MOGADISHU (SOHA) – For the first time in 30 years Somalia has begun exporting fish to neighbouring Kenya, thanks in part to a reduction in the level of piracy off the Somali coast. The civil war in Somalia has prevented many businesses from developing, but fish traders in the port …
Read More »Seoul becomes first donor to support polio outbreak response in horn of Africa
NAIROBI (SOHA) – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea announced yesterday an additional USD$2 million to fund polio outbreak response and surveillance activities in the Horn of Africa. This commitment makes Korea the first country to support outbreak response efforts in the region, critical to protecting …
Read More »UN seeks to mitigate env. degradation by refugees in Dadaab
DADAAB (SOHA) – Newly-arrived refugee children from Somalia pose for a photograph at the Dagahaley refugee camp in Dadaab, near Kenya’s border with Somalia. The United Nations refugees agency is looking for funds to mitigate the environmental degradation caused by refugees. UNHCR’s head of operations in Dadaab Jean Rushatsi said …
Read More »Teenage Somali refugee girl recounts her journey to the UK
LONDON (SOHA) – A teenage girl forced to leave her family behind and flee Somalia aged just 14 after being threatened by terrorists recounted her treacherous journey to the UK in a heartbreaking documentary. Fearing for her life after she was accused by the Islamic terrorist group Al-Shabaab of touching …
Read More »EU gives Kenya and Uganda Sh3.9 billion for refugees
BRUSSEL (SOHA) – The European Union has announced Sh3.9 billion humanitarian aid for refugees in Kenya and Uganda. Christos Stylianides, the Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, said Kenya will get Sh1.1 billion and Uganda Sh2.8 billion, since it has the highest number of refugees in Africa. The aid to Kenya is …
Read More »Kenya to highlight skills training to enhance refugees integration
NAIROBI (SOHA) – Kenya will invest in vocational training for refugees to enhance their integration in the host country through employment or entrepreneurship, senior officials said Wednesday during an event to mark the World Refugee Day. Fred Matiang’i, Cabinet Secretary for Interior, said Kenya will reach out to multilateral partners …
Read More »Families in Bakool miss meals as shilling loses value and food becomes short
ELBARDE (SOHA) – A combination of food shortages and the collapse of the Somali shilling are making life extremely hard for the most vulnerable families living in Elbarde, southern Somalia’s Bakool region. Halimo Hassan Mohamud and her six children are internally displaced in Halul, after losing their entire herd of …
Read More »More than 250,000 refugees returned to Somalia, UN says
DADAAB (SOHA) – At least 254,811 Somali refugees from Dadaab camp in Garissa have been voluntarily repatriated since 2013, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has said. The repatriation started after a tripartite agreement between Kenya, the Somalia government and the UNHCR in November 2013. Speaking during Refugee …
Read More »Refugees in Dadaab camps shun calls to voluntarily return
DADAAB (SOHA) – The total closure of three extensive refugee camps in Dadaab may not happen soon as numbers of those returning to their countries of origin voluntary have reduced while others have vowed never to return to their homes. While the number of refugees has tremendously reduced from 466,683 …
Read More »Somaliland: Students worried about exam prospects after storm
AWDAL (SOHA) – Rahimo Mohamud 15, was expecting to sit this month for the high school entry examinations marking the end of her primary education. But the tropical cyclone that hit the northwest of Somaliland, have left her uncertain about the immediate future. Rahimo is among the 270 school children …
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Somali Observatory for Humanitarian Affairs The Voice of Reality.. The Eye of Humanitarian Truth in Somalia