UK-Parliament debated S/land Election

Mobile clinics bring stable care to moving populations in Somaliland

Dallow, SOMALILAND — Twenty-year old Safia Ali Abdi had never been to the doctor before she lined up at a mobile clinic under an acacia tree one October morning this year. She left her home at 7am, carrying her five-month old son Sakaria in her arms along a four-hour walk to seek care. Both their mouths had been sore and bleeding, which made it hard for Sakaria to breastfeed. When Abdi arrived, she found three nurses and a midwife, with a line of patients waiting. The clinic was comprised of two tables, now stacked with medicine, scales to measure body weight, a wooden block for measuring height, and a tent for the midwife to examine pregnant women and new mothers. Abdi and her son were diagnosed with stomatitis, a condition that causes sores and swelling in the mouth. They were given zinc tablets and anti-fungal oral drops, and sent home.

Read more;

https://www.devex.com/news/mobile-clinics-bring-stable-care-to-moving-populations-in-somaliland-91419

To Improve Trust in Its Elections, Somaliland Goes High-tech

- Last week, Somalilanders went to the polls in a historic presidential election. Officials employed advanced iris-scanning technology to identify voters and prevent duplicate ballots — the first use of such a biometric system in a national election.

For Somaliland, a breakaway region whose independence has not yet been recognized by the U.N., the scanners also made a powerful statement about its legitimacy as a nation-state.

Voting Begins in Somaliland in Third Presidential Election Since 2003

- Polling stations have opened in the self-proclaimed republic of Somaliland for the third presidential election since 2003. A VOA Somali reporter in Hargeisa, Barkhad Kariye, says he saw long lines, with some people waiting since 3:00 a.m.

“They wanted to be the first to cast their ballot, people want to make sure they vote before polling stations close,” Kariye said.

The electoral commission has urged people to prioritize the elderly and the vulnerable. There are 1,642 polling stations were voters will cast their ballots.

The man who buried Somaliland's dead

- It was June 2, 1988 and Hargeisa was under attack. The rat-a-tat-tat of nearby artillery rose above the city and filled Ibrahim Abdullahi's ears, but the battle was in the north and hadn't reached his government-controlled southern district - at least not yet. As he nervously ventured outside, Abdullahi's mind raced. He had already sent his wife and eight children to safety in Ethiopia, but he felt a longing to stay in Hargeisa, a need to protect his modest mud-brick home and keep it occupied in order to deter looters and to defend the product of years of his own hard work.

Why Somaliland broke from Somalia?

Somaliland: Observation Mission Deployed to Monitor Historic Election

- On 13 November 2017, Somaliland will hold its third presidential election. A team of 60 international election observers from 24 different countries – including representatives of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) – have arrived in Hargeisa. The international election observation mission (EOM) will undertake various tasks before, during and after election day, such as examining the pre-election campaign, verifying access by political parties to locations for campaigning, the equality of access to the media, the procedures which will be employed for the distribution of election materials, voting itself and the counting and tallying of ballots. This election will be a landmark for Somaliland as this is the first time an incumbent does not run again for presidency, making it an important phase in Somaliland’s consolidation of its representative democracy. 

Breakaway Somaliland to elect new president

- The self-proclaimed state of Somaliland will vote for a new president on Monday, hoping to continue a series of democratic transitions of power that sets it apart from its troubled neighbour Somalia.

The northern territory, which is more tribally homogenous and stable than the rest of Somalia, broke away in 1991 and has been striving to attain international recognition ever since.

Three candidates are running for the state's top office, seasoned politicians Muse Bihi of the ruling Kulmiye party and opposition candidates Abdirahman Iro and Faysal Ali Warabe, who was defeated in previous elections in 2010.

Recognition a Key Issue in Somaliland's Presidential Election

- Somaliland's three presidential candidates have concluded their campaigns ahead of Monday's poll to elect the next leader of the breakaway region. Muse Bihi of the ruling Kulmiye party, Faisal Ali Waraabe of the For Justice and Development party (UCID) and Abdirahman Mohamed Abdillahi of the Wadani party held their final rallies this week in the capital, Hargeisa.

A central issue, as always, is how to win international recognition for Somaliland. Somalia, which was once governed by Italy, wants Somaliland to be part of a single Somali state. But Somaliland, which used to be a British colony and broke away from the rest of Somalia in 1991, wants to be a separate country.

DP World's Berbera Port Gets Election-Year Attention

- The Port of Berbera's future may depend in part on the results of Somaliland's upcoming presidential election. Opposition party candidate Abdirahman Irro has criticized the current government's $440 million deal with DP World for a 30-year lease on the port, and he has promised to review the agreement – along with other privatization efforts – if he should win the election. 

"Our party is welcoming of all investment projects in Berbera, but investment deals shouldn't be conducted under the table," Irro said. "We promise to review all the deals that were signed by the [current] administration."

Dood: Musharixiinta 3da Xisbi "S/land

Somaliland Elections on Track for November

- Somaliland’s National Electoral Commission has released the total number of registered Voters with Identification Cards to vote in the upcoming November election. The data which was released at a news conference Tuesday put the total number of registered and eligible voters in Somaliland at 704,089. Speaking to VOA Somali, NEC spokesman, Sa’id Ali Muse said the commission has completed the distribution and the cleaning up of voter registration identification cards and released the list to Somaland’s three political parties and the minister of interior. 

Dubai's DP World to develop free zone in Somaliland

- Dubai-based DP World announced on Monday that it will develop a greenfield economic free zone in Somaliland to complement the development of the Port of Berbera. 

DP World Group chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem and Republic of Somaliland Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Dr Saad Ali Shire have signed an agreement for the Berbera Free Zone (BFZ).

The development is based on DP World’s Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) in Dubai and aims to attract investments, encourage trade, create new jobs and position Berbera as a gateway port for the region, a statement said.

Somaliland election: Will the self-declared state show East Africa how it’s done?

- On 13 November, Somaliland will embark on its third presidential elections since it unilaterally declared independence in 1991. With the incumbent set to step down, voters at 1,600 polling stations across the autonomous region of Somalia will choose a new president.

Despite not being a recognised independent state, Somaliland is considered to be one of East Africa’s best-functioning and most stable democracies. The election, part funded by the European Union and UK, will be overseen by international observers and may be the first in the world to employ iris-based biometric voter registration.

Catherine Wines: ‘International remittances help people directly’

- I’m the co-founder of WorldRemit. It’s an online remittance business which targets helps migrants send money back home. We’re seven years old. We very much wanted to disrupt the remittance sector, which was very traditional until then. This means that when people wanted to send money back home they had to first withdraw cash, then go to a shop, queue and send the money, while the person on the other end would have to go to a shop and collect the money. Our mission was to make it more convenient, secure and fast – but also cheaper, because remittance was dominated by a few players and the cost was very, very high. We did that by using technology to be able to make it easier, so that people could just go on a website or use our app to do a transaction very quickly,

Read more;

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2017/11/03/catherine-wines-international-remittances-help-people-directly-interview/

Somaliland: From fighting famine to election fever

- For most of this year, I have been reporting on the catastrophic drought which has gripped Somaliland for almost three years, a drought which has also affected huge areas of Puntland and Somalia.

I travelled across the length and breadth of the country - from the overflowing paediatric feeding clinics in the capital, Hargeisa, to the remotest nomadic communities in the far east of the country. Throughout that time I never thought I would see people in Somaliland turn out in their tens of thousands for a multi-party election. Yet that is exactly what is happening right now. A country that had been in the grip of hunger and disease is now in the grip of election fever.

Somaliland’s women show their entrepreneurial spirit

"In the sprawling market of Somaliland’s capital city, Hargeisa, women clad in headscarves or abaya shawls from head to foot engage in volatile haggling with shoppers, and woe betide any man that crosses them – the volume becomes deafening. Somaliland’s religious conservativism – sharia law is included in its constitution – co-exists with many signs of a typically liberal free market society, a dynamic embodied by Somaliland women’s active role in the local economy.

“I really wish the rest of the world would pass over what women are wearing and focus on what women are contributing to the community and country,” says 29-year-old Zainab, relaxing in a Hargeisa café in the evening after her day job as a dentist. Somaliland’s women are part of a strong entrepreneurial tradition in the country, a result of its declaration of independence from Somalia in 1991 not being recognised by the international community.

Why the UK should support a sovereign Somaliland: Ahmed M.M Silanyo

"An independent Somaliland would provide security in a strategically sensitive region, a growing market for goods and services, and an important bulwark against extremism." Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo

- On 24 June 1960, The London Gazette published a proclamation by HM the Queen terminating British protection over the Somaliland Protectorate and declaring that Somaliland would become ‘’an independent country” on 26 June. That day, in Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa, the union flag was lowered for the last time and the US Secretary of State sent a message of congratulation.  Five days later, Somaliland voluntarily joined Italian Somalia to form a new state: the Somali Republic.

Aasaaskii SNM: Prof. Ibrahim Maygaag

- Ummad waliba waxay leedahay taariikh soo jireen ah oo had iyo jeer haga mustaqbalka bulshada kana duwa gefaf badan oo dhici lahaa. Hadaba in loo hagar baxaa qorista iyo diiwaan gelinta hawshani waa xil qaran .Bahda mareegta farshaxan waxay si sharaf leh uga codsatey Gudoomiyihii hore ee baarlamaanka SNM, ahna aqoonyahan ku xeel dheer dhaqaalaha,siyaasada ,iwm , mudane Ibraahim Maygaag Samater inuu la wadaago soojireenkii halgankii dib ula soo noqoshada gobanimadii deeqda loo bixiyey ee wadanka Somaliland .Ka dib markii Bahda mareegta farshaxan la yeelatay xidhiidh telefoon ,wuxuu si hagar la’aaneed Mudane Ibraahim ugu soo diray qoraalkan taariikhgalka ah isagoo kaga waramaya halgankaa . Waxaanu mudane Ibraahin (Ilaahay ha ka abaal mariyee) ku bilaabay qoraalkiisa sidan:

Dadka Oromoda, ha loo ogolaado inay degaan J.Somaliland

"Ugu dambaynta bal, labadaa fal ( Oroma-nacaybka iyo u hiilinta Rooxaniga-Burma) isku geeya oo maxaa kuu soo baxaya?? Sal-fudayd ayaa muuqanaya." Cali

- Dadka reer Somaliland, oo caan ku ah dal-marnimadu waxa ay mudo dheer oo Qarniyo ah u dhoofayeen dhamaan qaaradaha aduunka, halkaas oo qaar badan oo inaga mid ahi ay dagayeen, ka shaqaysanayeen, ku dhalayeen oo ay waliba ugu damabayntana dalbanayeen Jinsiyadda wadamada ay martida u yihiin oo la siinayay. Hadaba, waxa aan is-qabanayn oo wax la diido ah, in aan caalamka ku nidhaah: "tiinana aan idin-kula dhuuqno taaydana noo daaya," oo aanu ujeedo, aan dhulalkiinana idin-la yeelano kaayaguna gaar ha anoo ahaado. Arintaasi wax soconysa ma aha.

Dr. Hussein A. Bulhan: Psychology in the metacolony

- The emergence and growth of psychology as a discipline took place not only at a time of social change and conflict in Europe but also while Europeans and their descendants were carrying out violence in search of profit and in cultural, social and psychological self-aggrandisement. As Europeans conquered much of the world, imposing themselves as the best model of humanity, the discipline of psychology emerged as a speciality and arbiter of human experience.

During classical colonialism, psychologists and psychiatrist embarked on racial comparison on the size of the brain, concluding from biased measurements that Africans belonged to a lower evolutionary phase.

DP World to fund healthcare access in Somaliland

- Dubai-based DP World, a global trade enabler, will provide a $2 million donation to help increase water availability and improve healthcare in Berbera following an agreement with the Government of Somaliland. The move is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations to build a better world over the next 15 years.

The funding builds on DP World’s ongoing work in Somaliland where it has a 30-year concession to develop a multi-purpose project at the Port of Berbera. The initiative aligns with the UN’s 17 goals for sustainable development that address major issues such as access to clean water and sanitation, ending poverty and hunger, improving health and education, combating climate change, and protecting our oceans and forests. It also forms part of DP World’s “Our World, Our Future” global sustainability programme.

Shirqoolkii Birmingham-qaybtii 5aad ee u dambaysay: Cali Cumar Xasan.

F.G: Akhriste, si aad sheekada oo dhan u fahamto fadlan, ku horee akhriska qaybihii hore oo aan hoosta kuugu soo lifaaqay.

- Akhristayaasha milgoda-leh, intiinii qoraaladan kooban (shirqoolkii Birmingham) la socotay iyo darka kale ee haatan dhexda kaga soo biirayoow, qaybaheenii hore ee sheekadan waxan ku soo bandhigay mushkilado aan tafaasiishoodaa si dul-carar ah uga soo sheekeeyay, oo mudo dheer soo socday oo na dhex-yaal dad Holland-iis ah iyo qaar Soomaali ah. Hadaba, qaybtan maanta oo ah tii 5aad ee u dambaysay waxaynu qooraansiyi doonaa dhawr qodob, oo kale duwan oo ay ugu mudan yihiin haweenay iga yaabisay! Sahra Xasan iyo sababaha igu kalifay in aan dhacdooyinka dadka la wadaago Iyo gunaanadka sheekada.

Shirqoolkii Birmingham-Qaybtii 4aad. Cali Cumar Xasan

F.G: Akhriste, si aad u fahamto sheekada fadlan soo akhriso marka hore qaybihii hore ee qoraalkan, oo aan hoosta kuugu soo lifaaqay.

...Inta aanan bilaabin qoraalka waxan halkan uga mahad-naqayaa dad aad iyo aad u faro-badan oo caalamka ku kala baahsan oo reer Somaliland ah, oo  ila soo xidhiidhay, oo ay qaarkood-na waliba ii soo tabiyeen-ba warar xiiso leh oo isla mawduucan (shirqoolka Birmingham) ku saabsan. Weedho ka mid ah fariimihii aan ka helay asxaabtaas ayaa qaarkood odhanayeen sidan; "waar, waxanu maqalnay in aad dambiyo xunxun samaysay oo lagu xidhay sanado ka hor iyo waliba, qaar yidhi, in gacani ku soo gaadhay ayaanu maqalnay iwm." Hadaba, akhriste, waxa laga yaabaa in aad is-waydiiso oo tidhaahdo, mawduuca ninkani ka hadlayaa waa maxay? mawduucu waa sheeko aniga igu saabsan oo ah ta qormooyinkani ku socdaan, hase-yeeshee, salka ku haysa dagaal lagula jiro qof kasta oo magaca J.Somaliland kor u-haya, oo ay wadaan dad abaabulan oo isku hayb ah ku-na wada xidhiidha baraha bulshada, kuwaas oo nin oday ah oo reer Somaliland ah oo aanu saaxiib nahay waqti hore u-bixiyay "Xamasta." 

Shirqoolkii Birmingham-Qaybtii 3aad: Cali Cumar Xasan

          F.G: Akhriste, si aad sheekadan si fiican ugu wada fahamto fadlan, marka hore soo akhriso qaybihii hore ee qisadan oo aan hoosta koogu soo lifaaqay!

.... Sidii aan hore ugu soo sheegay qaybihii hore ee qoraalkan, dalka Holland oo aan muddo deganaa waxa aan kala kulmay dhib aad u-foolxun oo na dhex-martay qolyo dhakhaatiir ah iyo dad u shaqeeya dawladda hoose ee degmadii aan deganaa. Arintaasoo ka dhiidhigeedii uu ilaa heer maxkamadeed ila-gaadhay oo aan furay dacwad socotay in ka badan 8sano. Hadaba, waxyeeladan aan isku haysanay dhakhaatiirtan Hollandiiska ah oo ahayd mid aad iyo aad u culus ayaa ku kalifay Hollandiisku in ay dhagaystaan telefoonada qoyskayga, iyaga oo danta ay ka lahaayeen-na dabcan ahayd, inay la socdaan oo ay ogaadaan bal waxa aan ku mashquulsanahay. "Arimaha noocan oo kale ah marka laga sheekaynayo dadka qaar ayaa u qaata wax la-mala-awalayo oo aan jirin, hase-yeeshee, tani, waa mid caam noqotay oo sida aan hore u soo sheegay aniga ka-sokow, ay niman turjumaano ahi baraha bulshada iyo dadkoodaba ku dhex-baahiyeen!