PLATFORMS

NAIROBI (SoOHA) – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has ruled out ransom negotiations with Al Shabaab militants in Somalia to secure the release of two Cuban doctors abducted from Mandera in April. Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma however said an operation was ongoing to rescue the two doctors. “We believe that …

The decision to close Kenya’s largest refugee camp – home to almost a quarter of a million people – is raising difficult questions, says Mollie Gerver. Dadaab refugee camp, in eastern Kenya, was established almost 30 years ago. It currently hosts around half of the country’s refugees – 230,000 of …

LONDON (SoOHA) – A record 41.3 million people were uprooted within their own countries last year due to conflicts and violence, data showed on Friday, with two-thirds displaced in just 10 countries including Syria, Colombia and Somalia. The increase in internally displaced people (IDPs) – which was 1 million higher …

GENEVA (SoOHA)  – Today is World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day, a time to celebrate the bravery and achievements of our volunteers and staff around the world, whose life-saving and life-changing services ensure that we keep our commitment to humanity every day. One in 65 people in the world is helped …

MOGADISHU (SoOHA) – The UN migration agency said Friday it plans to relocate some 24,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) at risk of eviction to public sites in Baidoa, southwestern Somalia. International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the regional South-West State has provided public land to humanitarian partners for development and …

HARGEISA (SoOHA) – Osman Botan Mohamud, 49, a father of eight, has just returned home after receiving 15 goats from the Drought Response Committee in Somaliland to replace his losses in last year’s tropical cyclone. He is one of 600 people in Salal, Awdal, Gabiley, and Saahil who lost their …

BOSASO (SoOHA) – In the second part in our new weekly series on conditions in IDP camps across the country, Radio Ergo visited Bedbado camp in Bosaso. The camp has no health centre, leaving pregnant women reliant on an untrained but passionate traditional midwife. Faduma Hassan has been delivering babies …

HAVANA (SoOHA) – Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel spoke by phone on Thursday with his counterparts in Kenya and Somalia about negotiations for the release of two Cuban doctors abducted a week ago in Kenya. Diaz-Canel said via Twitter that he spoke with Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta and Somalia’s Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed …

MOGADISHU (SoOHA) – The Somalia Humanitarian Fund (SHF) 2018 Annual report reveals a drop in donor contributions to the fund in 2018 by 5 per cent, compared to the previous year. According to the report, between January-December 2018, the SHF mobilized $54.3 million while in 2017$56.9 million was received in contribution. …

HUDUR (SoOHA) – Large numbers of people have been displaced and livestock have died in severe drought conditions being witnessed in part of Bakool region in Somalia’s South West state. The local authorities in Qurajome, in the north-eastern part of Elbarde district, say the situation is deteriorating as the rains …