KISMAYO (SoOHA) – A youth-run soap factory, the first of its kind, opened this month in Kismayo’s Midnimo neighbourhood giving some longed-for job opportunities to IDPs, refugee returnees, and local youth. Wanaag soap factory opened on 19 August by five youth, with financial support from Qatari Silatech agency in cooperation …

MOGADISHU (SoOHA) – More than 200 young women graduated from different faculties at Somali International University (SIU) in Mogadishu this week, reflecting a major advancement overall in female education in Somalia. Bilan Abdullahi Mohamed, who lives in Daynile district of Mogadishu, told Radio Ergo that her university experience had been …

HARGEISA (SoOHA) – Marodijeh governor, Ahmed Jam’a, told Radio Ergo that heavy rains caused the deaths of three people and injured 18 others on Tuesday 27 August. The three died when a concrete electricity pole fell onto a wall causing it to collapse on top of them, near Amana boarding …

MOGADISHU (SoOHA) – The European Commission is mobilizing $55.9 million for emergency humanitarian funding to help people hit by drought in four countries in the Horn of Africa. The biggest portion of humanitarian aid package goes to Somalia as $27.9 million will support drought-affected communities, Ethiopia receives $22.3 million, Kenya …

JOWHAR (SoOHA) – Residents of Jowar-bile suburb in the southern Somali town of Jowhar have been accessing free medical services for the last eight months thanks to an initiative by young medical graduates in the town. Thirteen doctors have joined hands to set up Hantiwadag mother and child health care …

MOGADISHU (SoOHA) – Radio Ergo’s IDP Camp series this week looks at the threat of rape and sexual violence facing women living in the camps, who are forced to take casual domestic jobs such as washing clothes to earn a living. Our local reporter met two women in a camp in Mogadishu who shared their stories …

TORONTO (SoOHA) – Canada Border Services Agency has suspended the imminent deportation of a former child refugee and fosters child to Somalia at the request of the United Nations. Abdilahi Elmi, 34, arrived in Toronto in 1995 after fleeing Somalia and living in a refugee camp. He and his mother …

MOGADISHU (SoOHA) – Sahro Adan Mohamed, 44, can now use her mobile phone, search for names in her phone contacts, and read SMS texts without any help. For as long as she can remember, Sahro has relied on her children to help her use her phone, but now she feels …

HARGEISA (SoOHA) – Lul Hassan Matan has faced hostility, harassment, and detention in her lifelong struggle to help street children in Somaliland. A mother of six, Lul’s mission to provide shelter, love, and care to abandoned and vulnerable children in Hargeisa has earned her the nickname of ‘mother of homeless …

BOSSASO (SoOHA) – As part of an ongoing series on IDP camps in Somalia, Radio Ergo’s local reporter in Bossaso visited a camp where cash assistance is making a big difference to families using it to invest in business and education. Halima Bile Ali is working hard to move her family out of …