MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somalia has questioned Kenya's plans to close the Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps, which have hosted thousands of refugees from Somalia and South Sudan, in a move that could further pressure relations between the two countries. Earlier in the week, Kenya, through Home Secretary Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang'i an ultimatum to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and demanded that the two camps be closed without negotiations. Nairobi said the UN body should spend a maximum of 14 days to…

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The UN humanitarian agency said on Wednesday attacks on aid workers providing humanitarian supplies in Somalia resulted in the deaths of 15 aid workers by 2020. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 12 workers were injured, 24 abducted and 14 arrested in 2020, with 56 incidents involving aid workers reported. "In a single tragic incident, seven health workers were abducted and subsequently murdered. Several cases of confiscation of humanitarian supplies,…

EDITORIAL | Somalia is once again facing the prospect of a political agreement after another meeting was held on Wednesday this week at the well-guarded Mogadishu Aden Abdulle International Airport. Still, there is little, if any, optimism at this meeting. First, there was confusion after President Farmajo organized a parallel but partial meeting with his prime minister Hussein Roble, Benadir Governor Omar Filish and presidents of Hirshabelle, Southwest and Galmudug. There is no problem with the meeting if it was a…

KISMAYO, Somalia - The UN's top aid worker in Somalia has called for swift action to prevent a disaster in Somalia in the midst of an impending drought. Adam Abdelmoula, Deputy Special Representative for the Secretary-General and UN-Residential and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, said about 3.4 million people are expected to be affected by the drought in the country. Extreme dry conditions and water scarcity are reported in 34 districts; the hardest hit areas are Somaliland, Northeastern State, Galmudug,…

The UN agency says it may be necessary to cut food rations for Somalia GENEVA - The World Food Program warns that it may be forced to cut food rations in June for more than a million vulnerable Somalis because they do not have enough money to sustain the operation.This would be a severe blow to vulnerable people in Somalia who are just coming from similar cuts to their daily food…

EDITORIAL: Building Coalitions, a good start for better politics in Somalia EDITORIAL | Somalia's key stakeholders for the upcoming election have come closer to a working partnership after launching yet another coalition group on Thursday. The National Salvation Council, which brings together the Council of Presidential Candidates, President Said Abdullahi Deni of Northeastern State…

Stability in jeopardy as Somalia and Kenya spit across the sea border The ongoing standoff between Kenya and Somalia over a large area of ​​the Indian Ocean has caused concern among hundreds of thousands of people who depend on the region's rich fishing areas to survive. "We are really concerned," Kenyan fisherman Adam Lali told DW. "If border issues are not handled well, they will…

UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council on Friday called on the Somali government to hold elections "without delay" in a resolution underlining the urgent threat to the country's security from al-Shabab and armed opposition groups. The resolution, adopted unanimously, authorized the African Union to maintain its nearly 20,000-strong force in Somalia until the end of the year with a mandate to reduce the threat posed by extremist groups to enable "a stable, federal, sovereign and united Somalia. ” The UN's most…

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid were hit by airstrikes in Aleppo, Syria, last week. Twenty people were killed, including 12 aid workers./Getty Images The UN’s top relief official has strongly condemned recent attacks on aid workers in different parts of the world, demanding that those who target humanitarians are brought to justice. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), six humanitarian workers were killed last week, in targeted violent attacks in Somalia, in two separate…

The UN Mission in the Central African Republic is awaiting the renewal of its mandate in mid-November, which since last year has included support for the electoral process. The electoral division of the mission has grown from 3 to 71 people. Since the start of the process, more than 100 special flights have been carried out, 120 tonnes of election material have been transported, 5,723 counters have been…