Weekly Statement : Progress of the Somali Government | Diplomat News Network

Weekly Statement : Progress of the Somali Government | Diplomat News Network

The Minister of Information, Mustafa Duhulow, today addressed the media, providing an update on the progress of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) over the last week. The Minister discussed various issues: the Human Rights Bill; the implementation of development projects in Somalia; food aid distribution in Adale and Baidoa; the progress of the New Deal; the sentencing of number of criminals in court; progress in the telecommunications industry and in education; Somali media sector development; and the Stabilization Process in Mogadishu.
The Minister of Information begun by speaking on the Human Rights Bill: “On 8th November 2014, the Ministry of Women & Human Rights Development published the draft Human Rights Bill that aims to end all human rights violations in Somalia, abuses such as violence towards women and other vulnerable groups in our society. The participants discussed the best ways to implement the legislation after the cabinet and the parliament approve the bill. Human Rights Experts, lawyers and intellectuals were among those who discussed the bill with a view to finalizing the draft before it was presented to the cabinet. Abdi Hosh stressed the importance of the bill and said this is the first step towards curing all human rights abuses in the country. The next step will be the implementation of the legislation. Khadija Mohamed Dirie, the Minister of Women & Human Rights Affairs, stated that FGS prioritizes human rights and the urgent need to stop all violations and that is why the ministry prepared the bill, to protect the rights of individuals and take tough action against those violate human rights of citizens, in particular sexual violence towards women.”
The Minister of Information spoke on the importance of implementing development projects in Somalia: “The FGS is pleased to hear of the government of Germany’s commitment to provide Somalia the sum of 38 million Euros as part of the aid allocation that Germany donated to Somali Government in 1979. On 08 November 2014 the government of Germany stated its commitment to honour its previous pledge to the FGS in for the implementation of development projects in Somalia. The Ministry of Planning & International Cooperation organized an event in Mogadishu to discuss how best to implement projects. The Somali Ambassador to Germany, members of the cabinet and parliament as well as experts and representatives from Banadir region administration were among those present at the event. Deputy Minister Abdullahi Sheikh Ali (Qalocow) thanked Germany for honouring the commitment made to the previous government and stated that the money will be used to develop the agricultural sector, to build bridges and canals to prevent rivers flooding as well as numerous other valuable projects. The Federal Government has appointed a technical committee to study and report back to the government on the best ways to implement development projects throughout Somalia.”
The Minister of Information spoke on humanitarian assistance provided to residents in Adale and Baidoa: “The FGS with the support of Centre for Community Awareness (CCA) and Zamzam Foundation provided medical aid to Adale district on 07 November 2014 and food aid to Baidoa on 11 November 2014. CCA specifically provided medical aid to 250 families in Adale district in Middle Shabelle region. Mohamed Ibrahim Cajiib, the Director of CCA, stated that the aim of the medical assistance was to support families affected by the flooding and conflicts in the area (an area that was recently recovered from Al-Shabab terrorists). Muhiadin Sudi Moallim, the District Commissioner of Adale, thanked CCA and appealed to other organisations to follow suit. On the other hand, Zamzam Foundation provided food aid and plastic sheeting for use during the raining season in Baidoa. A total of 240 families received rice, sugar, flour and plastic sheets.”
The Minister of Information spoke on the progress of the New Deal: “ Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the President of Somalia, on 10 November 2014 opened the High Level Partnership Forum (HLPF) in Mogadishu where the progress of the New Deal and the upcoming Copenhagen conference were discussed The President stated that the FGS is committed to implementing the Vision 2016, including reviewing the provisional constitution, implementing federal states and holding elections by 2016. The President stressed the importance of a Somali-led and Somali-owned process for implementing the New Deal and the need to reach out to all regions of Somalia. The aim of the meeting was to finalize the progress report on the New Deal. Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed, the Prime Minister of Somalia also spoke at the meeting and stated that the government has achieved a lot during the last year since the New Deal was agreed, notably improvements in security, formation of interim federal units, and many other improvements. The Prime Minister said that the momentum of progress needed to be maintained. The UN SRSG, Nicholas Kay, stated that there have been huge progress in Somalia despite the challenges of the last two years and asked all concerned parties to redouble their efforts to implement Vision 2016.”
The Minister of Information spoke on the sentencing of criminals: “The Military High Court on 11 November sentenced a number of criminals to death. A 24 year old man, Adan Abdi Ibrahim, killed a soldier and, after the court considered all the evidence, convicted him and sentenced him to death. A 21 year old man, Ahmed-Nur Guure (Dhungoye), raped a girl and after the court hearing all evidences convicted him and sentenced him to death. The Somali President on 28 January 2014 issued Decree Number 5, which clearly states that the Government has zero tolerance of the rape or the murder of citizens. The FGS is committed to stopping all sexual violence towards girls and women and the court’s decision is an example of how the government would like to send a strong message to those who violate the human rights and the dignity of vulnerable groups in the society. The aim of the death penalty is to show zero tolerance and to deter criminals with a view to ultimately halting killings and rapes and bringing peace and stability to Somalia.”
The Minister of Information spoke on developments in the telecommunications sector in Somalia: “On 10th November the Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications met with representatives of Telecommunications Industry in order to evaluate progress in the sector and to discuss previous agreements. H.E. Mohamed Ibrahim, the Minister of Posts & Telecom, provided an update on his recent visit to South Korea and stressed the importance of the consultation meeting. He also urged better coordination and partnership between telecommunications industry and the ministry. The Minister thanked and congratulated the representatives of the sector who were in attendance on the successful implementation of Phase 1 of interconnection between telephone providers and asked them to quickly implement Phase 2, which is to reach out to all the regions in the country without interconnection, so that every citizen will be able to receive value for money services from the industry. The Ministry updated the telecommunications industry on the new agreement between 8 African countries so that all these countries will be able to call each other with very competitive price similar to local calls (Local Rate Roaming). This agreement will be effective from next month. The countries that signed this agreement are Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi. The Ministry and the representatives of the telecommunications Industry concluded by agreeing that telephone operators should bill customers by seconds instead of minutes. The FGS is constantly introducing new initiatives to help citizens to get access to telephone communications while also ensuring value for money.”
The Minister of Information spoke on development in the education sector in Somalia: “On 13 November, Duale Adan Mohamed, the Minister of Higher Education encouraged 50 students who were about to travel to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia as part of scholarship scheme of the Ministry, to be good ambassadors and to be role models for their country. These students passed scholarship exams that the FGS administered on behalf of Ethiopia. These students they will study in universities in Addis Ababa. The Minister emphasized the importance of education and appealed to the 50 students to study very hard and then to come back to Somalia with knowledge, experience and expertise s that they could make a valuable contribution in Somalia. The students thanked the FGS and Ethiopia and showed their appreciation for this opportunity to enhance their skills and knowledge. The FGS is totally committed to providing opportunities for students to gain a world class experience from abroad, so that they can assist in the development of education in Somalia.”
The Minister of Information spoke on the Media Sector Development in Somalia: “On 13th November 2014 I was pleased to speak at the closing ceremony of a 5 day seminar that the Ministry of Information organized for communications practitioners from ministries of the Federal Government and Banadir Regional Administration. I would like to thank Albany Associates of UK for running the course and the UK Embassy to Somalia for sponsoring the training. Subjects taught over the 5 days included how to better devise, implement and assess the effectiveness of a communications strategy, as well as the basic skills of writing press releases, interview techniques and social media messaging. I emphasize the importance of these kinds of training courses to develop and enhance the media sector in Somalia. We aim to develop the talents of Somali communications experts so that in the future they will be able to conduct similar training for Somali media practitioners including private media sector.”
The Minister of Information spoke finally on the Stabilization Process in Mogadishu: “Security institutions, with the support of public, have been conducting house to house searches in Mogadishu. On 13 November 2014, the security forces conducted targeted raids to capture those responsible for killings of government officials in Mogadishu on 11 & 12 November 2014. As a direct result of the operation, security forces captured 5 members of Al-Shabaab who were the prime suspects in the killings. They also seized weapons, vehicles and explosives. The operation was aimed at specific locations identified through intelligence and deliberately avoided unnecessary disruption to the lives of ordinary citizens. Mohamed Yusuf Osman, the spokesperson of the Ministry of National Security, spoke to the media and stated that they has captured 5 suspects in relation to killings in Mogadishu on 11 & 12 November 2014. He also stated that this kind of targeted operations will continue until the threat posed by terrorists is totally eliminated.”