News (Consolidated) - UNSOM

Baidoa, Dhumuusareb, Garowe, Jowhar, Kismayo – In especially-convened consultations in cities around Somalia this week, Somali women gathered to discuss enhancing their role in the country’s peace and reconciliation process and to strengthen the fight against violent extremism which is impacting…

Growing up in the Mogadishu suburb of Taleex in the 1980s, Bile Ismail Diriye and Abdikadir Maalim Mohamed were the best of friends. Their bonds of friendship were nurtured in the suburb’s streets and sports fields, where they would play and pass away their spare time. “Friendship is the embodiment…

Mogadishu - A joint IGAD-UNSOM mission visited Garowe, Puntland, and Hargeisa, Somaliland, from 28 to 30 July 2018, to take forward ongoing efforts to find a peaceful resolution of the conflict in the Tukaraq area of Sool region. In Garowe, the mission held discussions with President Abdiweli…

When Vincent Lelei flew into Mogadishu in January 2017 to assume his duties as a senior United Nations humanitarian official in Somalia, he found a country in the grips of a severe food insecurity crisis after four consecutive below-average rainy seasons. The outlook was dire, with forecasts of…

The relative peace and stability in Somalia have seen an increased use of safe spaces for transformative youth activities. Young people across the country gather in these spaces to exchange knowledge, share ideas, experiences and skills, and build friendships through arts and sports. One of these…

By his own account, Salad Yusuf Adow had an epiphany in 2015 that convinced him to launch his digital startup company Danleey. His interest in digital space soared that year after he realised that social media was the best way to reach out to young people and change their perspectives about Somalia…

Geneva/Mogadishu – A UN report has urged Somalia to build on the significant gains made in its peace process in the last five years and take steps to ensure future elections are not marred by the human rights violations and abuses committed during the 2016-2017 electoral process. The report * by the…

On August 12, as people from all over the world celebrated International Youth Day, hundreds of Somali youths took to the streets to take action and improve their communities in a clear demonstration of their relevance to peace and development in the country. “If more than 70 per cent of the…

Muna Haji Yussuf Ali had her first direct encounter with Al-Shabaab militants in 2012. The Bay region of south-central Somalia was in the grip of the country’s worst famine in 60 years, and Muna was delivering aid supplies to drought victims in the town of Buurhakaba. While doing so she was abducted…

In the course of his work in Somalia, Aweys Abdullahi Abdirahman has ducked bullets several times and survived death by a whisker, with his experiences delivering desperately needed humanitarian aid reading like a script from a Hollywood action movie. The lot of a humanitarian aid worker assigned to…

Baidoa – Speaking in regional Somalia today, the top United Nations official for gender equality and women’s empowerment highlighted efforts made at the national and local levels towards greater representation of women in political structures and processes, and encouraged further progress in this…

Mogadishu – As the international community marked the World Humanitarian Day today, a senior United Nations official warned of the grave threats faced by aid workers in Somalia, where they continue to be targets of armed groups which often abduct and detain them and steal desperately needed relief…