Somali Observatory for Humanitarian Affairs The Voice of Reality.. The Eye of Humanitarian Truth in Somalia
Somali Observatory for Humanitarian Affairs (SoOHA)*
1. Establishment & Definition
SoOHA emerges as a premier, independent, non-profit media and rights-based network. Driven by grassroots voluntary efforts and self-initiative, SoOHA was established in Mogadishu on March 21, 2018, by the academic, media professional, and humanitarian activist Mr. Saleh Abdullahi Sheikh Mohamed. It serves as a flagship media-watchdog and reference platform dedicated to documenting challenges, exposing crises, and crafting innovative communication-based solutions that prioritize human dignity.
2. Vision
To lead as the first specialized media and human rights network in field monitoring across Somalia, ensuring a fair, transparent, and proactive humanitarian response aligned with the highest international standards.
3. Mission
To produce credible investigative media content that integrates field documentation with rights-based analysis; empowering stakeholders and decision-makers to implement humanitarian interventions built on precise data, absolute transparency, and lived realities.
4. Core Values
The Observatory’s operations are anchored in a set of core values that define its professional identity, manifested through:
- Independence & Neutrality: By operating as an entirely autonomous watchdog, free from political polarization or external agendas.
- Field Credibility: Through transforming live observations and documented field data into facts via rigorous scientific and investigative methodologies.
- Humanity & Advocacy: Stemming from an ethical commitment to defending human dignity and the rights of those affected, amplifying their voices to international platforms.
- Transparency: By upholding complete clarity in exposing facts and declaring the methodologies used in all monitoring and reporting operations.
5. Strategic Objectives
Through its dedicated activities, SoOHA strives to achieve a series of ambitious strategic objectives, most notably:
- Investigative Monitoring & Documentation: To track humanitarian and rights practices, analyzing and publishing them to enhance field performance and accountability.
- Decision Support: Through issuing specialized and qualitative reports that contribute to crisis forecasting and the formulation of preemptive intervention strategies.
- Awareness & Advocacy: Aiming to elevate public awareness regarding humanitarian and rights-based work, while highlighting the rights of marginalized groups.
- Oversight & Influence: By urging humanitarian actors and decision-makers to adopt more integral, efficient, and sustainable relief policies.
- Partnership & Capacity Building: Seeking to qualify a network of activists and correspondents in rights-based monitoring and qualitative field research.
6. Strategic Focus Areas
The Observatory’s field efforts are distributed across vital strategic focus areas, each operating as a distinct pillar:
- Humanitarian Clusters: Concerned with media oversight and evaluating organizational performance across all relief and development sectors.
- Natural & Man-made Disasters: Specialized in monitoring the impacts of droughts and floods while documenting challenges arising from armed conflicts and human-induced crises.
- Displacement & Asylum: Aiming to track the conditions of IDPs and refugees, exposing gaps in their protection and care.
- Irregular Migration: Working to monitor the risks of irregular migration, analyzing its root causes, and protecting the rights of migrants in transit.
- Environment & Climate Change: Dedicated to documenting climate shifts and their sustainable impact on vital resources and the stability of Somali communities.
- Protection & Advocacy: Devoting efforts to defend the rights of the most vulnerable groups (women, children, and persons with disabilities) in crisis zones.
7. Work Methodology
The Observatory relies on an integrated operational ecosystem managed by voluntary efforts, comprising:
- Field Research & Correspondence Teams: Gathering primary data, live testimonies, and direct intelligence from the heart of crisis-affected regions.
- Advisory Council: A distinguished group of consultants and experts who transform field monitoring and raw data into solid, evidence-based recommendations and facts.
- Media Advocacy Platform: A specialized gateway for publishing truths in Arabic and English, magnifying the voices of the most vulnerable to the international community.
8. Professional Commitment
SoOHA strictly adheres to the highest codes of humanitarian media ethics, international humanitarian principles, and human rights standards. This ensures that all research and media outputs align with global benchmarks recognized by international relief agencies and global bodies, while maintaining the spirit of voluntary work as a primary catalyst for change.
* SoOHA: An acronym derived from the Somali Observatory for Humanitarian Affairs.