GARBAHARE (SOHA) – A 32-year-old man convicted of rape and murder was today executed by firing squad in Garbahare in Gedo region. Garbahare district court had sentenced the man to death and today signed off his execution after being found guilty of raping and killing a woman last month. The …
Read More »Paraffin stoves for Somali refugees in Dadaab keep women safe, and protect the environment
DADAAB (SOHA) – Nurto Farah Mire, a Somali refugee, has been attacked seven times while going out to gather firewood for cooking on the outskirts of the Dadaab refugee camps in northern Kenya. She feels lucky to have escaped being raped. The 47-year-old now cooks at home for her family …
Read More »Disabled Somali graduate gets 150 job application rejections
HERGEISA(SOHA) – Despite excelling academically, Suleiman Mohamed Hassan, 34, has failed to get a job because of negative perceptions by employers about hiring people with disability. Suleiman, who lives in Hargeisa, Somaliland, has two bachelor’s degrees in accounting and information and communications technology (ICT). But he has made 150 job …
Read More »Campaign to kick out polio offers hope for children of Dadaab
DADAAB (SOHA) – From the sky, the Dadaab Refugee Camp in Garissa County looks like a tuft of green hair in the balding savannah that is the northern part of Kenya. Sporadic clouds throw black splotches that look like burn scars on the pale peach-hued earth. To the sympathetic eye, …
Read More »Save the children concerned FGM deaths in Somalia
MOGADISHU (SOHA) – Save the Children calls upon the government of Somalia, civil society and other community actors to take immediate action to scale up efforts to protect children, particularly girls, against all forms of violence and harmful traditional practices, including Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C). The call comes after a series of …
Read More »Campaigner: Two sisters die after undergoing FGM in Somalia
MOGADISHU (SOHA) – Two sisters have died in Somalia from complications that arose after undergoing female genital mutilation, according to Hawa Aden Mohamed, who campaigns against the procedure. Ten-year-old Aasiyo Abdi Warsame and her sister, Khadijo, 11, died a day after they were subjected to the procedure in the remote …
Read More »Somalia’s first FGM prosecution by victim’s parents
MOGADISHU (SOHA) – Somalia’s first prosecution for female genital mutilation (FGM) following the death of a 10-year-old girl has run into problems because her parents will not help investigators locate the cutter, an activist said on Thursday. The case highlights the difficulties of ending the ancient tradition in Somalia, which has …
Read More »UN women chief hails political empower. of women in Somalia
BAIDOA (SOHA) – Speaking in regional Somalia today, the top United Nations official for gender equality and women’s empowerment highlighted efforts made at the national and local levels towards greater representation of women in political structures and processes, and encouraged further progress in this area. “I am here to strengthen …
Read More »UN calls for more protection of aid workers in Somalia
MOGADISHU (SOHA) – As the international community marked the World Humanitarian Day today, a senior United Nations official warned of the grave threats faced by aid workers in Somalia, where they continue to be targets of armed groups which often abduct and detain them and steal desperately needed relief supplies. “As …
Read More »Supermodel, Halima Aden takes on children’s rights
MOGADISHU (SOHA) – Somali-American supermodel Halima Aden, an ambassador for UNICEF, is using her voice to advocate for children’s rights. The former child refugee, who came to the United States during the Somali Civil War in the early 1990s, shared a video on her social media account on the subject …
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Somali Observatory for Humanitarian Affairs The Voice of Reality.. The Eye of Humanitarian Truth in Somalia