PLATFORMS

AUCKLAND (SOHA) – New Zealand has approved $5.2 million in humanitarian funding to address significant humanitarian needs in South Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia. The ongoing conflict in South Sudan, and prolonged drought, recent heavy rains and pockets of violence in Ethiopia and Somalia, have contributed to deeply concerning humanitarian situations …

BAIDOA (SOHA) – Two Somali brothers have applied the carpentry skills they learnt during more than a decade living as refugees in Yemen to establish a thriving business that is now creating employment in Baidoa. Tabit Ali Ahmed, 39, and Ishaq Mohamed Adan, 24, brought back to Somalia a unique …

BAIDOA (SOHA) – Safiyo, 26, lies in a hospital bed in the southern Somali town of Baidoa, recovering from multiple stab wounds after a brutal attack on 22 June. Safiyo – whose real name we have concealed to protect her – told Radio Ergo a man sneaked into her house …

MOGADISHU (SOHA) – Traders at the main market Mogadishu’s remote Kahda district today woke up to losses after a fire razed down property worth thousands of US dollars. Smoke billowing from the newly established market could be seen covering a section of the city as firefighters fought their way in to …

ADAADO (SOHA) – Many families living in Caad area in Mudug region are reported to have fled from their homes area after heavy clashes. These people have travelled from several locations, including the Hobyo district, and feared these people are suffering from the fighting between Al-Shabaab and the resident in the …

ASMARA (SOHA) – The Special Envoy for the Somali refugee situation, Ambassador Mohamed Abdi Affey, led a high-level delegation in Eritrea accompanied by the Deputy Director of Division of International Protection, Ms. Shahrzad Tadjbakhsh and the Head of the Legal and Policy Unit of the Regional Bureau of Africa (RBA), …

MOGADISHU (SOHA) – The United Nations Deputy Special Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia Peter de Clercq Told the VOA Somali service says the fighting between Somaliland and Puntland displaced thousands of people in Tukaraq. In an interview with VOA Somali, The United Nations Deputy Special Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia Peter de Clercq …

The Somali group al-Shabaab, known for deadly attacks on thousands of people across east Africa, has banned plastic bags because of the threat they pose to the environment. Al-Shabaab’s radio station, Radio Andalus, broadcast news of the ban was announced on Sunday, saying discarded plastic bags “pose a serious threat …

GROWE (SOHA) – Teams from the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation have begun the distribution of emergency relief assistance to Somali families in villages in Puntland State, northeastern Somalia, as part of phase two of a campaign launched to assist those ravaged by drought in the region. 900 tonnes of …

MOGADISHU (SOHA) – Somali officials say the United States has deported 84 Somalis, including four women, back to their home country. Two planes carrying the Somalis arrived at Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport on Friday. A spokesman for Somalia’s Security Ministry, Abdulaziz Ali Ibrahim, told VOA’s Somali service the deportees …