Sunday February 4, 2024

Qatar Charity (QC) has signed an agreement with Somalia’s Ministry of Education, Culture, and Higher Education to enhance public libraries’ performance in Somalia.

The agreement was signed by Dr Mohamed Ahmed Sheil, director of the Somali National Library, and Abdulfatah Adam, director of Qatar Charity’s Somalia Branch.

The signing ceremony was attended by HE Dr Abdullah bin Salem al-Nuaimi, Qatar’s ambassador to Somalia, and Nura Mustafa Mukhtar, state minister of the Somali Ministry of Education, Culture, and Higher Education.
The agreement aims to develop the infrastructure of public libraries in Somalia, provide them with scientific, literary, and cultural books, and train their staff. It will also contribute to promoting a culture of reading and education in the Somali society.

Abdulfatah Adam, director of Qatar Charity’s Somalia branch, expressed the charity’s commitment to supporting the education sector of the country, as a tool to combat poverty and hunger and promote stability and security.

He said that Qatar Charity has implemented various educational programmes in Somalia, including the sponsorship programme aimed at giving orphaned children the opportunity to attend schools, in addition to building primary schools and educational centers and providing scholarships to students.

He added that Qatar Charity signed an agreement last year with the UN-affiliated university, in co-ordination with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, to provide 40 Somali students, both male and female, the opportunity to obtain doctorates in various specialisations.

He indicated that the working agreement signed by Qatar Charity with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education is part of the organisation’s strategy to support the education and culture sector in Somalia. Under this agreement, textbooks and reading materials will be provided to the Somali National Library, in addition to contributing to its rehabilitation.

He emphasised that Qatar Charity always seeks to contribute to achieving the goals of the Ministry of Education in developing education and culture in Somali society.

Mukhtar praised Qatar’s efforts in supporting the education sector in Somalia. She expressed her gratitude to Qatar and Qatar Charity for their support to the education sector in Somalia. She said that they provided “invaluable support in the field of education in Somalia, helping improve access to education for Somali children.”

Sunday February 4, 2024

Toronto – The Memorandum of Understanding that Ethiopia signed with Somaliland on January 1, 2024 in Addis Ababa was planned to be finalized within a month’s time.

As of now there are no signs of progress to the next stage. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia has not released a statement regarding the status of the agreement. The 33 years old de facto government of Somaliland – Somalia’s break away region which the government of Somalia refers to as Northern Somalia – has not released an update regarding it either.

Recently, Somaliland Foreign Affairs has recently released a statement condemning foreign interference in reaction to Egyptian rhetoric against the MoU agreement with Ethiopia.

Much of the details of the agreement is unknown to the public. The Ethiopian government has been saying that the agreement provides Ethiopia with 20 kilometers of coastal access for maritime and commercial purposes in return to a share (unspecified) from the national assets Ethiopia like Ethio Telecom, The Renaissance Dam and the Ethiopian Airlines.

Abiy Ahmed led the ruling party central committee held an evaluative meeting at the end of January and reportedly rated the agreement as positive and expressed a commitment for its finalization and implementation.

The MoU has triggered tension in the region. The government of Somalia has been outraged about it. It saw the agreement as a violation of the sovereignty of Somalia. Abiy Ahmed’s government has been reportedly attempting to explain the matter to Mogadishu but delegates were not given a chance to meet officials. Somalia went further and at one point denied a chartered Ethiopian Airlines plane an airspace when it was flying to Hargeisa.

In addition to mobilizing Egypt, Eritrea and the Arab League, Somalia, on January 23, asked for an urgent security council meeting to discuss its dispute with Ethiopia. According to sources, Somalia cited Article 35 of the UN Charter to justify its application for a meeting. which states that any UN member state “may bring any dispute, or any situation referred to in Article 34 [that is, one that may lead to international friction or give rise to a dispute] to the attention of the Security Council or of the General Assembly”.

Based on local reports, the UN Security council seems to have resolved that the dispute between Ethiopia and Somalia be resolved at the IGAD and African Union level. The Reporter cited a Spokesperson of Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Meles Alem, as saying “The UN Security Council recommends that Ethiopia and Somalia resolve their differences through IGAD and the AU.” Ethiopia has requested for an IGAD meeting although it opted to not attend one that was called in Kampala last month.

Somalia has stated that there is “no space for negation” with Ethiopia before the MoU is retracted. State and non-state actors have been calling for a calm and a peaceful negotiation.