Sunday ,12 May, 2024 {HMC} Six suspected pirates were captured after shooting at an oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden along the coastline of Somalia, according to officials, raising concerns about a rising number of piracy attacks in the region.

A European Union naval force nabbed the pirates after they opened fire at the Marshall Islands-flagged Chrystal Arctic in the body of water that connects the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a major shipping channel. The pirates exchanged fire with a security team onboard the Crystal Arctic before abandoning an attempt to hijack the tanker.

The pirates traveled in a small ship “carrying weapons and ladders,” said the British military’s Maritime Trade Operations center, which oversees Mideast shipping routes. The pirates were armed with Kalashnikov-style rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, according to private security firm Ambrey.

The tanker crew was unharmed, but the pirates sustained varied injuries, though it wasn’t clear if they were due to the shootout.

The incident comes as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been attacking ships traveling through the waterway for months in an twisted show of support for Hamas’ war with Israel.

Piracy off Somalia’s coast was once rampant, but lessened in recent years after an international effort to patrol the shipping lanes near the country.

SOURCE 

By Lauren Elkies Schram

Sunday ,12 May, 2024 {HMC} Mogadishu – Among the many challenges that Somalia is grappling with on its path to peace and stability is climate change.

Climate shocks have greatly impacted Somalia as it deals with other challenges on the security and humanitarian fronts. They often add another layer of complication to already-difficult issues.

However, there is growing recognition among Somalis that they themselves need to do more and soon.

One of those Somalis is Mohamed Okash.

The Mogadishu native is an educator, researcher and innovator. He is also the founding director of the Institute of Climate and Environment (ICE) – a think tank at SIMAD University set up to tackle climate, environment and development challenges in Somalia.
“I firmly believe that sustainable development is not just a lofty goal but a necessity for our survival,” he says. “Through collaborative efforts and innovative solutions, we can ensure that no one is left behind in Somalia’s journey towards a sustainable future.”

In some ways, Mr. Okash’s path to ICE comes as no surprise, and is a testament to his drive and the power of education to change lives and communities.

Beginnings

Mr. Okash was born in Mogadishu in 1992 and completed his primary and secondary schooling there, amidst the civil war. From a young age, he was aware that education was an avenue to a better future and he threw himself into his studies.

He went on to study at Mogadishu University, from where he received a Diploma in Education in 2012, and he embarked on a teaching career at local high schools.

“I started teaching at schools out of passion, as I used to teach my siblings at home. Being the eldest of seven siblings, assuming early leadership responsibility within the family, teaching them how to write, read, and think critically brought me joy and imbued meaning into investing in human capital cultivation and development,” Mr. Okash says. “This led me to pursue a Diploma in Education, specializing in teaching.”

From there, he went on to undertake a bachelor’s degree in public administration at SIMAD University in 2015.

He took his education, and that of his fellow students, seriously. In addition to his studies, he also became a student leader, advocating for changes to improve the learning experience for his fellow students.

“Throughout my undergraduate studies at SIMAD University, I frequently served as a class coordinator and on the inaugural faculty election board, which introduced the university’s first student election and student government bodies aimed at representing and serving students,” Mr. Okash says.

“I did this because I believe in empowering fellow students, ensuring that their voices are heard, and their needs are met,” he adds. “And it helped me develop my leadership skills!”

He followed this with a master’s in development studies from Kampala International University in 2018.

Looking back, the 30-year-old says there was always a unifying thread to his educational goals: “All my qualifications and educational pursuits were and are aimed at understanding public affairs to enhance the quality of life for communities.”

Social enterprise

Mr. Okash’s leadership endeavours did not remain in the classroom.

In September 2018, he co-founded a community-based, youth-led non-governmental organization called SDGs252 – later rebranded as Rays Initiative – which aims to empower Somali communities on sustainable development through capacity development, policy advocacy, and development monitoring.

“Rays Initiative is now a member of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network and implements developmental programmes, including the localization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Somalia into the Somali language, and the Rays Leadership Programme, which is a career and leadership fellowship for teenagers and youngsters to navigate career paths while in tertiary education,” he says.

The SDGs are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and improve the lives and prospects of everyone everywhere. They were adopted by all UN Member States in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda, which sets out a 15-year plan to achieve the SDGs.

International representation

The young activist’s path started to take on an international hue, with his potential and efforts being recognized abroad.

In 2019, he was selected to take part in the LéO Africa Institute’s Young and Emerging Leaders Project (YELP).

According to its website, the Uganda-based institution seeks to empower “young and emerging leaders in Africa to success, live high-impact and fulfilled lives,” and the YELP project “picks individuals who are clearly on the path to success and empowers them with knowledge and skills to navigate through the pitfalls of success and dangers of leading change.”

In 2020, after a highly-competitive application process, he was selected as a participant in the Generation Change Fellows Program (GCFP), established by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and the University of Southern California’s Center for Religion and Civic Culture.

The GCFP focuses on young leaders from conflict-affected and fragile countries and aims to foster collaboration, build resilience and strengthen capacity as they transform local communities.

“Even the most dedicated young leaders face challenges and burnout as they work to create change. They often work in isolation, or lack the knowledge, skills, and resources to maximize their efforts and increase their personal resilience,” USIP notes on its website.

“USIP developed the Generation Change Fellows Program,” it continues, “to counter this isolation through a family-like community of practice, to augment the existing knowledge and skills of participants through mentorship and training, and to partner with them in community-led peacebuilding initiatives.”

“Being chosen for the Fellows Programme meant a lot to me – it has opened doors to incredible opportunities, networks and leadership development,” says Mr. Okash.

As could be expected given his drive and trajectory, Mr. Okash – at a young age – has become something of an old hand at representing his country in international fora, and especially its youth.

He is very aware of the responsibility he bears in this respect.

“Somali youth, the primary stakeholders in the nation, are facing escalating threats to their current and future prospects due to climate change, endangering all facets of their lives,” he says. “It is imperative to empower them, facilitating their participation in co-creating their future by utilising their creativity, innovation, energy, and aspirations for a sustainable Somalia and beyond.”

According to the World Population Prospects, produced by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Somalia’s current population is close to 18 million, with some 70 per cent being of them under the age of 30.

Mr. Okash’s representational duties saw him attend the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos in 2022 and, in 2023, the UN Conference of Least Developed Countries in Doha and the climate summit known as the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which took place in Dubai and was known as COP28.

“At these global gatherings, I have witnessed firsthand the power of collaboration and the urgent need for collective action – Somalia may face unique challenges, but our aspirations for a better future are universal,” Mr. Okash says.

Teaching

In 2020, Mr. Okash joined SIMAD University, where he served as a senior lecturer and as Head of Innovation at its innovation project, known as SIMAD iLab.

“Part of my role included disrupting and designing social innovation programmes to innovate solutions among emerging social entrepreneurs that align with the Global Goals, mentoring and coaching micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises and startups, and building an ecosystem that challenges traditional job creation by fostering an entrepreneurial, design, and tech community that innovates for SDGs and Somalia’s National Development Plan,” he says.

“To boil this down to its essence, in the Somalia context, this was about promoting lasting development by empowering local communities and encouraging innovation and collaboration,” he adds.

In his role lecturing at SIMAD University’s Faculties of Social Sciences and Management Sciences, he taught classes, supervised students’ research and mentored them as they pursued their professional careers.

While he was content with his work, he started to become aware of the looming and ever-growing threat posed to Somalia by climate change.

Somalia is the most climate-vulnerable nation and the least prepared to tackle climate shocks. Over the years, the country had problems of severe droughts, famine and floodings.

According to a Climate Risk Profile by the consultancy Weathering Risk, temperatures in Somalia will rise between 1.4 – 1.9 °C by 2030 compared to pre-industrial levels. The annual number of very hot days – with daily maximum temperature above 35 °C – is also set to increase, with central Somalia being the worst affected. Added to this, overall water availability per capita could halve by 2080, underlining the acute need for long-term climate and conflict mitigation strategies.

On ICE

After careful consideration and much consultation, Mr. Okash decided to put a long-gestating plan into place in January 2023: the creation of ICE, which has quickly established itself as a leading environmental think-tank focused on tackling the climate crisis in Somalia.

“We need to rethink how we farm, transport, build infrastructure and manage our resources, as well as reorient the mindset of people towards the environment – we advocate for informed and evidence-based policy making through research to design bottom-up policies and programmes that build resilience and improve climate adaptation in Somalia,” he says.

ICE currently has four full-time staff members, two interns, two advisory board members, and five research fellows, in addition to a group of student volunteers known as GreenChampions.

Central to its mission is the exchange of ideas and knowledge through stakeholder engagement with academics, policymakers, and practitioners. These interactions aim to inform policy processes and inspire innovative solutions tailored to Somalia’s unique context.

“We offer capacity development for communities, we disseminate knowledge to raise people’s awareness of these issues as well inform policy-making processes to build climate resilience, reduce vulnerability and enhance the adaptive capacity of Somalia so that it’s a place where people prosper, and our planet is protected,” Mr. Okash says.

Over the past 18 months of its existence, ICE has worked with various partners, including governments, the private sector, communities, civil societies and the United Nations.

In 2023, ICE signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Ministry of Climate Change and Environment to partner on research, capacity-building and raising awareness on climate and environmental issues. Last year, it collaborated with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) to form a so-called ‘climate change cluster,’ a platform to bring all the stakeholders that have shared interests in climate and environmental issues.

“We believe in the power of knowledge and collaboration to drive meaningful change,” Mr. Okash says. “Through our partnerships with governments, the private sector, communities, and civil society, we work to build local capacities and foster resilience in the face of environmental challenges.”

UN and environment

On the issue of climate change, the United Nations in Somalia has been actively working with the Federal Government of Somalia to advocate for increases in funding for climate adaptation for communities affected by climate shocks.

“We are doing this through policy, technical advice and project and program support to both Federal and Member states. Together we are delivering large programs such as the ‘Jowhar Off Stream Development Programme’ to help drive climate security through water, food and human security and through working with communities to support adaptation to the changing world,” says the UN Climate Security and Environmental Advisor to Somalia, Christophe Hodder.

UNSOM is one of the world body’s few special political missions to incorporate climate-related language into its mandate and has been leading the way since 2020, when it became the first mission to deploy an environmental and climate adviser – Mr. Hodder – dedicated to working on the impact of climate change on the country’s security.

The UN Mission also provided the training for the Institute’s ‘GreenChampions’ on the nexus between climate change and human rights. It aimed to deepen their understanding of the impact of climate risks on fundamental human rights and principles.

“It’s young Somalis like Mr. Okash who have inspired the United Nations in Somalia to better incorporate climate action and youth perspectives into its programming and advocacy, and also strengthen engagement with academic institutions such as SIMAD, a key way to reach youth but also future policy-makers,” says the Chief of UNSOM’s Human Rights and Protection Group, Kirsten Young.

Ultimately, the responsibility for the response to climate change in Somalia will fall on Somalis, and Mr. Okash is fully prepared and committed.

“As the founding director of the Institute of Climate and Environment, I have chosen to dedicate my life to pioneering initiatives that bridge the gap between climate change, sustainable development, and social innovation in Somalia,” he says. “In the journey towards sustainability, every step forward matters, and together, we can pave the way for a brighter, greener future for future generations.”

Sunday ,12 May, 2024 {HMC} The Chinese-built Ethiopia-Djibouti railway has transported 680,000 passengers and 9.5 million tons of cargo with an average annual transportation revenue increase of 39 percent over the past six years, official data showed.

The railway’s Chinese management consortium on Friday disclosed that the 752-km Ethiopia-Djibouti railway has seen the operation of 2,500 passenger trains with a passenger volume of 680,000 since it started commercial operations in January 2018.

Data from the railway’s management team also show that the railway has operated 7,700 freight trains with cargo volume of 9.5 million tons, and a commercial transport revenue totaling 11.3 billion Ethiopian birr (about 197 million U.S. dollars) has been generated during the same period.

Since 2018, the railway has continued to develop the freight market and enrich its service scope, providing high-quality services such as cold-chain transportation, commuter trains for villagers, and special trains for automobile transportation, among others.

The railway also brings development opportunities along the corridor, connecting sea ports in the Red Sea nation of Djibouti to dry ports and industrial parks in land-locked Ethiopia.

On Friday, the Chinese management consortium of Ethiopia-Djibouti standard gauge railway officially transferred the management responsibility of Africa’s first electrified cross-border railway to Ethiopia and Djibouti after six years of successful operation. ■

Sunday ,12 May, 2024 {HMC} Two children were killed and others were injured after a bomb fell near a paediatric hospital in the western Sudanese city of El Fasher, the medical charity MSF has said.

Clashes have recently intensified in the battle for control of the city.

It is the last major urban centre in the Darfur region that remains in the hands of the army.

It has been fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for more than a year, in a civil war that has killed thousands and forced millions from their homes.

The army has managed to hold on to El Fasher but tension has been mounting as the RSF has been besieging the city since the middle of last month and threatening an assault.

Since Friday, residents have witnessed intense clashes and the exchange of heavy mortar fire, a freelance journalist in the city told the BBC.

At some point overnight into Sunday a blast in front of the MSF-supported Babiker Nahar Paediatric Hospital in El Fasher “led to the collapse of the roof above the intensive care unit and the death of two children receiving treatment there, as well as some caregivers”, the charity said in a brief statement sent to the BBC.

Patients were also injured and those who could make it sought safety in another hospital, which had already taken in 160 wounded people on Friday.

It is not clear who was responsible for the attack.

The southern part of the city, once considered safer and a refuge for displaced people, has been under fire.

Fear now pervades El Fasher as residents are unsure where to seek refuge.

The UN’s humanitarian co-ordinator for Sudan said that “the violence threatens the lives of over 800,000 civilians”.

“It is heartbreaking to see this nightmare unfolding… This must stop,” Clementine Nkweta-Salami said.

Sudan’s brutal civil war began in April last year, after the country’s two leading military men who had staged a coup together – one the head of the armed forces, the other the head of the RSF – fell out over the future of the country.

International efforts to broker a ceasefire have repeatedly failed.

Good afternoon again, Excellency, Mr. President.

It is such a great pleasure to be in Galmudug and thank you so much to you and your team for a very warm welcome to myself and to my UN team.

I am on my final stint for my assignment in Somalia and it’s a busy time that I really wanted to come in person to Galmudug for a few reasons.

One is that we are building an office here in Galmudug, in Dhusamareb, and we had the opportunity to visit the progress this morning and to see how well that is coming along. So that will be an office run by UNSOM, but will also be for the UN Country Team, UNICEF, World Food Programme and others who want to deepen their partnership here in Galmudug, and that is the essence of the relationship – it’s a strong partnership where we come in behind your objectives to deliver for the people of Galmudug.

The second reason I’m here is to celebrate a really amazing success, as Galmudug is the first Federal Member State to have passed legislation to outlaw all forms of female genital mutilation (FGM). This is really an absolutely outstanding achievement, championed by the leadership of the President, but with amazing work done by the Minister of Women’s Affairs, and many, many women who have campaigned for this who I’ve been meeting over lunch today. I have a fantastic group photo with them. These are brave women who stood up and said this has to end, and they had a receptive voice, I’m glad to say in the President.

So going forward, we have three objectives, and we have a joint team set up between the UN and the government of Galmudug to do this.

One is here in Galmudug, legislation is step one. But implementation, of course, is challenging because legislation in itself doesn’t change cultural behaviours, deep cultural practices, where families feel they are doing their daughter a service by cutting her, and of course, it is quite the reverse. It is dangerous and harmful and traumatic. So, changing people’s mindsets will take time. But we want to work with you on that, through education in particular.

Secondly, taking the good work that’s been done here to the other Federal Member States, and I’d like to see the President as he discusses issues at the NCC [National Consultative Council) – and this is an appeal to you, Mr. President – next NCC should have FGM on the agenda, and I want to hear about the progress!

And thirdly, let’s not just leave it at Somalia. Let Somalia be the champion for the world on this – one of the many things that Somalia can demonstrate its leadership and its progress. So we have a lot of work to do ahead. I won’t physically be in Somalia, but I will be doing my bit to support this with the Somali diaspora. So please lean on me and I will be certainly promoting and supporting the amazing work you have done.

So thank you again for welcoming us and it’s been a great pleasure.

Axad,12 May, 2024 {HMC} Chad says it has deployed combat-ready troops to stop armed attacks and maintain peace as the death toll increased to 12 people in post-election violence on Saturday. At least 90 people have sustained severe injuries in the capital, N’djamena.

Chad state TV reports that keeping and using war weapons and firearms is prohibited until further notice by the central African state’s military. It noted the prohibition of weapons was imposed after 9 people were killed and upwards of 60 were injured in shootings in N’djamena on Thursday night, after provisional results of the May 6 presidential elections were announced.

Chad’s police say three other injured victims died in two hospitals in N’djamena on Friday night. About 30 other civilians were injured in confrontations and shootings, and they were rushed to hospitals, where the government has ordered they be treated at no charge.

Opposition and civil society say several hundred civilians who protested the May 6 presidential election results have been arrested and detained, especially in the capital city and in Moundou, Chad’s second-largest city.

Chad’s elections management body, known as ANGE, has proclaimed transitional ruler General Mahamat Idriss Deby the winner, with more than 61% of the vote. His main challenger, Succes Masra, is second, scoring 18.53% of the vote. Masra claimed he won, but Deby stole his victory.

Chad’s military said among the shooters were armed supporters celebrating Deby’s victory. They may have run into a confrontation with armed opposition supporters, Chad’s military said Saturday, noting that illegal arms proliferation is rampant in the central African state.

Mbairamadji Desire, president of the N’djamena headquarters of the Rainbow Youth Association for Social Stability in Africa, said he is pleading with armed civilians to drop their weapons and spare Chad from looming civil strife.

Mbairamadji said all Chadians, especially youths, should put down their weapons they are keeping illegally because peace is priceless. He warned that Chad could descend into worsening chaos because it is very difficult for its military to be effective on multiple fronts, including seizing weapons hidden in homes, fighting Boko Haram terrorists who are infiltrating the Lake Chad basin, and stopping violence between farmers and nomadic herders that has worsened all over Chad in recent years.

In a message after ANGE proclaimed the results, Deby said he is the democratically elected president of all Chadians, including opposition party leaders who are contesting his victory. Deby said he will do everything possible to strengthen Chad’s internal security to guarantee threatened peace and stability.

Hussein Abdoulaye, a political analyst and lecturer at the University of Ndjamena, spoke with VOA via a messaging app from N’djamena.

He said civilians are increasingly aware that Chad’s government has a tradition of rigging elections and using the military to crack down on the opposition, but that Chadians know their rights and may use violence if they think the opposition was deprived unfairly of victory.

In several messages shared on social media, including WhatsApp and Facebook, Masra is calling on civilians to calmly mobilize and demonstrate peacefully for what he calls his stolen victory to be restored.

Chad’s government and the elections body say candidates have five days from the date of publication of provisional results to file complaints at the constitutional council.

The action could cancel the elections if it establishes that there was massive fraud, including stuffing of ballot boxes and intimidation of civilians at polling stations as the opposition claims.

Definitive results are scheduled to be declared by Chad’s Constitutional Council on May 21.

SOURCE VOA