Hinda Adan, with her three children waiting at a Red Crescent mobile clinic in Lamadhadher in Togdheer region © IFRC By Corrie Butler, IFRC Driving through the rural landscapes of Somaliland, the views are breathtaking – towering blue mountains cutting the glaring sky over dry, thorn-bushed desert. Small dome-like temporary houses, known as ‘aqals’, dot the arid terrain. These belong to nomads who have survived in these harsh conditions for generations, but for the first time, they are facing an uncertain future. Years of consecutive drought have spiralled Somaliland’s nomadic communities into a devastating food crisis. Their ability to pack up and move livestock to better grazing pastures would normally give them a major advantage over other farmers. But the unprecedented drought has caused most – if not all – of their camels, sheep and goats to die and, with them, their livelihoods. The Somali Red Crescent Society, in partnership with the IFRC, is present throughout Somaliland and Puntland, helping communities to respond to the growing challenges that vulnerable groups, including nomadic communities, face. Dorothy Francis, Operations Manager of IFRC’s Somalia Complex Emergency Appeal, explained: “The nomads are the ones that are suffering the most because their livelihoods have always been based on livestock and that’s based on access to water. “Because the crisis has deepened, there hasn’t been the rain we expected, so we see coping strategies becoming more negative. They are selling everything. They are leaving home to go further and further away to work so families are being broken up.” Signs of malnutrition Hinda Adan, a nomad and mother of four, visited a Red Crescent mobile health clinic in Lamadhadher village, south of Burao, Somaliland, to have her children screened to determine signs of malnutrition. Before the drought, her and her husband were successful livestock herders, owning 120 sheep, goats and camels. They had everything they needed. But the drought has killed almost all their livestock – only ten goats remain. “Our life depends now on these ten goats,” said Hinda. “We have one to two meals a day. We prioritize our children – to feed them first.” However, Hinda still feels luckier than others, including her neighbours: “The family had to split up three of their children among relatives. It affected their entire home. It is affecting our entire community,” she says. Bringing humanitarian assistance to nomadic communities is one of the biggest challenges the Red Crescent faces, as their regular movement means it is often difficult to reach them reliably. “Often, we arrive in a community to find that [the nomads] have gone to the next area,” explained Hussein Mohamed Osman, Berbera branch secretary for the Red Crescent in the Sahil region. “It also proves to be very costly to travel long distances to reach them.” “Often, we arrive in a community to find that [the nomads] have gone to the next area,” explained Hussein Mohamed Osman, Berbera branch secretary for the Red Crescent in the Sahil region. “It also proves to be very costly to travel long distances to reach them.” One of Somali Red Crescent’s flagship services is its mobile clinics, which are able to travel off-road to remote villages to provide health care services, particularly to nomadic communities who need it most. Built to adapt to the needs on the ground, the mobile clinics can spend half a day or multiple days in one village. As drought conditions have worsened, the Red Crescent has increased the number of skilled health care workers in each team to prioritize the rising cases of malnutrition among children and expectant mothers. Understanding local needs IFRC is supporting the Somali Red Crescent in supplementing their urgent needs over the next three months, including emergency cash for food and other items. All humanitarian assistance is carefully considered to meet the teams’ needs and allow them to remain mobile: jerry cans and aqua tabs to ensure water is clear, and shelter products to keep them warm in the cool desert evenings, including blankets, sleeping mats and tarpaulins. Although IFRC and the Red Crescent are helping to ensure short-term emergency needs are being met, efforts to implement longer-term interventions have started, which helps communities become more resilient to future emergencies. This includes rehabilitating 95 berkeds – or small dams – in the densely populated areas that have no access to water; rehabilitating wells and other water points; and, where some rain has come, providing villagers with the means to plough their farmland. “What we are trying to do is cover an entire community with everything so we’ll have a cleaner, safer, healthier community – providing them with food, providing them with water, providing them with shelter,” explained Dorothy. “It is a huge task but IFRC is working with a very strong Red Crescent society. We are managing to reach the most vulnerable people. We are doing the best we can.” Fatima Mohamed Yusuf, a nomad in Togdheer region, is one of the community members who received much-needed health care in a Somali Red Crescent mobile clinic close to her temporary settlement. The drought came at a devastating cost to her and her family, who lost 270 sheep and goats. “If there is no rain, I worry for my remaining livestock and I worry for myself and family. Allah only knows when the rains will come,” said Fatima. Vital partnerships to tackle drought IFRC is working closely with the Somali Red Crescent and global partners to continue supporting the needs of the most vulnerable people, but the fight to prevent famine is not over. Somaliland is currently categorized as a stage four emergency (crisis) and could easily descend into famine. It was only six years ago that Somalia experienced a famine that killed a quarter of a million people. IFRC will help to ensure Somalia never has to experience famine again. Thanks to the generous support of the global community through the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, seven million Swiss francs has been donated to the IFRC Emergency Food Crisis Appeal in Somalia, which will help to bring life-saving support to 353,000 people in some of the most isolated, vulnerable and hard-to-reach communities. Relief Web

Somalia has been plagued by conflict since the early 1990s MOGADISHU, Jan 19 – Somali authorities said troops stormed a school run by al Shabaab on Thursday night and rescued 32 children who had been taken as recruits by the Islamist militant group. “The 32 children are safe and the government is looking after them. It is unfortunate that terrorists are recruiting children to their twisted ideology,” Abdirahman Omar Osman, information minister for the Somali federal government, told Reuters on Friday. “It showed how desperate the terrorists are, as they are losing the war and people are rejecting terror.” Al Shabaab said government forces, accompanied by drones, had attacked the school in Middle Shabelle region. It said four children and a teacher were killed. No comment was immediately available from the Somali government on the reports of casualties or the use of drones. “They kidnapped the rest of the students,” said Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military spokesman. “Human Rights Watch is responsible for the deaths of the students and their teacher because it pointed fingers at them,” he added. In a report this week, the New York-based rights group said that since September 2017, al Shabaab had ordered village elders, teachers in Islamic religious schools, and rural communities to hand over hundreds of children as young as eight. The al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militia is fighting to topple the U.N.-backed Somali government and establish its own rule based on a strict interpretation of Islam’s sharia law. Somalia has been plagued by conflict since the early 1990s, when clan-based warlords overthrew authoritarian ruler Mohamed Siad Barre then turned on each other. In recent years, regional administrations headed by the Mogadishu-based federal government have emerged, and African Union peacekeepers supporting Somali troops have gradually clawed back territory from the Islamist insurgents. Reuters

The newly elected Somaliland President Musa Bihi Abdi says maintaining peace and stability in the region is one of his priorities. During a state visit to Ethiopia, he said Somaliland’s agreement to host a U-A-E military base will not affect security in any neighbouring countries. CGTN’S Girum Chala Sat down with President Musa Bihi Abdi

FILE – Soldiers from the Somali army train in Mogadishu, March 28, 2013. The Somalia national army killed at least seven al-Shabab militants Thursday and destroyed their base during an operation in southern Somalia, officials and residents said. Somali army General Ismail Sahardid, the 43rd Infantry Division commander, told VOA Somali that the forces took control of Bar-Sanguni town, 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of the coastal city of Kismayo. “Our army launched a surprise attack on the militants’ hideouts late Wednesday and continued pursing them since the early hours of Thursday,” Sahardid said. “During the operation we killed seven of the militants, including local leaders of al-Shabab’s Amniyat unit, responsible for the group’s intelligence.” The general said that despite initial resistance, his forces destroyed several of the militants’ bases and vehicles they have been using to transport fighters, and they recovered ammunition. “We have inflicted heavy military losses on them and captured two of their vehicles mounted with anti-aircraft machine guns,” Sahardid said. Bar-Sanguni residents who spoke to VOA Somali on condition of anonymity said they heard explosions as government soldiers engaged in a gunbattle with the militants for several hours early Thursday. “It was around just before dawn Thursday morning when the Somali army entered the town. We first heard a fierce exchange of heavy gunfire and explosions,” one resident said. “As the day wore on, we saw government soldiers taking strategic positions in the town and searching the al-Shabab military bases, with seven dead bodies of the militants lying in the streets,” another resident said. Bar-Sanguni, under al-Shabab control for many years, is where the militant group has been organizing guerrilla attacks against government soldiers and Kenyan troops serving under the African Union peacekeeping mission (AMISOM) in Jubaland state. Tax on residents Sahardid said the militants in this area have been imposing zakat, or a tax, on the local population. “We have freed the local civilians who have been suffering under the militants’ harsh control, where they have been extorting their money and their livestock through what they call zakat,” said Sahardid. The operation came as Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and Michael Keating, U.N. special representative for Somalia, hailed the completion of a power-sharing agreement signed in December between Galmudug state and the Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a. Ahlu Sunna is a moderate group that was founded to promote Sufi Islam in Somalia, which decided years ago to take up arms against the radical al-Shabab group, which is believed to be linked al-Qaida. In an event held Thursday in the central Somali town of Dhuusa Marreeb — attended by Somalia federal and regional leaders and foreign diplomats — Galmudug state President Ahmed Duale Ghelle “Xaaf” and Ahlu Sunna leader Sheikh Shakir vowed to join forces in the fight against al-Shabab. Under the power-sharing agreement, Sheikh Shakir will be the executive leader of Galmudug state. VOA

Human Rights Watch says the armed group has recruited thousands of children for indoctrination and to become frontline fighters MOGADISHU/NAIROBI, Jan 18 – Somalia’s Islamist militant group al Shabaab on Thursday denied that it was threatening and abducting civilians to hand over their children for indoctrination and military training. Al Shabaab has been fighting for years to topple Somalia’s central government and rule the Horn of Africa country according to its own interpretation of Islamic law. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday that the armed group began ordering elders and teachers in rural parts of the southern Bay region in mid-2017 to provide them with children – as young as eight – or face reprisals. But an al Shabaab spokesman told the Thomson Reuters Foundation the group does not recruit members below the age of 15, and that no one is forced to join. He said children were being sent to Islamic religious schools to be educated. “There is an al Shabaab rule in the areas we control that children should learn, and we give them teachers at boarding madrasas where they study. We have agreed with the clan elders about the education of their children,” he said. “When students complete their education, we return them to their parents. No one is forced to join our forces. We do not want children in the remote areas to become as ignorant as animals,” he added, declining to be named. HRW says the armed group has recruited thousands of children for indoctrination and to become frontline fighters over the past decade, and its religious schools – which began in 2015 – are pressured to teach al Shabaab’s curriculum. “The group should immediately stop abducting children and release all children in their ranks,” said Laetitia Bader, HRW’s senior Africa researcher. “The Somali government should ensure these children are not sent into harm’s way.” Gamal Hassan, Somalia’s minister for planning, investment and economic development, said he was not surprised by reports of aggressive child recruitment by the group. He did not provide any response to how authorities would better protect children. “Al Shabaab continues to do activities which are illegal, immoral and against humanitarian law,” Hassan told a conference on Wednesday. “So I am not surprised they do that. They used to do that, and now they continue to do that.” The insurgents, who are allied with al Qaeda, were driven out of the capital Mogadishu in 2011. They have also lost nearly all other territory they previously held after an offensive by Somali government troops and African Union peacekeepers. Al Shabaab, however, remains a formidable threat and has carried out bombings in Mogadishu and other towns against military and civilian targets. Reuters

COLUMBUS — A federal judge on Friday is scheduled to sentence an Ohio man who plotted to kill military members in the U.S. following a delay in the case when a previous judge withdrew. Source: Hiiraan Online

MOGADISHU, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Somali authorities said troops stormed a school run by al Shabaab on Thursday night and rescued 32 children who had been taken as recruits by the Islamist militant group. Source: Hiiraan Online

MOGADISHU, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Somali authorities said troops stormed a school run by al Shabaab on Thursday night and rescued 32 children who had been taken as recruits by the Islamist militant group. Source: Hiiraan Online

Madaxweynaha Jamhuuriyadda Federaalka Soomaaliya Mudane Maxamed Cabdullaahi Farmaajo waxa uu ka walaacsanyahay jiritaanka warar sheegaya ku xadgudub dhulalka danta guud ee caasimadda Muqdisho. Madaxweynaha ayaa yiri “Sida uu tilmaamayo Qodobka 43aad ee Dastuurka Jamhuuriyadda Federaalka Soomaaliya dhulku waa khayraadka koowaad iyo saldhigga nolosha dadka. Ilaa inta laga soo saarayo habraacyada sharci ee waafaqsan Qodobka 43aad ee Dastuurka, dhulka dowladda lama hibeyn karo, bixin karo, lamana wareejin karo.” “Iyada oo la ilaalinayo hantida qaranka ee dhul, cir iyo bad waxaan u sheegayaa shacabka Soomaaliyeed in wixii dhul ah ee la iibiyay ama la hibeeyay ama la kireeyay keddib 8-dii Febraayo, 2017 uusan haysan ogolaansho sharci ah. Haddii uu jiro muwaadiniin iibsaday ama kireystay dhul danta guud, waxaan u sheegayaa in iibsigaas uu yahay mid sharci darro ah.” “Markii la I doortay, waxaan ballan qaaday inaan ilaalinayo ammaanada la ii dhiibay, dhulka dowladdana wuxuu kamid yahay ammaanadaas. Waxaan u xaqiijinayaa shacabka Soomaaliyeed in guddi heer qaran ah aan u saari doono arrimaha la xiriira dhulka si baaritaan dhab ah loogu sameeyo, loona hubiyo inaan dhul dan guud loo adeegsan dan shakhsiyadeed.” Madaxweynuhu wuxuu farayaa dhammaan hay’adaha ay khuseyso arrintan inaan la bixin karin dhul dowladeed oo aan kusoo bixin wareegto Madaxweyne, lana soo marin habraac waafaqsan shuruucda u yaalla dalka.

Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki’s visit to Cairo last week was a sign of how the crises in the Middle East and the conflict over Nile waters shape alliances in the Horn of Africa. In the Middle East, Qatar and Turkey are clearly aligned on one side and Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are aligned on the other. Other countries have diverse and varying relations with the members of both camps. Syria and Iraq are close to Egypt which supports their efforts in the war against terrorism, while Saudi Arabia has softened its rhetoric against the Bashar Al-Assad regime in Damascus and the ruling Shia forces in Baghdad in an effort to lure them away from their powerful Iranian ally. The Yemeni position remains uncertain, mired as that country is in a military and political standstill while deteriorating humanitarian conditions have brought it to the brink of famine. In the Nile Valley Basin, tensions are rising between Egypt and Ethiopia over technical issues related to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Negotiations have stalled and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri’s recent visit to Addis Ababa failed to break the deadlock. Ethiopia, the largest country in the Horn of Africa, is worried by a number of issues. Prime among them is the success of Eritrea, Addis’s sworn enemy, at breaking through the isolation that it had suffered since its independence from Ethiopia in 1991. Asmara had taken advantage of the war in Yemen, turning away from its former allies, the Houthis, and granting Arab coalition forces access to its military base at Assab, which it has leased to the UAE. Asmara has also relinquished its support for the terrorist Al-Shabaab Al-Mujahideen movement in Somalia in exchange for joining the bloc of countries that have declared an embargo against Qatar. This has opened the doors to Egyptian and Gulf arms, according to the Europe Centre for Foreign Policy Advice. To the east and south, Addis is worried, on the one hand, by the fact that Al-Shabaab in Somalia remains undefeated and, on the other hand, by Mogadishu’s inclination towards both the Eritrean enemy and Egyptian rival. Developments in Somaliland also make Ethiopia uneasy. Somaliland, which seceded from Mogadishu in 1991 but remains unrecognised by the rest of the African and international communities, now leans towards the UAE which has poured in investment, in order to develop the strategic Berbera port for the purposes of the war in Yemen. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are the key partners in the Arab coalition which has been fighting in Yemen since 2015 against the Ansar Allah “Houthi” movement, which Abu Dhabi and Riyadh claim is backed by Iran. The $442 million Berbera port development project is being carried out by the Dubai-based development firm DP World. The revamped port is expected to generate some $1 billion in investment for the development and modernisation of Somaliland’s infrastructure, according to the International Crisis Group which noted the trip made by Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo to the UAE in order to strengthen relations between the two countries. However, Somalia still claims sovereignty over Somaliland which may cast a shadow over the legitimacy of the agreement over the port. Ethiopia is also concerned by the increasing Arab presence in the Horn of Africa. The International Crisis Group observed that Somaliland and DP World offered Addis a 19 per cent commercial stake in the Berbera port but this did not assuage Ethiopia’s fears. With regard to Mogadishu, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are keen to lure Somalia in view of its strategic importance and so as to be better poised to take measures to avert the spread of terrorism to other countries. Although Mogadishu has declared itself neutral in the conflict involving the embargo against Qatar, it agreed to the construction of a Turkish military base. The $500 million base will accommodate 200 Turkish soldiers and train 10,000 Somali soldiers. This has rekindled Ethiopian fears that the Somalis might stage a repeat of former Somali president Siad Barre’s bid to seize control of the Ogaden region in Ethiopia. As Martin Plaut, head of the Horn of Africa Department at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London, suggested, such an attempt would bring a particularly lethal brew of conventional warfare and terrorism. With regard to Sudan, Ethiopia has nothing to fear, according to the Europe Centre for Foreign Policy Advice. Sudan is too preoccupied by its own concerns. Khartoum lost two-thirds of its hard currency income due to the independence of the oil rich South Sudan. As a consequence, it lifted fuel, food and medicine subsidies triggering demonstrations to which Khartoum responded by extending the state of emergency in (central west) Kordofan and (eastern) Kassala. It then deployed armed forces supported by militias in Kassala at the border with Eritrea on the grounds that it had intelligence of a possible Egyptian-Eritrean attack. Khartoum subsequently retracted this claim. On the day of Afwerki’s visit to Cairo, Sudanese Army Chief-of-Staff Lieutenant General Emadeddin Adawi arrived in Addis Ababa to meet with Ethiopian Prime Minster Hailemariam Desalegn. There were signs, here, of an alliance in the making. While a number of Sudanese opposition members believe that the government in Khartoum could embark on a war against its Eritrean neighbour, it would be the first time since President Omar Al-Bashir came to power, in 1989, that Sudan fought a war outside its boundaries. Haidar Ibrahim, a professor of political science, observed that the regime in Khartoum is fascist and, accordingly, likes to project a militaristic spirit. However, if it suffered any defeat abroad, it could find itself unseated by popular uprisings or armed insurrection. As for Eritrea, it is one of the most insular countries in the continent, to the extent that it has been called the “African North Korea”. But its regime has been struggling to emerge from isolation and, as mentioned above, its use of the Arab coalition’s war in Yemen has worked to open doors and attract some investments into ports, mining and livestock exports. The Gulf-Egyptian alliance has also helped strengthen the Eritrean position vis-à-vis Ethiopia and Djibouti, especially with the withdrawal of Qatari peacekeeping forces from the border islands that are under dispute between Asmara and Djibouti. Nevertheless, any war between neighbours could destroy the fragile economy and send the country back to square one. For this reason, Eritrea needs perpetuation of the status quo more than its neighbours. This said, it appears that all three countries — Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea — are very nervous about the rising tensions for fear of the spectre of a war that would decimate their economies and wreak untold human and material losses. Ahraam

Mogadishu (HOL) - The Somali military said on Friday it killed an Al-Shabaab fighter in battle with the militant group this week in Middle Shabelle region. Source: Hiiraan Online

With such thorns, a girl in Somaliland is “locked up” again after genital mutilation. (Arndt Peltner) According to women’s rights activist Elvira Niesner, German doctors are lacking in specialist knowledge and sensitivity with regard to women who have been mutilated on their genitals. The medical profession is not sufficiently qualified for the subject, said the managing director of the advice center “woman right is human right” in Frankfurt am Main of the FAZ. Another special feature is that many women are both victims and perpetrators. Mothers made sure that their daughters were circumcised. The topics of genital cutting and intercultural competence should play a greater role in the training of gynecologists, demanded Niesner. The doctor, Petra Tiarks-Jungk, from the Frankfurt Office for Health commented similarly. Many women did not immediately talk about their circumcision. They believed that everything was normal with them. Frequently, those affected also have problems recognizing the injustice inflicted on them. It takes time for them to allow the thought that their culture and tradition have harmed their bodies. The Hessian SPD parliamentary group had recently submitted a parliamentary inquiry to the State Ministry of Social Affairs. Accordingly, there were 572 cases of genital mutilation in Hesse in 2016. It is assumed that the number of unreported cases is significantly higher. Many affected women come to Germany as refugees. However, the interventions are also made in Europe individually and in secret. The history of the ritual goes back to antiquity. Female genital mutilation is still widespread across religious boundaries in about 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. One reason is the social pressure that the parents feel. Who does not let his daughters cut, is outlawed socially. The World Health Organization claims up to 200 million victims. In the case of female mutilation, the outer genitalia are cut off, in more extreme forms the clitoris as well as the labia are removed and the vagina sewn up to a small hole. This is an article written in German language and translated via Google Translation.

As part of the peace effort between the Colombian government and the FARC, a pilot program was launched in 2015 allowing ex-combatants from the guerrilla to collaborate with Army soldiers in humanitarian demining—an urgent task given the country’s estimated 52 million square meters of contaminated land. Former combatants from other illegal armed groups in the country had already been participating in humanitarian demining, for instance as part of the staff of the agency HALO Trust, but the pilot program provided new momentum to the effort to incorporate former FARC fighters, including in direct collaboration with Army counterparts. In 2017, after the final peace deal was signed, new ways of incorporating FARC ex-combatants arose, as did interest among this population; by April, some 1,500 ex combatants had signed up to work in demining. In 2017, another mode of participation in demining emerged. The FARC—which has been reinventing itself as a political party after laying down arms earlier in the year—founded an organization, with support from the Directorate for Comprehensive Action against Mines (Descontamina Colombia), to work in demining alongside the nine other agencies already operating in the country, as well as the Colombian army. The staff of the civilian organization, called Humanicemos DH, have been training for accreditation from the Organization of American States (OEA). After nine months of preparation, Humanicemos began operating with small teams in parts of the country. Despite some funding from the European Union for the incorporation of ex-combatants, however, in some departments Humanicemos is still seeking funding to start operating. At a global scale, ex-rebel/militia fighters are key to demining initiatives and Colombia is far from the only context in which this has taken place. While such efforts were knowingly led and implemented by governmental or international bodies in countries such as Colombia, Niger, and Afghanistan, the case of Somaliland offers an interesting alternative to the usual ‘top-down’ approaches to reintegrating ex-combatants in post-war settings. Indeed, when demining efforts are implemented, it is often the case that ex-combatants are coincidentally recruited as they become available and are looking for new sources of livelihoods. It has been the case in Somaliland and southern Somalia, even though no specific strategy was designed to facilitate such outcomes. There are several reasons to incorporate ex-combatants. First, they often have detailed knowledge of where mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) lie. In Colombia, for instance, in addition to landmines, they often can locate where there are unexploded bombs from Army operations. Second, they have detailed knowledge of different types of explosive items, including landmines with non-metal casings, which present particular challenges for detection. Second, ex-combatants are familiar with the local terrain and able to work in difficult settings, having lived in those areas for years or decades. In parts of Caquetá, for instance, some communities have expressed preference for having the FARC ex-combatants clear mines and ERW in their fields. In Somaliland, deminers who might have served as children ammunition carriers are able, years after the conflict and despite the barren and drought affected land, to identify areas that were the most affected by warfare. Their experience, as civilians or as combatants is useful to mine action organizations trying to map and assess hazardous areas. Likewise, ex-rebel and army fighters also have reasons to participate in mine action and overcome their conflicting pasts. First, demining offers stable and comparatively well-paid employment over many years–a rare find in post-conflict contexts where aid funding and corresponding employment opportunities are volatile. Second, youth who had to give up their education at an early age to join armed groups can find meaningful employment that does not require full literacy. Their military skills–such as team and physical work–enables them to gain responsibilities and income as they take on section or task supervisor roles. Third, for practical and humanitarian reasons, demining is often community-based, which means that the same groups that used to fight over a territory are now employed to clear the mine belts that they laid against each other, regardless of which side they fought for. As a result, the physical aspect of the work and the fact that deminers operate in remote areas for weeks at a time also mean that they are likely develop a strong bond and mutual respect overtime, overcoming their initial reluctance to work together. This incorporation can be considered as part of broader efforts to reintegrate ex-combatants into broader society, whether through traditional DDR programs or via alternative paths, such as that being developed in Colombia. By providing them with a salary and allowing them an opportunity to contribute in concrete and positive ways towards peacebuilding, this integration can help set ex-combatants on paths other than armed fighting. At a collective level, the practice also promotes reconciliation among former enemies as they find themselves pressed to collaborate on a common goal in risky settings. For example, after years of successful operation in Somaliland, HALO Trust staff, are welcoming newly recruited southern Somalis into their camps for demining training. Likewise, as operations in southern Somalia expands, Somaliland staff are also traveling South to facilitate demining work, a unique collaboration in what remains a challenging context decades after the end Civil War. Finally, in some settings, including in Colombia and Somaliland/Southern Somalia, the participation of ex-combatants can open up new avenues of communication with hard-to-reach communities, especially those that had close ties to the guerrillas, whether due to family ties or to geographic proximity. These communities often have access to far less aid and government programs than others. Bringing deminers to those places can sometimes require extra curriculum activities such as water provision or helping communities to build wells —as it was contemplated in Somalia during the recent drought. Although in some places ex-combatants have been incorporated into demining programs spontaneously rather than through a specific program, these cases show that planning for such incorporation can benefit multiple populations, from remote communities to the ex-combatants. By integrating ex-combatants into demining agreements, decontamination strategies and other peacebuilding policies, a more inclusive approach to humanitarian demining can help prevent the recurrence of violence in conflict-affected settings. Adriana Erthal Abdenur coordinates Peace & Security initiatives at Instituto Igarapé. Laurie Druelle works with humanitarian assistance and mine action in Somalia/Somaliland. She holds an MA in Conflict, Security & Development MA from the Department of War Studies at King’s College.

The intense pressure to keep quiet began almost immediately after four girls reported that they’d been molested by a well-known member of their community: You’re lying. Take it back. Change your stories. Source: Hiiraan Online

The $6.85 billion acquisition in 2006 of Peninsular & Oriental (P&O) Steam Navigation Company, a storied British shipping and logistics company, by Dubai’s state-owned DP World, one the world’s largest port management and terminal operators, sparked fears that governments could employ cash-rich sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and state-run companies as political muscle. Twelve years later, with the Middle East fighting multiple battles and external powers jockeying for influence, those fears have proven justified despite the adoption in the wake of the sale of non-binding guidelines for sovereign funds that manage hundreds of billions of dollars. Concern that an Arab state would post 9/11 gain control of some of the busiest terminals in US ports, including New York, Newark, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Miami, forced DP World to exclude P&O’s American assets from the deal. The worries prompted the creation of a multilateral international working group chaired by a senior UAE financial official alongside an International Monetary Fund executive that in 2008 adopted the Santiago Principles designed to “ensure that the SWF undertakes investments without any intention or obligation to fulfil, directly or indirectly, any geopolitical agenda of the government.” Enforcing adherence to the principles has proven easier said than done. With the UAE, whose 1.4 million citizens account for a mere 15 percent of its population of 10 million, projecting itself as a regional military power in the war in Yemen and through the establishment of foreign military bases, DP World has since the US debacle been acquiring ports rights globally, including in countries where the UAE military is active. To be sure, DP World’s expansion in the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden often makes economic sense and may well have been initially commercially driven in cases like the agreement in 2008 to operate for a period of 30 years the Yemeni port of Aden, once the British empire’s busiest port. The company lost its contract four years later because of its failure to invest in the port. The port has since taken on even greater geopolitical significance with the UAE military’s focus on Aden and alleged backing for a secessionist movement in southern Yemen in the almost three-year-old Saudi-led military intervention in the country that has allowed DP World to again enter into negotiations about assisting in rebuilding Yemen’s maritime and trade sector that would likely include the company’s return to the Aden port. DP World’s involvement in Aden tallies in geopolitical terms with its own as well as the UAE’s expansion elsewhere in the Horn of Africa. The company won two years ago a 30-year concession, with an automatic 10-year extension, for the management and development of a multi-purpose deep seaport in Berbera in the breakaway region of Somaliland. Berbera faces South Yemen across the strategic Bab al Mandab Strait, past which some 4 million barrels of oil flow daily. The UAE military is training Somaliland forces and creating an air and naval facility to protect shipping. DP World was also developing the port of Bosaso in Puntland, another Somali breakaway region, and was discussing involvement in a third Somali port in Barawe. The Somali ports compliment a UAE military base in Eritrea’s Assab as well as various facilities in Yemen. “Money and politics make a combustible mix: If you don’t get the formula right, it can blow up in your face,” analysts Adam Ereli and Theodore Karasik warned in a recent Foreign Policy article about the role of sovereign wealth funds in relations between Russia and the Gulf. In one instance, Kirill Dmitriev, a close associate of President Vladimir Putin and the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), met in early January 2017l in the Seychelles with Blackwater founder Erik Prince, a supporter of President Donald J. Trump and the brother of US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in an effort to create a US-Russian back channel. The meeting, days before Mr. Trump’s inauguration, was arranged by UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed. The meeting occurred as UAE, Saudi and other Gulf sovereign funds as well as DP World earmarked $20 billion for investments in infrastructure, energy, transportation, and military production through RDIF as a way of strengthening relations with Russia. RDIF is one of several Russian entities sanctioned by the US Treasury. “Even if allowances are made for sectorial and geographic diversification, the level of allocations to these markets is out of proportion to their size and viability,” Messrs. Ereli and Karasik said. In a separate article for The Jamestown Foundation, Mr. Karasik argued that “the Gulf states are using their economic strength to flex their political muscle, in order to invest in Russia at a time when Moscow’s embattled economy is struggling with low oil prices.” Debate about the political role of sovereign wealth funds subsided with the adoption of the Santiago Principles. Those principles are currently being flaunted in an environment of greater economic nationalism, reduced US emphasis on transparency and democratic values, Russian and Chinese focus on economic benefit, and Gulf governments that have become more assertive in flexing their muscles and asserting themselves internationally. Gulf sovereign wealth funds have learnt the lessons of DP World’s US experience and are likely to be more cautious in ensuring that potential future investments in the US do not challenge Mr. Trump’s America First principle as well as his emphasis on security. Elsewhere, they operate in an environment in which the Santiago Principles fall by the wayside and governments face little criticism of their use of sovereign wealth funds as geopolitical tools. James M. Dorsey

Muqdisho (Caasimada Online)-War goordhow ina soo gaaray ayaa sheegaya in ciidamada loo yaqaan Danab ay weerar qorsheysan ku qaaden Saldhig weyn oo maleeshiyaadka al-Shabaab ay ku lahaayen Gobolka Shabeellaha Dhexe. Ciidamada oo aad u hubeysnaa ayaa la xaqiijiyay inay fuliyeen weerarkaasi xili ay maleeshiyadu aheyd kuwo ku mashquulsanaa dajinta weerar gaadmo ahaa. Weerarka ayaa lagu qaaday Saldhiga ay maleeshiyada ku leeyihiin degaanka Jameeca Jilliyaale ee Galbeedka Gobolka, waxaana qeyb kamid ah Saldhiga la weeraray ka socday diyaarinta maleeshiyaad loo soo xiray tababar oo la qorsheynaayay inay qaadan weerarka gaadmada ah. Ciidamada Danab ayaa inta uu socday weerarka maleeshiyada al-Shabaab kala kulmay iska cabin, inkastoo halkaa lagu dilay maleeshiyaad dhowr ah oo ay ku jiraan ilaa Seddex Horjooge. Horjoogayaasha lagu dilay weerarka ayaa waxaa ku jiray Horjoogaha maleeshiyada ugu magacawnaa Saldhiga iyo Shan ilaalo oo la soctay oo isla weerarka lagu dilay. Ciidamada ayaa sidoo kale al-Shabaab ka jiitay Gaadiid nooca dagaalka ah, waxa ayna horay usii qaaten Hub ay isticmaalayeen Horjoogayaasha iyo maleeshiyaadka la dilay. Sidoo kale, Ciidamada Danab ee sida gaarka ah u tababaran ee weerarkan fuliyay oo markii hore ka yimid degaanka Balidoogle ayaa dib ugu laabtay degaankaasi weerarka kadib. Dhinaca kale, Maamulka iyo Saraakiisha ciidamada dowlada ee Gobolka Shabeellaha Dhexe ayaan weli ka hadal weerarka iyo Khasaaraha kasoo gaaray al-Shabaab. Caasimada Online Xafiiska Muqdisho Caasimada@live.com The post Ciidamada Danab oo weerar lagu furtay Gaadiid dagaal iyo Hub ku qaaday xarun ay leedahay Shabaab appeared first on Caasimada Online.

The Somalia national army killed at least seven al-Shabab militants Thursday and destroyed their base during an operation in southern Somalia, officials and residents said. Somali army General Ismail Sahardid, the 43rd Infantry Division commander, told VOA Somali that the forces took control of Bar-Sanguni town, 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of the coastal city of Kismayo. “Our army launched a surprise attack on the militants’ hideouts late Wednesday and continued pursing them since the early hours of Thursday,” Sahardid said. “During the operation we killed seven of the militants, including local leaders of al-Shabab’s Amniyat unit, responsible for the group’s intelligence.” The general said that despite initial resistance, his forces destroyed several of the militants’ bases and vehicles they have been using to transport fighters, and they recovered ammunition. “We have inflicted heavy military losses on them and captured two of their vehicles mounted with anti-aircraft machine guns,” Sahardid said. Bar-Sanguni residents who spoke to VOA Somali on condition of anonymity said they heard explosions as government soldiers engaged in a gunbattle with the militants for several hours early Thursday. “It was around just before dawn Thursday morning when the Somali army entered the town. We first heard a fierce exchange of heavy gunfire and explosions,” one resident said. “As the day wore on, we saw government soldiers taking strategic positions in the town and searching the al-Shabab military bases, with seven dead bodies of the militants lying in the streets,” another resident said. Bar-Sanguni, under al-Shabab control for many years, is where the militant group has been organizing guerrilla attacks against government soldiers and Kenyan troops serving under the African Union peacekeeping mission (AMISOM) in Jubaland state. Tax on residents Sahardid said the militants in this area have been imposing zakat, or a tax, on the local population. “We have freed the local civilians who have been suffering under the militants’ harsh control, where they have been extorting their money and their livestock through what they call zakat,” said Sahardid. The operation came as Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and Michael Keating, U.N. special representative for Somalia, hailed the completion of a power-sharing agreement signed in December between Galmudug state and the Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a. Ahlu Sunna is a moderate group that was founded to promote Sufi Islam in Somalia, which decided years ago to take up arms against the radical al-Shabab group, which is believed to be linked al-Qaida. In an event held Thursday in the central Somali town of Dhuusa Marreeb — attended by Somalia federal and regional leaders and foreign diplomats — Galmudug state President Ahmed Duale Ghelle “Xaaf” and Ahlu Sunna leader Sheikh Shakir vowed to join forces in the fight against al-Shabab. Under the power-sharing agreement, Sheikh Shakir will be the executive leader of Galmudug state. Source: VOA The post Somali Army Reports Killing 7 al-Shabab Militants appeared first on Caasimada Online.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pledged on Thursday not to let differences over a dam Ethiopia is building on the Nile river ruin relations with Addis Ababa. Ethiopia hopes the hydroelectric Grand Renaissance Dam will make it Africa’s largest power exporter. Egypt says it threatens its water supply which relies almost exclusively on the Nile that runs from Ethiopia through Sudan and Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea. Addis Ababa says it will have no impact. Sisi said negotiations with its two African neighbors were progressing and said a deadlock over a disputed, ongoing study on the dam’s impact must end. “The Nile basin enjoys great resources and capabilities that makes it a source of interconnection, building and development, not a source of conflict,” Sisi told reporters after meeting Ethiopia’s prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, in Cairo. Hailemariam echoed his comments: “We must make sure that this great river never becomes an object of competition, mistrust or conflict.” Source: – Reuters The post Egypt, Ethiopia Leaders Say Nile Dam Must Not Ruin Relations appeared first on Caasimada Online.

A judge on Wednesday said no to three Kansas residents who requested to have Trump voters on their jury as they’re tried for attempting to bomb a mosque and a Somali refugee community. Gavin Wright, Patrick Stein and Curtis Allen were denied their request to include voters from a Trump-voting region in Kansas in their jury pool. The three men will be tried in the city of Wichita for plotting to use truck bombs in an apartment complex with a Somali refugee population and a mosque on the day after the 2016 presidential election, in Garden City, Kansas. The jury pool will draw from Wichita and Hutchinson, more urban areas than Garden City, but Wright, Stein and Allen wanted people who “live in rural areas and are more politically conservative,” according to High Plains Public Radio. They asked to draw from 28 counties in Dodge City, located in western Kansas. District Judge Eric Melgren said that their request did not have a legal basis, and they did not show that the current jury pool areas would discriminate against Republicans. The men are charged with conspiracy against civil rights and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, and they have pleaded not guilty. Their defense lawyers allege the men were exercising their free speech rights and right to bear arms. The thinking behind the request, according to the lawyer, was that one area’s residents have different beliefs and would be able to understand the men’s motives. In one area, two-thirds of residents voted for Trump, and in the other area the men wanted to pool from, three-fourths of residents voted for the Republican, according to Mercury News. The men were part of a group connected to the “Kansas Security Force,” a local militia group, prosecutors said. According to prosecutors and a wiretap transcript they obtained, Wright said he wanted the attack on Somalis in Kansas to “wake people up,” the publication added. At the time, the government said that setting that precedent for the jury pool would “wreak havoc” and open a “dangerous door” to similar jury pool requests. The trial, which was scheduled to start in February, is set to begin on March 19 in Wichita, according to the Associated Press. Source: Newsweek The post White men in bomb plot won’t get more Trump voters on jury, after judge denies request appeared first on Caasimada Online.

Mogadishu (HOL) - The Central Bank of Somalia (CBS) and Somali Financial Institutions (SFIs) have announced that they will begin strengthening the inter-bank payment, clearing and settlement systems in Somalia in a bid to modernize the banking sector. Source: Hiiraan Online

MOGADISHU/NAIROBI, Jan 18 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - S omalia’s Islamist militant group al Shabaab on Thursday denied that it was threatening and abducting civilians to hand over their children for indoctrination and military training. Source: Hiiraan Online

Muqdisho (PP) ─ Madaxweynaha Somalia, Maxamed C/llaahi Farmaajo ayaa wareegto uu soo saaray ku sheegay inuu ka walaacsan yahay jiritaanka warar sheegaya ku xadgudub dhulalka danta guud ee Magaalada Muqdisho. Farmaajo ayaa wareegtadiisa ku yiri. “Sida uu tilmaamayo Qodobka 43-aad ee Dastuurka Jamhuuriyadda Federaalka Somalia- Dhulku waa khayraadka koowaad iyo saldhigga nolosha dadka. Illaa inta laga soo saarayo hab-raacyada sharci ee waafaqsan Qodobka 43-aad ee Dastuurka, dhulka dowladda lama hibeyn karo, bixin karo, lamana wareejin karo.” “Iyadoo la ilaalinayo hantida qaranka ee dhul, cir iyo bad waxaan u sheegayaa shacabka Soomaaliyeed in wixii dhul ah ee la iibiyay ama la hibeeyay ama la kireeyay keddib 8-dii Febraayo, 2017 uusan haysan ogolaansho sharci ah. Haddii uu jiro muwaadiniin iibsaday ama kireystay dhul danta guud, waxaan u sheegayaa in iibsigaas uu yahay mid sharci darro ah,” ayuu Madaxweynuhu ku yiri wareegtadiisa. Isagoo sii hadlaya ayuu intaas ku daray. “Markii la I doortay, waxaan ballan-qaaday inaan ilaalinayo ammaanada la ii dhiibay, dhulka dowladdana wuxuu kamid yahay ammaanadaas. Waxaan u xaqiijinayaa shacabka Soomaaliyeed in guddi heer qaran ah aan u saari doono arrimaha la xiriira dhulka si baaritaan dhab ah loogu sameeyo, loona hubiyo inaan dhul dan guud loo adeegsan dan shakhsiyadeed.” Ugu dambeyn, Madaxweynuhu wuxuu farayaa dhammaan hay’adaha ay khuseyso arrintan inaan la bixin karin dhul dowladeed oo aan kusoo bixin wareegto Madaxweyne, lana soo marin habraac waafaqsan shuruucda u yaalla dalka. PUNTLAND POST The post Madaxweyne Farmaajo oo hakiyay bixinta Dhulalka Dowladda ee ku yaalla Muqdisho appeared first on Puntland Post.

Dhuusamareeb (Caasimada Online)-Salaad Cali Jeelle oo kamid ah siyaasiyiinta Somalia isla markana kamid ah wafdiga Madaxweyne Farmaajo ee magaalada Dhuusamareeb ayaa ka hadlay ahmiyada ay leedahay midnimada Galmudug iyo Ahlusuna. Salaad Cali ayaa sheegay in midowga labada dhinac uu yahay mid ku imaaday is fahanka labada Hogaamiye, waxa uuna lama huraan ku sheegay in dowlada Somalia ay isgarabtaagto Galmudug. Salaad Cali, waxa uu tilmaamay in Ahlusunna ay taariikh ku leedahay dagaalka lala galay al-Shabaab, waxa uuna cadeeyay inay dhabar jabiyeen al-Shabaab. Waxa uu Salaad Cali sheegay in mudadii uu ku guda jiray safarka dhulka ay indhahooda kusoo arkeen amni iyo shacab kuwanaagsan marti soorka. Waxa uu Salaad Cali sheegay in socdaalkood dhulka uu hordhac u yahay rajada laga qabi karo dowladnimada Somalia oo gaarta heerkii laga sugaayay. HOOS KA DAAWO HADDALKA UU DHUUSAMAREEB KA JEEDIYAY SALAAD CALI JEELE The post Daawo: Salaad Cali Jeelle oo Khudbad ka qosolsiisay dadbadan ka jeediyay Dhuusamareeb appeared first on Caasimada Online.

Voice actors gather in a radio studio in Mogadishu to create a public service announcement to help fight outbreaks of diarrhea and cholera. Source: Hiiraan Online

MOGADISHU,(HOL)-Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo on Friday halted selling, leasing and allocation of public land amid grabbing of public properties is increasing. Source: Hiiraan Online