GENEVA — The U.N. refugee agency warns humanitarian conditions are deteriorating for tens of thousands of Somalis in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camps as unrelenting drought grips the Horn of Africa and funding dries up. More than 80,000 Somalis fleeing conflict and drought have arrived in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camps over …
Read More »More than 100 Somali students graduate from University for Peace in Mogadishu
MOGADISHU — Somalia’s pool of academic skills deepened recently with the conferring of a range of postgraduate degrees to 166 students – including the country’s president. The event brought together 29 women and 137 men to a venue in the Somali capital of Mogadishu for a graduation ceremony from the …
Read More »How Somali girls with disabilities are overcoming barriers to education
For most of 17-year-old Katra’s* life, school has been a distant dream. Born with a physical disability that impacted her legs, Katra wasn’t allowed to leave her family home in Burao, Somaliland because of the stigma around disability in her community. That meant no trips to the market, no visits …
Read More »Somalia’s envoy for drought relief meets with US officials in Geneva
GENEVA — The Special envoy of drought relief for Somalia, Abdirahman Abdishakur has met with American officials in Switzerland that have attended the 113th session of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Council. The Deputy Assistant Secretary for the humanitarian affairs of the US foreign affairs ministry, Elizabeth H. Campbell, …
Read More »WHO sees decline of HIV prevalence in Somalia
MOGADISHU — The World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday it has in partnership with Somalia managed to keep the HIV/Aids prevalence in the country on a steady decline from above 1 percent in 2013 to 0.10 percent in 2022. In a joint statement issued in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia …
Read More »Global Fund commits emergency funds to help Somalia tackle climate crisis
MOGADISHU — The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has committed 1.9 million U.S. dollars to Somalia in emergency funding to support health systems and communities faced with climate change disasters. The funds will cover food support for over 2,800 tuberculosis (TB) patients and 374 multidrug-resistant TB patients, …
Read More »First deputy speaker clarifies comments on sexual crimes law
MOGADISHU — The first deputy speaker of the Lower House of the Somali parliament, MP Sadia Yasin Samatar, has distanced herself from pushing the controversial Sexual Intercourse Bill, also known as the Penetration Bill. The bill sparked outrage among Somalis and was seen as incompatible with Islam and Somali culture; …
Read More »UN: Horn of Africa facing unprecedented drought emergency with catastrophic outcomes
ADDIS ABABA — The Horn of Africa is facing an unprecedented drought emergency with catastrophic consequences, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) warned on Tuesday. The UNOCHA said in its latest Horn of Africa drought situation update that the situation could worsen further amid deteriorating …
Read More »Report: More than 100M people forcibly displaced in 2022
GENEVA — In 2022, more than 100 million people were forced to flee their homes because of conflict, violence or disasters but they are rarely in the headlines, said the UN on Tuesday. By 2050, climate change could force more than an estimated 216 million people to evacuate their homes, leave …
Read More »FAO ramps up cash transfers to tackle drought in Somalia
MOGADISHU — The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said Tuesday that it has stepped up humanitarian response in Somalia through cash transfers to mitigate the impact of drought on the food security and livelihoods of affected rural communities. FAO Representative in Somalia Etienne Peterschmitt said the …
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Somali Observatory for Humanitarian Affairs The Voice of Reality.. The Eye of Humanitarian Truth in Somalia