News (Consolidated) - UNSOM

South West State has filled 66 seats out of the 69 allocated after today’s voting which has elected Hanifa Mohamed Ibrahim, formerly a gender officer for the South West presidency. She was declared the winner in an all-female contest.. The MP-elect Hanifa also thanked the electorate for electing her…

Three more candidates have been elected to the House of the People in the past two days from the states of HirShabelle, South West and Galmudug as the electoral process enters its final stage. Two of the three newly elected members of parliament are women as state-level electoral officials redoubled…

Five more candidates were elected today to seats in the House of the People in Banaadir region and HirShabelle state in the latest round of voting. In Banaadir, Fahma Ahmed Nuur, a former Deputy Minister of Justice, and Jaylani Noor Ikar, a former First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, were elected…

A group of second-year students is listening closely to the retired police general Jama Mohamed Ghalib as he delivers an hour-long lecture on Somalia’s turbulent political history in a classroom at Simad University. A prolific writer who rose to the position of interior minister during the regime of…

Some Somali journalists admit they have practiced self-censorship in reporting the ongoing electoral process in one of the world’s most dangerous countries for members of the news media. “We usually refrain from news that brings us threats or intimidation,” said Ali Abdirahman Adan, a journalist…

A two-day workshop on the harmonisation of screening processes for low- and high-risk ex-Al Shabaab combatants opened in the Somali capital today. The workshop aims to harmonise screening criteria among agents of the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) in the states of Puntland…

Thirty-two-year-old Ibrahim Dahir Hussein was one of the Somali youth who had lost hope in the country’s politics. He was tired of hearing old politicians repeat that youth are the future leaders, yet no action was being taken to include young people in the affairs of the country. However, Mr…

Six candidates were elected to the House of the People as voting for Somaliland and northern regions commenced today in the Somali capital. The victorious candidates included Somalia’s Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed Omar Arte, former Foreign Affairs Minister Abdirahman Du’ale Bayle and two women, the…

Somalia’s South West State completed elections for 69 seats in the House of the People today, becoming the second federal state to do so after Jubbaland. The last day of voting saw the reelection of two former members of parliament (MPs), Hassan Maalim Hussein and Hussein Mohamud Sheikh. Speaking…

Four candidates were elected to the House of the People in Galmudug and HirShabelle today as electoral bodies in the two states prepared to conclude the electoral process. Three of the four candidates were elected in the Galmudug capital of Cadaado as voting resumed there after a two-day break. The…

The business community in Somalia is reaping a windfall of profits from the ongoing electoral process with hotels booked to capacity, printing companies flooded with orders and travel agencies barely coping with the soaring demand for air tickets and vehicles. Also benefiting from the process are…

A ceremony was held today in the Puntland capital of Garowe to commemorate International Human Rights Day and mark the end of the annual 16-day campaign against gender-based violence. The theme of this year's event was "Stand up for someone's rights today," and among those present were the Puntland…