very severe. It is the most pressing humanitarian emergency in the world today — even worse than Darfur,” he told reporters, referring to the war in western Sudan, which has driven 2.5 million from their homes. A bomb attack which killed three foreign aid workers in Somalia on Monday underlined the difficulty in delivering aid in the anarchic country that has been wracked by clan violence for 17 years, he said. Fifteen percent of the population suffer acute malnutrition while health services are very limited and sanitation, water and shelters are extremely poor, Bettocchi said.

Source: UN News Wire

“The international community must put Somalia at the top of its agenda and press for change before it is too late. We call on all authorities in Somalia to help us reach those in need and urge donors not to give up on this country.”

Peter Goossens,
WFP’s Country Director for Somalia.

US bombers began pounding away at Somali positions as battles escalated between the Somali resistance and the combined forces of the invading Ethiopian army and the Somali interim government. Hardly a day passes without a bombing or assassination in Baidoa, capital of the interim government. The Americans are using their usual excuse: they are trying to kill Al-Qaeda leaders. Somalia’s Islamic resistance seems to have mastered the art of guerrilla warfare, taking control of small towns then abandoning them and disappearing into the population. It is a tactic designed to baffle and frustrate a regular army trying to fight a symmetric war. Where exactly is the enemy? Meanwhile, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and the Eritreans are waiting for the right moment to assault the Ethiopians.

Galaal Nassir went on by saying:

The Islamic Courts have something in common with both the Palestinian and the Iraqi resistance movements: religious zeal. But they are more clannish than the Palestinians and less sectarian than the Iraqis. So far, the Somali resistance has managed to put so much pressure on the Ethiopian occupation forces that current battles are likely to develop into a full- fledged war. Factor in the Eritrean-Ethiopian border rivalries, the resurgence of the ONLF, and Ethiopia’s efforts to stir up inter- tribal conflicts in Somalia, and the future seems to be rather dim for the Ethiopians. First of all, Eritrea is likely to escalate things on the borders with Ethiopia. Second, Ethiopia will have to deploy more troops against the ONLF. And third, the scale of resistance in various parts of Somalia may prove too much for the Ethiopians. So why is Ethiopia refusing to withdraw from Somalia?

Galal Nassir concluded by saying:

For starters, Ethiopia wants an access to the sea. Since Eritrean independence, Ethiopia has been landlocked. Should Ethiopia pull out of Somalia and recognise the independence of both Eritrea and Somalia, it would have to learn to live without sea access or regional clout. It is not only money or trade Ethiopia is worried about, but influence and power. Still, if Ethiopia decides to stay in Somalia while being challenged on other fronts, it may be risking utter defeat. At one point, the Somalis may start demanding the Ogaden region back. A protracted war in Somalia may therefore lead to profound changes in Ethiopia’s politics and geography. Ethiopia, let’s keep in mind, is not exactly an ethnically or religiously homogeneous nation. And some local clans may just be tempted to secede or grab power from the central government.

It goes without saying that Galaal Nassir’s analyis are right to the point!

Click here to read the article in its entirety on the Al Ahram Weekly.

Elizabeth Latham,
Executive Director
UNDP-USA

Somalia has been without an effective government for over fifteen years and because of this public education has been almost non-existent. As education costs rose fewer and fewer people, especially women, were left without the most basic education. Since women are disproportionately affected by the shortage, they are often left unable to advance into higher education. Just two years ago, a number of Somali women were recruited into the journalism program at Puntland State University. Almost all the women were forced to drop out because they could not afford tuition! Since education and women’s empowerment are some of the necessary backbones to development it is essential that this change.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the African Virtual University (AVU) are working to make huge strives in the education of Somali women. They realize that only through education can real change happen and can an effective government take hold. $1000 is all it takes to cover a Somali women’s full tuition and her course materials for a one year training program. This small donation can help provide women with a variety of skills ranging from medicine to communication business and help them create a new stable Somalia.

Help give Somali women the opportunities they deserve.

To donate, please click here. For more information on UNDP-USA, please click here.

We are writing to seek your assistance in launching an initiative aimed at registering Firms owned by members of the African Diaspora on a World Bank database called eConsultant, so that these Firms become eligible for consulting opportunities within ongoing Bank projects in Africa.

This is further to the Diaspora Open House in Washington DC last November, where one of the commitments we made to participants was that we would provide them with opportunities to be considered for consulting roles with the World Bank. We continue to remain excited by this because we believe that the African Diaspora’s unique perspective, combined with specialist skills, will add immense value to our work on the continent.

If you own or manage a Firm that can offer consulting services to the World Bank, please register with us by clicking on www.worldbank.org/econsultant, creating an account and completing the required form. Once you submit your details, you will receive a temporary registration number. After your information has been reviewed and approved, you will receive an official Vendor ID number. Please note that the eConsultant database in not managed by the Diaspora team, so we will be unable to answer any questions about your registration.

Since all project teams regularly use eConsultant to identify experts, the registration of your firm is an essential first step toward your participation in a Bank project. Also, though the Bank considers both Firms and Independent Consultants for consulting opportunities, this email pertains only to the registration of Firms.

Thank you again for your interest in the Diaspora initiative. We look forward to receiving your Firm’s registration and your continued participation through the year.

Best regards,

African Diaspora Mobilization Team
Capacity Development Management Action Plan (CDMAP) Unit
Africa Region, The World Bank, Washington, DC
www.worldbank.org/afr/diaspora

The Ohio State University (OSU) College of Public Health and the OSU Center for African Studies are pleased to sponsoring a presentation on:

“Health and International Humanitarian Assistance: 30 Years of Evolution”
Dr. Ron Waldman, MD, MPH
Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health
USAID, Team Leader, Pandemic Planning/Humanitarian Response

Date: Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Time: 3:30 - 5:00
Place: Younkin Success Center, Room 150
1640 Neil Avenue (across from the OSU Medical Center)

Somalis are running away from their country in despair, unfortunately, there is no place for many of them to go. Above picture shows Somali women heading to the closed Kenyan (Somali NFD) border.
Copy Right: Al Ahram Weekly-AFP.

Somalia’s transitional government urged the Security Council on Friday to speed up its planning for the possible deployment of a U.N. peacekeeping force to replace African Union troops in the war-wracked nation. Somalia’s U.N. Ambassador Elmi Ahmed Duale endorsed a recent appeal by African heads of state to the council “to urgently take steps for the early deployment of United Nations peacekeeping operations to further enhance peace in Somalia.”

Ms. Lederer went on by saying:

Somalia has not had a functioning government since clan-based warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned on each other, sinking the poverty-stricken nation of 7 million into chaos. Its weak transitional government, backed by Ethiopian troops, is struggling to quash an Islamic insurgency that has killed thousands of civilians this year. The 1,800 Ugandan peacekeepers who arrived in Somalia in early 2007 are supposed to be the vanguard of an 8,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force, though only Burundi in December sent an advance team of 192 soldiers.

I think the TFG is riding on the wrong horse again! First they asked for Ethiopian troops with all destruction and mayhem that followed in the aftermath of the invasion. Unfortunately, the TFG does not seem to have learned from the mistakes of the past. The solution to Somalia’s tragic political conflict is not bringing more foreign troop to the country. The key to a lasting peace is open and sincere political dialogue whereby the Somali people can sort out their difference through Somali, Arab and Islamic channels!

As the saying goes, “Qofna intuu kuu jiro kuuma soo dhaafo”! Somalia must rediscover its cultural and religious roots.

Click here to view the full dispatch on the Miami Herald.

About 90,000 children in war-ravaged Somalia could die in the next few months without immediate supplementary nutrition and therapeutic feeding, an official with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said today, calling for stepped-up international support.

Due to a lack of adequate funding, the agency – which is urgently appealing for $10 million for nutritional, water and sanitation programmes – said it maybe be forced to close its nutritional centres and cease delivering drinking water in two weeks.

Click here to view the full story on the UN News Service.

Security Council
5837th Meeting (AM)

The representative of the African Union this morning conveyed to the Security Council her organization’s solemn appeal for urgent action to deploy a United Nations peacekeeping operation in Somalia, which would replace the African Union’s mission there, to help long-term stabilization and the rebuilding of Somalia.

Briefing the Council on the situation in Somalia, Lila H. Ratsifandrihamanana, Permanent Observer of the African Union, said that it was a cause of shared concern. During the last Summit in Addis Ababa, the Assembly of the African Union had endorsed the proposals of the Peace and Security Council in its communiqué of 18 January. A meeting of the International Contact Group in Somalia (ICGS) had been also organized on the margin of the Summit, and meetings had been held between African Union stakeholders and various groups and personalities, such as Jendai Praser, United States Assistant Secretary of State, a Finnish Member of Parliament and European Union officials, regarding the situation in Somalia.

On the basis of the Peace and Security Council communiqué, the African Union Assembly had stressed the need for speedy deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping operation in Somalia, in keeping with the Council’s primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. In the meantime, it had also requested that all necessary action be taken to provide the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISON) with assistance under Chapter VIII of the Charter.

‘We are aware of the scale of the challenges, which will require African responsibility and international solidarity,’ she said, expressing confidence that the Council would take the necessary decision, in keeping with the Somali people’s wish for peace.

Conveying the Peace and Security Council proposals that had been endorsed by the African Union Assembly, she said that the Union was convinced that, notwithstanding its complexity, the situation in Somalia could still be redressed, with the assistance of all Somali parties and the international community. The communiqué stressed the need for the Federal Transitional Government to take specific measures to implement the conclusions of the Peace and Security Council and emphasized the need for a peaceful solution and national reconciliation. It also stressed the need for the international community and countries of the region to fully support the process of reconciliation and coordinate their initiatives. The Council of the African Union intended to convene a high-level international meeting to refocus international attention on Somalia and mobilize support for the ongoing process there.

Further, the communiqué stressed the appeal to all Member States and the entire international community to lend adequate support to reinforce Somali institutions, including the Federal Transitional Government and defence forces. The African Union Council would proceed to consultations with relevant African institutions, including the African Development Bank, to dispatch a needs assessment mission to Somalia. Considering the tension in Somalia’s regions of Sool and Sanaag, parties were urged to deal with the tensions prevailing there. In close cooperation with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and other stakeholders, the Council would also increase its efforts to consolidate regional cohesion.

An appeal was made to all Member States and partners of the African Union to strongly support legitimate Somali institutions and their efforts to combat violence, she continued. The Security Council was called upon to reconsider the arms embargo imposed by its resolution 733 (1992) in order to enable the Federal Transitional Government to establish and equip its defence forces, while maintaining the provisions of embargo against those who wanted to jeopardize peace and reconciliation. The Security Council was also urged to take proper action against those who were hampering the peace process. An appeal was also made to the international community, as a whole, to continue to lend humanitarian assistance and provide financial contributions to meet the needs not covered by the consolidated appeal process for 2008. Member States were encouraged to protect ships transporting humanitarian aid for the World Food Programme to Somalia.

It was decided to extend the mandate of AMISOM for six months in order to continue carrying out its mandated tasks, she said. An appeal was made to African Union member States to provide troops and personnel, so that AMISOM could keep its effectiveness, and facilitate the deployment of the Mission. An appeal was also made to partners of the African Union to provide increased logistic and financial support to the Mission, taking into account the fact that the African Union was also acting on behalf of the entire international community.

Regarding AMISOM, she said that, in spite of the constraints facing the Mission, it had continued to conduct its activities, including provision of medical services and water to the population in the immediate surroundings of its headquarters in Mogadishu. It had also continued to receive weapons surrendered by armed elements for storage and destruction. The Mission’s budget amounted to about $622 million, but so far, a little over $32 million had been contributed by the European Union, Italy, Sweden, China and the League of Arab States. The United Kingdom had pledged ?8.5 million for AMISOM deployment and provided assistance for the establishment of a Support Management Planning Unit. The European Union had also pledged 5 million euro for the Unit and another 500,000 euro to cover insurance costs, in addition to technical assistance for budget-related matters. A 40 million euro extrabudgetary grant had just been announced by Italy.

The United States continued to provide logistical support to the Ugandan contingent, as well as communications equipment for the Addis Ababa headquarters, and had pledged to facilitate transportation for troop contributing countries. Various pledges had also been received from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Algeria, Kenya and Nigeria. Out of 8,000 troops authorized by the Council last January, only two Ugandan battalions and an advance team of 192 Burundian soldiers were on the ground in Mogadishu. Steps were being taken to deploy the main body of the first of the two battalions pledged by Burundi.

Regarding the efforts of the new Special Representative of the Chair of the African Union Commission, Nicolas Bwakira, she said that, in December, he had visited Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda to establish initial contacts with the national authorities concerned and members of the international community, including the United Nations, European Union and bilateral partners and representatives of regional and international non-governmental organizations. He seized that opportunity to stress the need for renewed and concerted efforts to overcome current differences in Somalia and reiterate the Union’s determination to do whatever it could to contribute to the restoration of peace and stability in Somalia.

Taking the floor after the briefing, Somalia’s representative urged the Council to accelerate the implementation of its presidential statement of 19 December 2007, which reiterated the Council’s request to the Secretary-General to develop existing contingency plans for possible deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping operation to further enhance peace in Somalia and support the African Union Mission there. On its part, his Government stood ready to fully cooperate and work closely with the Council and the Secretary-General in that regard.

He hoped the Council’s action would not be confined to a mere rollover of the authorization of AMISOM and adoption of a ‘wait-and-see’ policy. ‘We — and indeed the African Union and the international community — expect more from the Security Council,’ he said, adding that the security situation in Somalia was a real challenge for the African Union and a threat to international peace and security. He hoped the challenges of the situation in Somalia would be met robustly and squarely.

The meeting was called to order at 10:24 a.m. and adjourned at 10:46 a.m.

For information media • not an official record

The Islamist-led resistance in Somalia is growing in scale and aggression, with insurgents openly taking on Ethiopian troops and African Union peacekeepers in the capital Mogadishu, in fighting that has killed dozens, possibly hundreds, in the past three weeks.

Mr. Rice went on saying:

Few people believe that the situation is about to get better. Several experts interviewed by the Guardian say that the insurgents are becoming more powerful. A military analyst and a western diplomat to Somalia, neither of whom wished to be named, warned that the angry mood and conditions that allowed an Islamist movement to defeat a gang of warlords and take power in Mogadishu last year were returning. “We are on a merry-go-round and it’s back to 2006,” said the analyst. “The insurgents are gaining not only in physical strength, but in moral strength too.”

Mr. Rice concluded by saying:

Analysts say that the situation reflects a chronic miscalculation by the Ethiopian prime minister, Meles Zenawi, who sent his troops into Somalia late last year, and by the US, which backed that decision. The goal was to rout the Somali Council of Islamic Courts (SCIC), which had brought a measure of calm to Mogadishu for the first time in more than a decade, but which was accused by Washington and Addis Ababa of close links to al-Qaida.

Click here to view the full dispatch on the Guardian.

I am saddened that the independent media is being oppressed. (…)These [media organizations] have worked for the Somali people for the past 17 years and they are loved by the people.

Seynab Mohamed Amir, MP
Somali Transitional Federal Parliament

Islamic Relief Worldwide is delighted to announce a conference entitled Islam and HIV/AIDS that will, God willing, take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 26 to 30 November 2007. It will comprise of five days of consultations that aim to generate practical responses to the HIV and AIDS pandemic from an Islamic perspective

There are around 40 million people living with HIV and AIDS in the world. The disease devastates individual lives as well as communities, and is increasingly affecting Muslim populations. This conference aims to contribute to halting the spread of the disease and to ensuring appropriate care for people affected by it. The Muslim world has been silent about the issue of HIV and AIDS for much too long, and it is hoped that these consultations will help to change that.

Click here to view a flyer for this conference.

Anna Husarska of the International Rescue Committee says:
Somalia’s internal conflict is propelled by a combustible mix of religion, politics and clan rivalry. Civilians are killed daily in Mogadishu, there are roadside bombs and mortar attacks, and politicians and journalists are targeted. Making matters worse, the country has suffered this year from both floods and drought. This combination of insecurity and natural disasters has displaced huge numbers of people and caused suffering on a scale painful to behold. According to the most recent UN figures, 400,000 people, or roughly one-third of Mogadishu’s population, have fled the city.

She continued by saying:

Yet Somalia still rarely gets into the headlines. This partly reflects the near impossibility of gathering news. Few foreign journalists venture in — it is too difficult and too dangerous for them to work inside the country — and local reporters are harassed by the authorities. And, even when there is news, the world’s capacity to absorb bad and sad stories from yet another hellish place is limited.

I agree entirely with Ms. Husarska that the world is comply ignoring the tragic events taking place in Somalia. I think it is time the world to wake up and help poor Somali to put their lives together and restore some sort normalcy.

Click here to view the article on Taipei Times through Project Syndicate.

The people of Somalia are enduring yet another round of suffering as Ethiopian forces wreck havoc in the capital, Mogadishu. Apparently in response to an attack on one of its units, and the dragging of a soldier’s mutilated body through the city’s streets, an Ethiopian mortar reportedly exploded in Mogadishu’s Bakara market on Nov. 9, killing eight civilians. A number of Somalis were also found dead the following day, some believed to have been rounded up by Ethiopian forces the night before.

Ramzy Baroud went on by saying:

Of course, one cannot realistically expect the international community to take on a constructive involvement in the conflict. Various members of this community have already played a most destructive role in Somalia’s 16-year-old civil war, which fragmented a nation that had long struggled to achieve a sense of sovereignty and national cohesion.

He concluded by saying:

This situation leaves Somalia once more under the mercy of foreign powers and self-serving internal forces, foreshadowing yet more bloodshed. Our informed support is essential now because the Somali people have suffered enough. Their plight is urgent and it deserves a much deeper understanding, alongside immediate attention.

It looks like that Somalia is finally getting the attention it deserves from the Arab world.

Click here to view the full article on Arab News.

Washington’s top diplomat on African issues says regional leaders must do more to ease simmering tensions in the Horn of Africa. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer made the comment after leading a team of senior U.S. officials on a tour of Ethiopia’s tense Ogaden region bordering Somalia.

I think the US Government is asking the wrong group of countries to get involved in the tragic Somali political conflict. Neither Kenya nor Ethiopia is an honest peace broker. These countries have strategic and security interests that can only be achieved by keeping Somalia weak and fragmented for many years to come. Hence, it is not only illogical but counter-productive to expect those countries to pull Somalia out of the current quagmire. The US Government should ask Arab and Islamic countries to assist Somalia!

Engaging the Egyptian and Saudi governments could be a good start!

Click here to view the full dispatch by Peter Heinlein.

“I would like to leave behind me the conviction that if we maintain a certain amount of caution and organization we deserve victory[....] You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness. In this case, it comes from nonconformity, the courage to turn your back on the old formulas, the courage to invent the future. It took the madmen of yesterday for us to be able to act with extreme clarity today. I want to be one of those madmen. [...] We must dare to invent the future.”

Thomas Sankara
African Revolutionary

Rising tensions in the Ogaden region of eastern Ethiopia, combined with chronic instability in neighbouring Somalia, Eritrean enmity, and human rights concerns, are testing US support for the Addis Ababa government led by Clinton-era good governance pin-up Meles Zenawi.

The paper continued by saying:

Keeping a firm hand on ethnically Somali, Muslim Ogaden, the scene of a cold war-era proxy conflict, is a long-standing US objective.

The paper continued by saying:

Eritrea, its bitter border dispute with Ethiopia still simmering, is shipping “huge quantities of arms” to insurgents in Somalia, according to a UN report. Concerns about a spreading humanitarian and refugee emergency grow, even as international aid targets undershoot. And now, far from being “defunct”, Somalia’s Islamist movement may be gaining friends and influence in an increasingly isolated, radicalised Ogaden.

I wonder why so many different US Administrations would side with Ethiopian and deny the people of Western Somalia their right to self determination. After all, the US claims to be “beacon” of freedom in the world!

Could someone explain?

Click here to view the full report on The Guardian.

The Horn of Africa is one of the regions that has been most prominently impacted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This area is characterized by sizeable mobile populations of transport workers, migrants, refugees, internally displaced persons, and cross-border populations, populations that are most vulnerable to contracting HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases.

However, the Horn of Africa is also where there is hope that something can be done to bring about change. Countries like Kenya and Uganda are bringing down their HIV/AIDS prevalence rates — from 15% and 18.5% respectively in the 1990s to about 6.1% and 6.7% today. The efforts that have seen these figures come tumbling down have been mainly at country level.

The Press Release went on by stating:

Recognizing that movement of vulnerable populations is a major challenge in the region, on June 28, 2007 the World Bank and IGAD signed a $15 million grant to support the IGAD Regional HIV/AIDS Partnership Program (IRHAPP). The program seeks to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS among cross-border and mobile populations in IGAD’s member states: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda. The four-year project, which aims to reduce the vulnerability of these mobile populations, was initiated with the support of the World Bank and will be the first to be financed by the Africa Catalytic Growth Fund (ACGF).

By the way, it is worth noting that very little is known about the actual number of HIV/AIDS infected people in Somalia. However, many Somalis went to Eastern African countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia as refugees and those who have returned may have brought the disease to the country. Also, Ethiopian soldiers in Somalia have high number of HIV/AIDS infected among their ranks and that is probably the biggest threat facing the nation at the present time.
Click here to view the full PR on World Bank’s External Website.

The board said it would accept nominations from any of the IMF’s 185 member countries and would weigh the choice of candidates in September, before IMF Managing Director Rodrigo Rato steps down at the end of meetings in October. ‘The nomination period will commence immediately and will close on Aug. 31, 2007,’ the board said in a statement, saying the successful candidate must have a record in economic policymaking and have managerial and diplomatic skills. … ‘The objective is not to take it away from Europe but to make the process merit based,’ said one IMF board director. …”

AFP reports went on by saying:

“… The IMF added that ‘although the Executive Board may select a Managing Director by a majority of votes cast, the objective of the Executive Board is to select the Managing Director by consensus.’ …”

The 14th general conference of the Arab Towns Organization (ATO) opened in Marrakech, on the theme of ‘Effective Partnership for Sustainable Development of Towns,’ according to the Moroccan News Agency (MAP). The ongoing meeting is being attended by about 400 officials from member-towns of the ATO, representatives of the World Alliance of Towns, UN Habitat Program as well as the Arab League.

You may like to click here for more on this.

In the wake of the awful attacks of September 11 2001, Tony Blair’s passionate denunciation of impoverishment in Africa as “a scar on the conscience of the world” convinced many that the west would propel the issue of mass poverty and injustice to the top of the international agenda in the cause of a more stable world.

This week’s news only confirms that it was a misplaced hope. Not a single country in sub-Saharan Africa has met the criteria set by the UN’s millennium development goals on poverty alleviation, the centrepiece of the project. Some observers believe the number of poor, and the intensity of the poverty, has actually risen in almost all countries.

In truth there was never any real prospect that Western governments, which have gleefully presided over the creation of new classes of the super-super-rich, would use their considerable influence to push African leaders to pursue policies which would shift resources away from the rapacious national elites towards the poor.

After many false starts, the millennium project, launched with huge fanfare in 2000, was meant to be the definitive development compact, a blueprint to substantially reduce the extreme ravages of poverty by 2015. But now it is sputtering. People are being lifted out of extreme poverty at less than one per cent a year, which makes even Bono’s 2003 warning that Africa would take 100 years to meet these goals seem optimistic.

Abutting virtually every African slum are the castles of the unimaginably rich. There is little incentive for those who hold the reins of power to redirect investments away from themselves to the very poor, given the abiding conviction on the continent that they have an unlimited capacity to weather their punishing adversities — with the help of repressive security systems, of course.

But the poor do not always tolerate such inhumanity. There are mini-revolts brewing in many places. In Kenya, for instance, the Mungiki sect, which has tens of thousands of members and is loosely fashioned on the Mau Mau freedom movement, is pushing for land redistribution and a return to traditional values.

G-8-approved plans are not going to end poverty. Africa needs strong, revolutionary leaders popular enough to put pressure on both their elites and international partners to modify their policies. But it is well-nigh impossible for such leaders to get elected.

In the shadow of 9/11, aid is increasingly becoming an instrument of anti-terrorism strategy. This means that the US and Britain in particular are ready to countenance wars of aggression and other human rights abuses by governments which are partners in the war on terror — as recently witnessed when Ethiopia invaded Somalia and installed a client regime with US and British support. Uganda has also committed appalling rights abuses against its northerners. In the end, only Africa’s own leaders and people can address its rawest suffering. Donors have a minor but vital role to play, but they must get this role right, and that includes recognising that what Africa needs most of all is space to formulate its own policies. To determine what these might be, the donors need to radically alter their approach and engage first and foremost with the grassroots. Despite the rhetoric, Africa’s voice is rarely heard. Can Gordon Brown make a difference? After the multiple promises Blair made and betrayed, no one will want to get too excited about his successor.

He did move immediately to merge the aid and trade departments, which will bring much-needed synergy on two crucial issues. He has also made the extraordinary appointment to the Africa portfolio of Mark Malloch Brown. Both these Browns are likely to be more firmly committed to the rule of law in resolving international disputes, but they will also have to shed some of their conviction in the power of the free market — even when it is working well — to uplift the poor.

Guardian News Service

An Islamic Common Market is a concept which has a firm basis in Islamic History. The establishment of the Islamic State in Medina founded the first Common Market. The dismantling of tribal, cultural and racial barriers by Islam led to a society based on religious brother-hood which transcended geographical boundaries, and as a natural collorary, economic barriers were also simultaneously removed. This new system was to unleash the entrepreneurial and trading energies of the Muslim Arabs, who with the passage of time were determined to establish the greatest economic organisation the world has seen stretching from Morocco to Indonesia.

Click here to view the full report on the Islamic Economic Forum.

We are very grateful for the sacrifice made by the Ethiopians. Ethiopia is the number one friend of this country.

This is where Cali Maxamed Geedi and the fast majority of the Somali people, including myself turn sharply to different and opposing directions. Contrary to what the Prime Minister said, and I must say, with all accounts, Ethiopia has always been, and continues to be Somalia’s worst enemy. Unless one is blind-folded by myopic tribalist agenda, personal greed or irrational self hate, no one need to be a brain-surgeon to understand that Ethiopia is far from being Somalia’s “best friend” as the Prime Minister ignorantly stated.

Twelve million Somali have been living under Ethiopian illegal occupation for almost sixty years. Those who are advocating Ethiopian hegemony over the Somali Republic, including Cali Maxamed Geedi should turn their eyes on the political, economic and social conditions the people of Western Somalia (Ogaden) are subjected to by the Ethiopian colonial power.

I believe the Ethiopian involvement of the current Somali political and security turmoil can best be described by what one of the great Somali poets stated almost half a century ago;

“Baaddida nin baa kula deydeyi daalna kaa baddine
Aan doonahayn inaad heshan daayin abid kaa
Dadkuna moodi duul wadda dhashoon wax u dalsoonayne”

In short, it is oxymoronic to argue that Ethiopian political and strategic security interest can be best served by reconstituting strong and unified Somali republic. The facts is, Ethiopia wants weak and fragmented Somali state that it can easily manipulate its political and security direction at will. Cali Maxamed Geed and the TFG are ignorantly allowing themselves to be a vehicle for that Ethiopian hegemonic agenda over our beloved country. We must not allow that to happen!

Click here to view an article about this on the Pan Arab Al Jazeera TV Network.

We appear weak because we have been told we are weak and believed it.

In an equally encouraging remark, Abdullah Badawi, Malaysia’s prime minister said:

The loss of knowledge and innovation within the Muslim ummah [people] eventually led to the loss of sovereignty and empire.

Abdullah Badawi went on by saying:

We must rediscover our ability and passion for knowledge and innovation … we must reclaim this legacy.

Click here to view the full article on the Pan Arab Al Jazeera TV network.

Our governments are suppressing the rights and freedoms of their peoples. Between those who take away our right to think and innovate and the ones who deny us the right to practice our religion, most of us are living in fear, depression and desperation.

Dr. Batarfi went on by saying:

If we have any chance of getting back to our glorious days, when we ruled and enlightened the world from the walls of China to the gates of France, and from the jungles of Africa to the summits of Samarkand, we must change. You know your path is wrong when every step brings you down and takes you closer to a dead end. We have been down this road for ages. Isn’t it about time we doubted our direction?

Interesting?

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