USAID
Wednesday November 1, 2023

Farah was 12 years old before she stepped into a classroom as a student. Farah’s family had not been able to afford the fees to send her and her older brothers to school.

Her mother learned about Bar ama Baro’s free accelerated basic education program and eagerly went to their local school in Mogadishu to enroll her sons, hoping to set them on a path to a brighter future. Mr. Hassan, the school’s headteacher, asked if she had any daughters. After she told him that Farah had been left to manage household responsibilities, Mr. Hassan had a conversation with her about the value of educating girls. Farah began in the same class as her brothers the next day.

Bar ama Baro, meaning “Teach or Learn” in English, is an accelerated education program implemented by USAID in Somalia in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Higher Education and Federal Member States’ Ministries of Education. The program expands access to quality accelerated basic education for out-of-school children to advance the government’s vision of ensuring all Somali children have access to quality education.

“I was thrilled when my mother told me she was enrolling me in school because I want to help myself and my family when I grow up,” says Farah.
Economic pressures force parents into difficult choices in resource-constrained environments like Somalia, and traditional gender roles and societal norms often prioritize boys’ education. Many believe that investing in their sons’ education will secure the family’s financial future.

Accelerated basic education allows out-of-school children and youth to complete the eight-year primary cycle in four years and then transition into the formal school system or earn a government recognized certificate. Bar ama Baro has reached over 100,000 children in Somalia to date.

Farah took her opportunity seriously and stood out in class as one of the most engaged students. She made up for lost time and scored the highest in her class during the midterm exams.

“Seeing my daughter achieve first place in her class fills my heart with pride and joy,” says Farah’s mother. “Her determination, hard work and dedication have not only yielded outstanding results but have also showcased the boundless potential of girls.” Mr. Hassan also praised Farah’s commitment, discipline and efforts.

“From the start, Hubi displayed a strong passion for education and consistently led the way in answering questions,” he says. “I firmly believe in equal educational opportunities for both girls and boys because education is a fundamental human right. This is why I continually encourage parents to provide their daughters with similar opportunities and allow them to attend school.”

Farah hopes to use her education to help others. “I enjoy all the subjects, but English and math are my two favorites, and I aspire to become a teacher one day so I can educate children from underprivileged families,” she says.

Story by Alinor Osman, Outreach & Communications Manager, Bar Ama Baro

Wednesday November 1, 2023

The UN Security Council on Tuesday adopted a resolution to renew the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) for a year, till Oct. 31, 2024.

Resolution 2705, which was adopted unanimously by the 15-member council, requests UNSOM to continue to maintain and strengthen its presence across Somalia, in consultation with the federal government of Somalia and Somalia’s federal member states, and to continue to strengthen its cooperation with Somalia and the African Union.

It encourages UNSOM to continue to coordinate UN efforts, and maximize joint approaches and joint programming in relevant areas to support state-building and peacebuilding in Somalia.

It recalls the recommendations of the strategic review of UNSOM and calls for their timely implementation, including planning to develop a roadmap for the eventual transition from UNSOM to the UN Country Team, finalizing the UNSOM staffing and configuration review, and toward a common understanding of an end state.

UNSOM was created in June 2013 by the Security Council to support state building and peace building in Somalia.

WASHINGTON — Ten years have passed since the United Nations declared an international day to end impunity for crimes against journalists. But in that time, nearly 80% of journalist killings around the world remain unsolved, according to a new report.

Between September 2013 — the year the U.N. declared November 2 the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists — and August 2023, 261 journalists were killed over their work.

Of those killings, no one has been held accountable in 204 cases, or more than 78%, the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, said in its annual Global Impunity Index.

“Impunity in the murder of journalists continues to be an entrenched challenge, and that is primarily because there is a lack of political will at the local level. Investigations are either nonexistent or inadequate,” said Gypsy Guillén Kaiser, CPJ’s advocacy and communications director.

The index, released Tuesday, tracks unsolved journalist killings. The report includes countries with at least five unsolved murders during the past 10 years.

“Murder is the ultimate form of censorship. Swift, transparent, independent local investigations are critical, and political will can change the course of justice to stem the pervasive impunity in cases of journalists killed for their work,” CPJ president Jodie Ginsberg said in a statement.

Haiti’s ongoing security crisis means the country now ranks among the world’s worst in terms of impunity in the killings of journalists. CPJ included Haiti on the index for the first time this year, ranking the island nation third on the list. Six journalists have been killed in Haiti since 2019, CPJ said.

“The reason Haiti has now landed on the index for the first time, and in third place, is primarily because of the general lawlessness that’s taking place there. It’s not new that journalists are getting killed in Haiti,” Guillén Kaiser told VOA from New York. “But primarily, they have no one to resort to, just like the general population.”

Haiti’s Washington Embassy did not reply to VOA’s email requesting comment.

The index’s release comes at a particularly deadly time for journalists in the Middle East, where at least 31 journalists have been killed in the ongoing war between Israel and the militant group Hamas.

Those deaths, however, were not included in the CPJ index because they fall outside CPJ’s reporting period of September 2013 to August 2023.

Syria, which has been on the index for a decade, reached number one this year as the country with the worst impunity record in the world. Over the past decade, 14 journalists have been killed with impunity in Syria, according to CPJ.

CPJ calculates unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of a country’s population and counts killings for which no convictions have been secured.

The consequences of impunity in journalist killings are bifold, Guillén Kaiser said. When journalists are killed and no one is held accountable, other journalists may become scared to do their jobs or self-censor, whereas would-be perpetrators may become emboldened, she added.

“It is a chilling effect, but it is also an empowering effect,” she said.

“The road to justice can be long and tortuous — and for the vast majority of murdered journalists, it never comes at all,” the report said.

Meanwhile, Somalia was also included on the index for the 16th year. After eight years in the worst ranking, Somalia dropped to No. 2 this year as the second-worst offender, with 11 reporters killed over the past decade.

Guillén Kaiser pointed to ongoing insecurity in Somalia, largely caused by the militant group al-Shabab, to explain Somalia’s continued presence on the index.

Somalia’s Washington Embassy did not reply to VOA’s email requesting comment.

Other countries on the index include South Sudan, Afghanistan and Myanmar.

But impunity can’t be chalked up to a country’s instability, Guillén Kaiser said, pointing to relatively stable democracies like Mexico, the Philippines, Brazil and India, which are also on the index.

“These are places that could really decide to make a difference,” Guillén Kaiser said. “And the fact that they’re not doing so conveys the same message, which is that journalists are fair game.”