PLATFORMS

KISMAYO (SOHA) – The Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation has distributed 824 tonnes of food items to 6,000 families — around 30,000 people — in the drought-stricken area of Jubaland in Somalia. The food aid was distributed as part of the Foundation’s first phase of relief assistance this season …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

NAIROBI (SOHA) – Fardowsa Adow Mohamed has not known any other home apart from Hagadera refugee camp since she arrived from Somalia where she was born. She came to Kenya at the age of two due to inter-clan skirmishes in Somalia. As she joins millions of refugees around the globe …

GOLWEYN (SOHA) – The African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia sent its first batch of emergency aid to help thousands of people displaced by floods in Lower Shabelle region where heavy floods triggered by torrential monsoon rains continue to hamper relief efforts. Flash floods have swept away homes, cut off roads …

MOGADISHU (SOHA) –  The highest denomination of banknotes will be 10,000 and 5,000 Somali Shilling note, the Country’s Central Bank confirmed on Tuesday. The country’s old currency has almost disappeared or is worn out and was replaced by U.S. dollars or counterfeit notes. The Somali Shilling not been printing since …