Somali President Reluctant to admit another failure

WHEN the British and Swedish ambassadors to Somalia recently queued up to meet a new member of the government appointed by the third prime minister in 18 months, the man they met was so new to Somali politics that a government adviser was unsure of his name. But it was not long before Mohamed Omar Arte, the incoming deputy prime minister, found himself in the midst of the bloody turmoil that remains a grim hallmark of politics in Somalia. On February 20th, two days after he met the Western envoys, he narrowly escaped with his life when suicide-bombers from the Shabab, Somalia’s extreme Islamist group linked to al-Qaeda, attacked a hotel in Mogadishu, the capital, during Friday prayers, killing 25 people (plus both bombers). On March 27th gunmen hit another Mogadishu hotel popular with politicians, killing at least 17 people.

Meanwhile, strife within the government continues to damage President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. After his election in 2012 he was greeted as a breath of fresh air. Respected for his record as a human-rights enthusiast, he was free of the blood and murk that stained so many of Somalia’s more seasoned politicians. He was chosen by a 275-strong parliament whose members were nominated by elders from a cross-section of clans. Though it was a flawed method, with plenty of vote-buying and little direct say for ordinary Somalis, it was better than what had gone before.  Read Full Article

Yemen conflict affects Somaliland & nearby countries

Djibouti, Somaliland and Puntland already host tens of thousands of refugees, according to the UNHCR. Djibouti is home to about 24,000 refugees, while Somaliland hosts roughly 9,000 displaced people. Somaliland, a self-declared country in northern Somalia, has received 270 migrants from Yemen. A further 389 people have arrived in Puntland, another Somali breakaway state, according to the IOM.

Somaliland’s foreign minister, Mohamed Yonis, said he is expecting to receive up to 2,000 Yemeni refugees and is in talks with the EU and USAid about providing assistance for them. “It will be a challenge – we have a lot of Ethiopian refugees in Somaliland, we have a lot of internally displaced people. But we hope the international community will come to the rescue,” said Yonis. Read Full Article

Somali nurse to work with Ebola victims

Christchurch nurse Sahra Ahmed, originally from Somalia, concedes she is "either brave or silly" as she starts work next week with Ebola victims in Sierra Leone.  

Sahra, a refugee nurse at Piki Te Ora health centre in Linwood, is on a two-month assignment with the International Red Cross Ebola response.

She says she wants to give back to the continent of her origin. 

Sahra, the only African aid worker with the New Zealand Red Cross, admits to "moments of nervousness".

"I love New Zealand. I always say New Zealand is my official parent. I had the privilege of being educated here and doing what I wanted to do. For me it's really humanity first."

She will be based in Kenema, a rugged five-hour drive from the capital Freetown, helping patients who have been been treated successfully, discharging them into their communities with the right support from social workers – or helping someone who may have lost a parent, reassuring them and equipping them with all the information they need
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