The Five Worst Enemies of Somalia

It is true that so many countries in the world are enemies to Somalia; many Somalis do not understand their real friends and. This situation forced them to trust some hypocritical interventions to find peace and stability.

Somalia played an instrumental role in shaping the international geopolitics of Africa; it was indeed Somalia where an incumbent president handed over power peacefully to a democratically elected successor during the elections 1967.

It was thus the first country in Africa to embrace modern democracy, but that astounding history of a nation of great people could not be sustained as purported friends diluted the unity and the nation of the Horn of Africa nation.

Here I draw a list of Somalia’s real enemies who are mostly working on a bent mission to subjugate goodwill efforts to solve the longstanding conflict.

The International Community: This is group of nations headed by stealth of self-styled superpowers that are not really serious about the situation in Somalia. This community failed in more than 15 attempts to restore peace. When one option fails there should always be an alternative, but these nations have not provided alternatives measures and have been repeating the old ways, repeating the same old mistakes time and again.

The Arab League: No efforts whatsoever have this body of Muslim nations made in order to help the people of Somalia. Their leaders always twiddled their thumps and waited only to watch the unabated death and destruction. So it is like they said: ‘watch they are killing themselves’

The US: This is a nation that only serves its interest in protecting their citizens, as if the rest of the people in the world are not human beings. Thus the number of times the US made attempts to interfere with the Somalia crisis, it was always met with strident criticism. Many argue the purpose of US involvement in the Horn of Africa nation is solely to tighten the war on terrorism, but not to settle the people of Somalia.

The UK: Just like its master US, the Britons have not either spared any efforts to help the US in its lopsided interventions purportedly aimed at restoring peace in Somalia. This nation also helps in the fight against terrorism.

Ethiopia: is a nation that has been an enemy to the Somali people for a period exceeding some 500 years, so it is always good to reject any plan by Ethiopia to interfere with the republic of Somalia.

UNICEF, Japan Coordinate To Give An Education To Somali Refugee Children

In Somalia, a distant benefactor has provided education to a makeshift town of displaced refugees.

Contributors in Japan have coordinated with UNICEF's efforts in the Somali region to provide basic supplies and access to secure schools.
Since 2009, Japan has worked with UNICEF to provide an education to both boys and girls in the region. Since the initiative began, more than 400,000 kids have access to safe schools because of the country's contributions.
Huffington Post

International Contact Group on Somalia Says Needs $304 Million More in Aid

The International Contact Group on Somalia is seeking $304 million to deal with a humanitarian crisis resulting from drought and conflict in the war-torn African nation.

The group, consisting of mainly Western donors, has raised $226 million of $530 million needed to provide aid, it said in a statement distributed at a meeting today in Uganda’s capital, Kampala.

“Somalia is expected to slide deeper into crisis, leading to an increase in the number of Somalis in need of assistance from the current 2.4 million,” the group said.

Somalia’s government has been battling Islamic insurgents, including al-Shabaab, since 2007. The rebels control most of southern and central Somalia. Al-Shabaab, which the U.S. accuses of having links to al-Qaeda, and other terrorist groups continue to undermine peace in the Horn of Africa country, the Contact Group said. The conflict and drought has displaced 100,000 people, it said.

Uganda and Burundi are willing to commit another 3,000 troops to the country, adding to the 9,000 they already have in place, if the funding is secured, Augustine Mahiga, the United Nation’s special representative to Somalia, told reporters in Kampala.

Somalia hasn’t had a functioning central administration since the ouster of former dictator, Mohamed Siad Barre, in 1991.
Source bloomberg

Militarization Specter and Its Impact on Somali Women

Somalia, like many other African countries, has endured sustained militarization and armed conflict. This phenomenon has become a significant obstacle to Somalia's progress towards peace, justice, democratization, and development. As a rule of thumb: where militarization increases, so does death and destruction, and human rights abuses. And, yes, so does senseless wars.

Protracted wars, civil or otherwise, victimizes predominantly women and children; and nowhere is this fact more pronounced than in Somalia. Whether in refugee camps, or in the streets and neighborhoods of Somali cities, the grim images of women and children in profound state of anguish are evident. Nevertheless, their stories are seldom the dominant narrative.

Writes Sadia Ali Aden, Human rights advocate and freelance writer. Read More

Somalia: Manifestation of stealth trusteeship

Somalia is currently under what James Fearon and David Laitin of Stanford University call "a neo-trusteeship system". Various external powers, while disagreeing among themselves, make the important decisions for the Somali people.

On January 30, 2011, the Ethiopian-dominated Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional organisation comprised of seven East African states, called for an extension of the Somali parliament's mandate. The dysfunctional Somali parliament duly understood the message sent by Addis Ababa and within three days unilaterally extended its mandate for three years.

The US and UN rejected the unilateral extension, with James Steinberg, the US deputy secretary of state, arguing that it would strengthen al-Shabab and Augustine Mahiga, the UN special representative for Somalia, joining in the chorus of criticism. The disagreement within the international community over Somalia was exposed, with Ethiopia and IGAD lining up on one side and the US and UN on the other.

The fact that agencies within the US have at times pursued different policies in Somalia adds another layer of complexity. The defence department views Somalia through the lens of the 'war on terror' and, as a result, allies itself with Ethiopia, while the state department is aligned more closely with the rest of the international community.

Writes Afyare A. Elmi who teaches international politics at Qatar University and is the author of Understanding the Somalia Conflagration: Identity, Political Islam and Peacebuilding. READ MORE

Western analysts iron only corrugated pieces of Information about Islam and Muslims

I don’t know this writer but he is just among a biased group of western analysts who are scathing Islam and Muslims by spreading bigoted analysis and commentaries. Most of the guys like him are talking and writing about a topic that they know nothing to write about. Should they learn about Islam and live with the people before deciding to write corrugated pieces of information sourced from the diluted Web.

Click here to read to about him

Somalis are not safe even in the Mosques

In the past few hours mosques have been attacked in Southern Somalia where gunmen are indiscriminately aiming Muslim congregations. In what appears to be a new level of bloodlettings, targeting mosques is undoubtedly a testimony to how sour the conflict in Somalia had gone.

The billion dollar question is, who will be safe in Somalia, where even Mosques have seen a sharp rise of attacks. It will indeed be a matter of wait and see.Read more