United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) donates equipment to Hargeisa

United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) donates equipment to Hargeisa

Hargeisa (Somalilandpress)-United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) today donates equipment to doctors and patients in Hargeisa TB hospital. Ceremony held at Meeting Hall of hospital was attended by the General Director of Somaliland ministry of Health Dr. Abdi Guray , UNIDO program field coordinator Eng. Hasan colaad Adan,Dr. John Kiyaga who is UNDP officer, official from non-governmental oragization by the name of Havoyoco Mr. Mohamed Omar Qadaafi and General Director of TB hospital Dr. Osman.First, UNIDO program field coordinator Eng. Hasan Colaad Adan spoke at the well-organized ceremony and he told that the project has been facilitated by the government of Japan and did everything it can to invest the project.

He added that this UNIDO program will be of great help to the community after UNIDO assisted the project technically.He further went on by saying that UNIDO has close working relations with Havoyoco which has the role of implementing the project.Eng. Colaad mentioned that the project had two advantages. The first is that UNIDO created opportunity by providing training to students and the second is that the students produced equipment will be of great help to doctors and patients in Hargeisa tB hospital.The General Director of Somaliland Health Ministry Dr. Ali Guray who spoke at the ceremony expressed his thanks both to UNIDO which made the project to bear fruit and Havoyoco in which he said that it is the most active local youth organization engaged in development projects in the country.
He also thanked the government of Japan which supported UNIDO for receiving the funds.

Dr. John Kiyaga who is UNDP officer praised UNIDO's accomplishment for the short spell that it has been working in Somaliland.He also expressed thanks greatly to the government of Somaliland. Dr. Osman Abdi Maygaag who is the General Director of the hospital spoke at the ceremony and thanked UNIDO and Havoyoco for making the project possible. He further added that this will be of great assistance when it comes to the needs in the hospital.

UN REPORTS THREE AREAS IN SOMALIA HAVE EMERGED FROM FAMINE

UN REPORTS THREE AREAS IN SOMALIA HAVE EMERGED FROM FAMINE

The United Nations reported today that three areas in Somalia which were declared to be in a state of famine earlier this year have emerged from the dire food crisis as a result of scaled-up relief delivery, but warned that the situation remains critical for millions of people in the Horn of Africa country.

The UN Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit for Somalia said that the situation had improved in the affected areas in the southern regions of Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle and they were no longer famine zones.

However, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden, said that famine persists in parts of the Middle Shabelle and in the Afgooye corridor, near the capital, Mogadishu, which hosts a large number of internally displaces persons (IDPs).

Valerie Amos, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said in a statement that "progress is fragile and needs to be sustained."

"While humanitarian agencies have helped bring food, nutrition, water and sanitation help to millions of people in the last few months, I remain extremely concerned by the critical situation in Mogadishu and other parts of south and central Somalia," said Ms. Amos, who is also the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator.

Insecurity, looting and other forms of violence, high malnutrition rates and disease means that the humanitarian community needs to remain focused on the best ways to scale up the relief effort next year, she said.

"We need the international community to continue to generously support the vital work we and our partners are doing.

"We need to make sure that those most in need get help and we must also continue to look at ways of building the resilience of communities and families so that they are better equipped to deal with the impact of drought and extreme food insecurity in the future," she added.

A severe drought ravaged the Horn of Africa earlier this year causing food shortages that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people in Somalia and brought more than 3.2 million others on the brink of starvation.

A significant scale-up of relief efforts helped reach 2.2 million affected people, giving them access to food and water.

Britain likely to follow providing African nations take the lead on Recognition

London (Somalilandpress)- Somaliland President Mr. Ahmed Mohamoud Siilaanyo who is special visit to Britain held high level meeting with Minister- in-charge of African Affairs to the British Government Mr. Henry Bellingham. Sources report that both men met in London and had lengthy discussions concerning a number of regional issues as well as further co-operation.

Speaking to certain representatives of the media President Siilaanyo said that while he was on an informal visit to Britain and that he had initiated the meeting as he feels it is essential to develop bilateral relations between Somaliland and Britain. Mr Bellingham also spoke to the media about the discussion that the two sides had and that primarily their discussion focused on the region of the horn of Africa, security and the aid that the British Government provides to Somaliland.

Whilst the talks were believed to have been cordial, in private the British Government has made its position concerning the issue of recognition, whilst in principal it supports the aspiration, it would prefer one or more African nations to recognise Somaliland first, then it would use its influence in the European Union and elsewhere to affect a positive response. It is believed that some officials in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London are all for maintaining the status quo for fear of irritating the African Union and there has even been some talk of some Foreign Office Officials thwarting any moves towards a more enlightened and pragmatic approach to the whole recognition issue.

AFRICA: Sub-Saharan sanitation targets "two centuries away"

AFRICA: Sub-Saharan sanitation targets "two centuries away"

LONDON, 18 November 2011 (IRIN) - It will take two centuries for sub-Saharan Africa to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, according to NGO WaterAid, which calls on national leaders to commit 3.5 percent of their annual budget to the sector. [http://www.wateraid.org/ ]

 Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are being sidelined as governments concentrate on health and education, says the WaterAid report. Meanwhile, people's lack of access to clean water and basic sanitation services is holding back social and economic development in the region, costing around 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) every year.

 Loss higher than development aid

 Inadequate WASH services cost sub-Saharan Africa more than the whole continent receives in development aid - US$47.6 billion in 2009 - according to WaterAid.

 The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated the financial impact of inadequate WASH facilities by looking at the health issues linked to poor hygiene, child mortality, waterborne tropical diseases, the time people spend collecting water; and reductions in educational achievement due to illness and girls' attendance rates at schools.

 "Diarrhoea, 90 percent of which is attributable to inadequate sanitation and dirty water, is the single biggest killer of children in Africa, and yet sanitation targets are off-track," Tom Slaymaker, one of the report's authors, told IRIN.

 Every day, 2,000 children die from diarrhoea in sub-Saharan Africa. Four out of 10 people do not have access to safe water, while seven out of 10 do not have appropriate sanitation facilities.

 The disparity between rich and poor is stark. Poor people in sub-Saharan Africa are more than 15 times more likely to practice open defecation due to inadequate or poorly maintained toilets.

 "Unless this changes, we won't see educational progress and it will hold back progress on child health. If you look at development in industrialized countries, sanitation has been key to enabling economic growth and achieving acceptable living standards," said Slaymaker.

 Ministries not powerful

 Progress has been slow partly because WASH is not "sexy", he commented. "On one level it's just a question of political will. Sanitation is not a sexy topic - politicians much prefer to say they're opening a hospital or school, rather than building some toilets."

 Most policy-makers in charge of WASH "have access to clean water and good sanitation, so they may not be motivated to address it in a distant rural part of the country," said WaterAid senior policy analyst John Garret.

 Slaymaker noted that "The water ministry is generally less powerful relative to the education and health ministries - which [tend to] have more civil servants and more leverage with the ministry of finance during and after the budget process - [so] in the scramble for funds, the water ministry and sanitation organizations lose out. This all contributes to the sector being a low priority."

 Water and sanitation is not an easy sector to reform, given it is usually spread across different ministries, and there is often "no single unified voice in the national budget process for sanitation", he added.

 "Last chance"

 WaterAid calls on donors to double the global aid flow to WASH with an additional $10 billion per year in the run-up to 2015, the deadline for achieving the MDGs.

 African governments need to commit at least 3.5 percent of GDP to sanitation and water to get back on track, Slaymaker told IRIN. Only Lesotho, Kenya, Niger and Tanzania are currently spending more than 0.9 percent of GDP on WASH. In Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia, the most recent expenditure figures fall well below the original 2009 commitment of 0.5 percent of GDP.

 "Despite all the political commitments, we haven't seen the finances to back it up," Slaymaker told IRIN. African heads of state met in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, earlier in 2011, and although many of their governments had made a commitment in 2009 to spend 0.5 percent of the annual budget on sanitation, "only one or two countries. realized that," he said.

 Despite this challenge, Slaymaker still thinks the MDG goal can be met if politicians drastically change course. "This is the last chance to make an effort to get back on track," he told IRIN. "It's a question of. concerted partnership between donors, governments and the private sector. What's lacking at the moment is that concerted drive."

 jl/aj/he


 FACT BOX

 Over one billion people will miss the global MDG sanitation target if things continue unchanged

 In Asia, India will not reach its MDG on sanitation before 2047, while Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal will not achieve the target before 2028.

 Lack of access to water and sanitation costs African and Asian countries up to 6 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) each year.

 In India the shortfall in water and sanitation services cost the economy around 6.4 percent of GDP - the equivalent of US$53.8 billion in 2006, according to the World Bank.

 In Ethiopia, 193,000 deaths per year are WASH-related, and 71.4 million people have no access to sanitation facilities.

 Similar figures apply to Mali, Niger, Benin, Ghana and Congo, where 194,000 deaths a year are WASH-related and 49.5 million people have no access to sanitation facilities.

 According to WaterAid, the Côte d'Ivoire administration targeted 0.06 percent of its GDP to water and sanitation, Ghana spent 0.29 percent, Liberia 0.28 percent, Madagascar 0.28 percent, Nigeria 0.18 percent, Uganda 0.41 percent and Zambia 0.56 percent.

 (Sources: World Bank; WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme, 2010; national government documents 2008-2010; WaterAid)

Wasiirka Caafimaadka Iyo Dhakhaatiirtii Ay Kulmiye Wada Ahaayeen Oo La Sheegay In.....

Wasiirka Caafimaadka Iyo Dhakhaatiirtii Ay Kulmiye Wada Ahaayeen Oo La Sheegay In Khilaaf Culusi Ka Dhex Qarxay

Wasiirka Ayaa Nin Ay Isku Jifo Hoose Yihiin U Magacaabay Isku Duwaha Maroodi Jeex

Hargeysa  (HAATUF) - Wasiirka Caafimaadka Dr Xuseen Muxumed Axmed (Xuseen Xoog) ayaa shalay si rasmiya xilkii uga qaaday isku duwihii wasaarada caafimaadka ee gobolka maroodi jeex Dr Axmed Maxamed Gaas, isla markaana ugu magacaabay jagadaasi wasiir ku xigeenkii hore ee arrimaha gudaha ee xukuumadii Rayaale Axmed Xasan Goole, oo la sheegay inay isku jifo hoose yihiin.

Isuduwihii hore ee caafimaadka gobolka maroodi jeex Dr Axmed Maxamed Gaas oo isagu ka mid ahaa dhakhaatiirtii waaweynayd ee Dr Xuseen Xoog ay wada taageeri jireen xisbiga Kulmiye xilligii xukuumadii hore, ayaa noo xaqiijiyay in warqadii xil ka qaadistiisa ay shalay soo gaadhay, balse ka gaabsaday inuu wax faahfaahina ka bixiyo asbaabta keentay xil ka qaadistiisa xilligan, hase yeeshee ilo wareedyo ka agdhaw wasaarada Caafimaadka ayaa Haatuf u sheegay in asbaabta xil ka qaadista isuduwaha hore ay ka dhalatay khilaaf cakiran oo muddooyinkan dambe ka dhex oogmay wasiirka iyo dhakhaatiirtii waaweynayd ee wasaaradaasi ka hawl gali jiray, kadib markii la sheegay inay saluug ka muujiyeen habdhaqanka maamul ee wasiir xoog ku maamulayo wasaaradaasi, taas darteedna wasiirku cadho wayn ka qaaday ka hor imaanshaha iyo afkaarta ay soo jeedinayaan dhakhaatiirtaasi, oo ay xilligii Kulmiye saaxiibo dhaw ahaayeen.

 Masuulkan ayaa noqonaya dhakhtarkii labaad ee wasiir xuseen xoog shaqada ka fadhiisiyo, iyadoo dhawaan uu sidoo kale xilkii ka qaaday agaasimihii hore ee Cusbitaalka guud ee Hargeysa Dr Maxamed Axmed Carabayte, oo isaguna ka mid ahaa dhakhaatiirtii xisbiga Kulmiye ay ka wada tirsanaayeen, kaas oo khilaaf maamul oo ka dhashay dhaqaale lagu kicinayay mishiinada kalyaha ee Cusbitaalka Hargeysa loogu talo galay ka shaqaysiintiisa, ay wasiir ku xigeenka Caafimaadka Nimco Xuseen Qawdhan ka dalbatay inuu ku soo wareejiyo qasnajiga Cusbitaalka, taas darteedna wasiirku xilkii kaga qaaday Dr carabayte.

Talaabooyinkan uu xilka kaga qaaday dhakhaatiirtaasi xilalka ka hayay wasaarada ayaa la sheegay inay khilaaf cakiran ka dhex abuureen wasiirka iyo dhakhaatiirta ka hawlgasha wasaaradaasi.

 Haatuf

SOMALIA: Looters sabotage aid efforts in Mogadishu

SOMALIA: Looters sabotage aid efforts in Mogadishu

NAIROBI, 17 November 2011 (IRIN) - The frequent looting of relief aid at distribution centres in Mogadishu by local or state security agents seriously undermines efforts to help hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom have fled areas of Somalia in a state of famine, according to officials and aid workers.

 "Looting of aid is a major problem, especially as it affects the most vulnerable families in Mogadishu, who rely on humanitarian support to survive," said Marcel Stoessel, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Mogadishu.

 "We have been working with the authorities in Mogadishu to improve the overall security situation in the capital. This is the best way to facilitate the safe delivery of humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable," Stoessel said. "Obviously, we still need to do more."

 Stoessel did not discuss who was behind the looting but the government has acknowledged the involvement of its own agents.

 Earlier this month, Transitional Federal Government (TFG) President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed warned that "soldiers and armed militia" would be dealt with severely if found to be responsible for looting food aid.

 Security agents deployed in Mogadishu include TFG soldiers, poorly paid police and militias under the authority of the city's district commissioners. After the August withdrawal from Mogadishu of the Al-Shabab insurgency, such militia groups have grown in importance.

 TFG spokesman Abdirahman Omar Yarisow told IRIN the government was serious about tackling the disruption of food aid.

 "We have taken extreme measures, such as taking to military court those who try to divert the food aid to loot it. For example, recently the military court sentenced two district commissioners to 10 and 15 years' imprisonment [respectively]," he said.

 He acknowledged that people had been killed and injured when security forces opened fire during food distributions. "This is not acceptable and there are investigations currently under way and those who are responsible will face severe punishment."

 In one such incident in early August, 10 people were reportedly killed when TFG troops opened fire during a scramble for food aid in the capital.

 Looting "is becoming a daily occurrence and it is mainly done by people wearing government security force uniforms", said Mohamed Ilmi, a human rights activist in Mogadishu.

 In one of the latest incidents [14 November] in the Tribunka camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs), Ilmi said, government forces who were supposed to protect aid distribution fired into the crowd, forcing them to run for cover, "they then took the food; fortunately there was only one injury".

 Ilmi said on many occasions IDPs had been killed, "as happened in Badbaado camp a few days ago, where at least five were killed".

 "Big business"

 He said the attacks bore the hallmark of an organized enterprise. "As soon as they chase the people, trucks come in to carry the loot and the food immediately ends up in the markets. It is as if they were hired to do it."

 He said looting of aid meant for the displaced was becoming a "big business".

 A civil society source, who requested anonymity, told IRIN the problem was that the government did not have much control over the "so-called security forces".

 The source said since Al-Shabab's withdrawal, "young men with guns are roaming the streets. No one knows who they are or under whose control.

 "Until the government removes the weapons from the hands of these young gangs, the situation will only get worse," the source said.

 "Unfortunately they seem busy with other things, but if they don't get the security situation right, it won't be the IDPs alone who will suffer but all of us, including them."

 Rape on the increase

 According to Ilmi, the attacks were not confined to food raids. "There is a climate of fear in the camps and it has to do with women being raped and again unfortunately it is mostly men with uniforms," he said.

 Ilmi said rape in the IDP camps was rampant. "I don't know of many people who have been arrested for it."

 He expressed concern about the lack of accurate information. "The women won't report it because either they are afraid of being stigmatized or attacked again by the perpetrators," Ilmi said.

 He said social workers who tried to collect data were sometimes threatened or even attacked. "You cannot and won't find accurate data but I am sure the numbers are huge."

 The civil society source told IRIN that rape had been a problem before in Mogadishu "but it has now reached an alarming rate. There are reports of rape cases in almost all the camps in Mogadishu."

 According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), there are 300 IDP settlements in Mogadishu.

 ah/am/mw

[END]

Ethiopia overwhelm Somalian

Ethiopia overwhelm Somalians

(AFP) – 16 hours ago  

ADDIS ABABA — Somalia's national football team, the Ocean Stars, suffered a crushing 5-0 defeat at the hands of Ethiopia here on Wednesday in their World Cup qualifier second leg match ending Somalian hopes of reaching the 2014 finals.

Ethiopia progressed 5-0 on aggregate after the first leg played in Djibouti last weekend ended 0-0.

Shemeles Bekele and Getaneh Kebede both scored doubles in the second-half after Omod Okwury had given them the lead in the fifth minute.

Somalia struggled to keep up with the Ethiopian players, who dominated control of the ball throughout the game and powered through a weak Somali defence.

"The way we played in Djibouti, we didn't play like that today. We tried to do something here, but we didn't get what we wanted from Addis," said Ocean Stars technical advisor Abdirashid Oman.

Ethiopia's head coach Sewnet Bishaw said Somalia's main disadvantage was the altitude, which Somali players are not accustomed to competing in. Addis Ababa stands at 2,400 metres above sea level.

"Every team is affected by the altitude, and this is our advantage," Sewnet told reporters after the match.

Ethiopia's national stadium was full of exuberant fans cheering excitedly for both teams, though Ethiopian supporters far outnumbered the Somalis in the stands.

This is only Somali's fourth time reaching the qualifying stage in the team's 60 year history.

That was an achievement in itself given it has been racked by two decades of civil war, and multiple governments have failed to create stability in the Horn of Africa nation, let alone form a competitive football team.

Famine has been declared in several areas of southern Somalia, while last month Kenyan troops moved across the border to battle Islamist rebels there.