LASANOD (SoOHA) – A village in northern Somalia’s Sool region has banned the use and sale of plastic bags, imposing penalties for offenders. The local administration of Bo’ame village, around 70 km east of Lasanod, announced a ban on plastic bags on 5 March, according to assistant chief area, Ahmed …

MOGADISHU (SoOHA) – Qatar Charity (QC) signed a cooperation and partnership agreement with the Ministry of Health and Social Care, the Federal Republic of Somalia. The pact, signed at the Ministry headquarters in Mogadishu, came as part of Qatar Charity’s keenness to coordinate and co-operate with all its government partners …

BAIDOA (SoOHA) – Over 4,000 families displaced by drought have arrived in Baidoa town since the beginning of the year. The families, who were pastoralists and farmers, fled from Ufurow, Gof-gadud Shebelow, Hawen, Idale, Misir, Buray, Gof-gadud Burey, Mora-gabay, El-garas villages in districts bordering the South West state capital, Baidoa. …

DADAAB (SoOHA) – A team of young women and men living in Dadaab town in northeastern Kenya have set up a brick-making business that has started to take off.  Having struggled to earn a living, and coming from pastoralist backgrounds, they are now supporting their families and dreaming of expanding …

MOGADISHU (SoOHA) – The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the Somalia Humanitarian Fund (SHF) released a combined US$45.7 million today to scale up life-saving assistance in Somalia, where over 4.2 million people need urgent humanitarian assistance this year, including 900,000 acutely malnourished children. “These allocations will enable …

PHOENIX (SoOHA) –  A community of Somali refugees spent the weekend memorializing the importance of women by designing and painting a mural that faces a row of businesses owned by Somali-Americans in Phoenix. Three artists from San Diego, Haadi and Fahad Mohamed, along with Yaqub Hussein, met with local children …

NAIROBI (SoOHA) – Do not force Somali refugees to return back home in volatile areas, the Human Rights Watch warned Kenya on Thursday as the country prepares to shut down world’s biggest refugee camp. “The move threatens the rights and safety of 250,000 people, mostly Somali refugees and asylum seekers, …

The aid agency Oxfam published a report this week warning that up to 1.7 million people in Somaliland are in critical need of humanitarian assistance.  This number has increased by hundreds of thousands in recent months. Radio Ergo correspondent Ilyas Abdi asked OXFAM’s head of communications in Somalia, Abdiaziz Ali …

 Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) in Kenya’s northeastern Mandera County have introduced a bill seeking to compel employers to provide childcare spaces in the workplace for breastfeeding women. The bill is being discussed with members of the public this week. Radio Ergo’s Fowzia Omar asked the sponsor of the …

KISMAYO (SoOHA) – The posting of female teachers to schools and universities in Kismayo in southern Somalia is helping to encourage girls who dropped out of school to return to the classroom, even after leaving to get married. Ten married female students resumed their education recently following counselling and mentoring …