Here’s yet another sign of things on the upswing in Mogadishu! The housing market is literally hitting the roof! The BBC’s Andrew Harding just returned from Mogadishu, where he chronicled the tides of economic change, particularly the boom of beach front properties. You would remissed not to grab real estate on the beach with the amazing sandy shores and the longest coast in Africa. Listen to the BBC here and plan a trip with Turkish Airlines soon!
Driven from Somalia, Ahmed Diri, a former refugee thanks Australia for his new life. He recently told his story to the UN’s Agency for Refugees (UNHCR) which chronicled his life in his new adopted country. We’ve featured Ahmed’s efforts before as President of Australia’s Football Somali Football Associated. Read his feature at the UN here, visit our previous features on his efforts here and here. Be Inspired! Be Positive. Be Somali.
![[UN]: The United Nations refugee agency announced on Tuesday that this year’s Nansen Refugee Award goes to humanitarian Hawa Aden Mohamed for her exceptional, tireless and inspiring work for Somalia’s refugee and displaced girls and women. The agency’s spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said in Geneva that the 63-year-old former Somali refugee, who heads the Galkayo Education Centre for Peace and Development (GECPD) in Puntland, north-eastern Somalia, had “carried out her important work under incredibly difficult and challenging circumstances in a country battered by decades of violence, conflict and human rights abuses,” The refugee agency established the Nansen Refugee Award in 1954 to promote global interest in refugees and to keep alive the spirit of Fridtjof Nansen, the first high commissioner for refugees in the League of Nations and Nobel Laurette. To date, the Nansen Refugee Award Committee has awarded 68 Nansen Medals to individuals, groups or organizations. Read more.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_majylsyb7S1r1knvgo1_250.jpg)
[UN]: The United Nations refugee agency announced on Tuesday that this year’s Nansen Refugee Award goes to humanitarian Hawa Aden Mohamed for her exceptional, tireless and inspiring work for Somalia’s refugee and displaced girls and women. The agency’s spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said in Geneva that the 63-year-old former Somali refugee, who heads the Galkayo Education Centre for Peace and Development (GECPD) in Puntland, north-eastern Somalia, had “carried out her important work under incredibly difficult and challenging circumstances in a country battered by decades of violence, conflict and human rights abuses,” The refugee agency established the Nansen Refugee Award in 1954 to promote global interest in refugees and to keep alive the spirit of Fridtjof Nansen, the first high commissioner for refugees in the League of Nations and Nobel Laurette. To date, the Nansen Refugee Award Committee has awarded 68 Nansen Medals to individuals, groups or organizations. Read more.
![[RI]: Today we join Refugees International in honouring the memory of Amina Ali. If you haven’t heard of Amina’s efforts, here’s a summary though it won’t be able to do justice to the enormity of her involvement and generosity. Twenty years ago, Amina was working as a successful businesswoman in the Somali community of Eastleigh. She was an anchor in that community – the person that everyone else turned to when in need of help or advice. New arrivals to the community quickly learned that if you had a problem, you go to “Mama Amina”. So Amina decided to leave behind her successful career and open up a clinic for refugees and other vulnerable members of the community. She followed this ten years later with the establishment of the Ngazi Moja Foundation, which addressed the community’s increasing social needs – from counseling to legal services. Such was Amina’s dedication, that she often provided out of her own pocket the much needed funds to maintain these services. mina was so dedicated to those in need in her community that in the past few weeks - as she was suffering the brutal physical effects of her cancer treatment - her doctor had to take away her phone so she wouldn’t be compelled to try to leave her sickbed to help someone else. Sadly, Amina lost her battle with cancer earlier this year on the night before she was to be honored for her efforts. The timing was particularly poignant because she was to receive the inaugural Richard C. Holbrooke Leadership Award from Refugees International. The award recognizes those individuals who work tirelessly to improve community based protection for refugees. Click here to learn more of her efforts and celebrate them as the world rightly celebrates her.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_macvev8diL1r1knvgo1_250.jpg)
[RI]: Today we join Refugees International in honouring the memory of Amina Ali. If you haven’t heard of Amina’s efforts, here’s a summary though it won’t be able to do justice to the enormity of her involvement and generosity. Twenty years ago, Amina was working as a successful businesswoman in the Somali community of Eastleigh. She was an anchor in that community – the person that everyone else turned to when in need of help or advice. New arrivals to the community quickly learned that if you had a problem, you go to “Mama Amina”. So Amina decided to leave behind her successful career and open up a clinic for refugees and other vulnerable members of the community. She followed this ten years later with the establishment of the Ngazi Moja Foundation, which addressed the community’s increasing social needs – from counseling to legal services. Such was Amina’s dedication, that she often provided out of her own pocket the much needed funds to maintain these services. mina was so dedicated to those in need in her community that in the past few weeks - as she was suffering the brutal physical effects of her cancer treatment - her doctor had to take away her phone so she wouldn’t be compelled to try to leave her sickbed to help someone else. Sadly, Amina lost her battle with cancer earlier this year on the night before she was to be honored for her efforts. The timing was particularly poignant because she was to receive the inaugural Richard C. Holbrooke Leadership Award from Refugees International. The award recognizes those individuals who work tirelessly to improve community based protection for refugees. Click here to learn more of her efforts and celebrate them as the world rightly celebrates her.
The Somali community in Minnesota continues to serve as an example for others in the Diaspora. The American ambassador to Denmark and the Danish Ministry of Social Affairs and Integration recently took up an initiative to bring Somali Danes and Somali Americans together. A delegation of six young Somali Danes, two Swedes and one Norwegian visited Minneapolis last week to break bread with their Somali immigrant counterparts and learn how this city has integrated them into civic and economic life. Following the trip, The Copenhagen Post sat down with Ambassador Fulton to talk about the innovative program she initiated. Read her interview here and catch more of the Somali delegation’s trip here.
If you haven’t been following the news, meet Somalia’s new Speaker of the Federal Parliament, Mr. Mohamed Osman Jawahari. Born in 1945 in Afgooye, Somalia, Jawahari obtained a degree in Law from the Somali National University in Mogadishu. He is a lawyer by profession and has previously held the the Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Labor and Sports portfolios in the previous government of Somalia. Jawahari spent much of the two decades of Somalia’s civil war in Norway. Since his return, he has held several political posts including serving as chairman of the committee of specialists tasked with formulating Somalia’s draft constitution. We will surely see more Jawahari but in the meantime read more about his career here.
We’ve all heard of the award winning Somali journalist Rageh Omaar of Al-Jazeera, but do you know of the other rising Somali journalist in the United Kingdom? Meet Jamal Osman, a Somali journalist working for Channel 4 News in the United Kingdom who recently secured all exclusive access to interview members of Al-Shabaab. The video features Jamal’s work and the impressions he’s made on his University and colleagues. We recently featured Jamal’s efforts after winning the journalist of the year award for a collection of his films at the One World Media Awards this past May. If you haven’t had a chance to see his work, check out our previous feature here.
In August 2011, following a two year drought, famine was declared in six regions of Somalia. Since then, much needed humanitarian aid has been donated by the international community and Somalis in the Diaspora. The following film titled ‘Somalia in the aftermath of a famine’ looks at the progress that relief efforts have made in the Gedo region in south Somalia, one of the six affected regions, since the declaration of the end of the famine in February 2012. The film takes you through several of Somalia’s cities and within rural areas and chronicles the humanitarian conditions of the local people, the IDP camps, the health conditions and educational needs to mention a few.
The Team Somalia Campaign continues! The Campaign recently held a “Lend a Hand Walk” on 25th August. The Walk was a way to show support to the sponsored Somali students both morally and financially. Learn more and consider donating by visiting the Campaign’s website here and follow them on Twitter here.
It is always comforting to see happiness in people’s eyes despite the harsh conditions and requirements for the basic necessities of life which are often unmet. Case in point, here are two organizations intertwined with the lives of Somalis in Mogadishu and helping them meet the basic necessities. The UN Agency for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) recently built 250 permanent houses for families in Mogadishu. Visit UNHCR’s website here and the NRC’s website here to learn more and see how you can contribute.
![[Vice]: It’s fair to say that things haven’t been so great in Somalia these last two decades. Things are changing, though. Somalia is in its happy place right now, the optimism rushing through the nation encapsulated in the current hit song,” Yaan La Dooran, Ya La Doortaa” which, loosely translated, means “Let’s elect… let’s not elect.” The song, by four famous Somali singers named Mohamed Ahmed Qomal, Hussien Shire, Abdulkadir AJ, and Nuur Jama Aden, is being played everywhere and tells people to think about what kind of leader would be good for Somalia. Read more about Oscar Rickett’s interview with his friend Abdurrahman Warsameh, a Somali journalist living in Mogadishu, here and listen to the song here.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9a53yBwUz1r1knvgo1_250.jpg)
[Vice]: It’s fair to say that things haven’t been so great in Somalia these last two decades. Things are changing, though. Somalia is in its happy place right now, the optimism rushing through the nation encapsulated in the current hit song,” Yaan La Dooran, Ya La Doortaa” which, loosely translated, means “Let’s elect… let’s not elect.” The song, by four famous Somali singers named Mohamed Ahmed Qomal, Hussien Shire, Abdulkadir AJ, and Nuur Jama Aden, is being played everywhere and tells people to think about what kind of leader would be good for Somalia. Read more about Oscar Rickett’s interview with his friend Abdurrahman Warsameh, a Somali journalist living in Mogadishu, here and listen to the song here.
As the world celebrated Eid this past weekend, Somalia saw the inauguration of its first Parliament in two Decades. Some 215 of the 275 total Members of Parliament were sworn in at an open-air ceremony at Mogadishu International Airport. Elected by a Technical Selection Committee and Somalia’s Traditional Elders, the parliamentarians are scheduled to begin work on 21 August to elect a Speaker, Deputy Speaker and President for the New Federal Republic of Somalia. Read more.
Heard of Yusuf Garaad Omar? The veteran journalist of BBC Somali Service was born in Mogadishu in June 1960, starting his career as a venerable Somali journalist. He has been the head of BBC Somali Service in London, UK since 1999. He also worked for Radio Mogadishu in Somalia in 1980s. Apart from managing the BBC Somali Service, Yusuf engages in programming for training Somali journalists. He is a graduate of the Somali National University and studied in France and Italy before completing his graduate studies at Tufts University in the United States. Yusuf has been in the news recently after stating that he was leaving the BBC to elections for the Somali Parliament and Presidency. With a 30 year career in Journalism both in Somalia and abroad and a well respected reputation around the world, Yusuf is will be a formidable challenger. Click here to learn more about Yusuf, visit the BBC Somali Service here, and read the recent article about his ambitions in Somalia here.
What does Mo Farah’s win at the London 2012 Games mean for Somalis, or in particular British Somalis? No one could describe this better that Somali author Nadifa Mohamed. You may remember we featured Nadifa last year as she published her first Novel, Black Mamba Boy. If you haven’t had a chance to read it, check out the feature here. But back to our main story today. Nadifa wrote an op-ed piece in the Guardian newspaper arguing that Mo Farah’s win symbolises the emergence of Britain’s Somali community. Whether you agree with her or not, we can all find solace at the fact that Mo Farah’s win comes at a time when everyone is speaking about the rebirth of Somalia. Nadifa attempts to capture this euphoria that also encapsulates the feelings of pride among British Somalis. Read her piece here and let he know how you feel on Twitter here.
Craving for recent photos from Mogadishu? BBC journalist Mary Harper just returned from Somalia with some very candid pictures of life on the upswing! You may recall that Mary is a journalist specializing in Africa who has reported from Somalia since the outbreak of civil war in 1991 and from other conflict zones across Africa. She released her first comprehensive account of events in Somalia in her new book “Getting Somalia Wrong” which we’ve featured here. Get a view of Mary’s pictures on the BBC Somalia website here.
