The Mogadishu Security & Stabilization Plan – also known as the ‘Dan Guud Program’ – I’m not sure how many of you have heard of this, but it is not something new. It started in 2005 and only just recently received $9.5 million in funding from the US & the UK, at the start [...]
Learning from the Silence of the Media – I like to pick up things that many people are not really talking about too much. Listening to the silence teaches me more than hearing the shouts. During February 2012, remember when David Cameron made Somalia’s piracy problem a priority when drafting up his foreign [...]
The Istanbul Declaration – Ahhh, you hadn’t heard of that one before, have you? Or are you wondering whether I have a leaked document hidden somewhere that reveals the communique of the upcoming Conference on Somalia in Istanbul in June? I’m afraid not. I have just read documents that give us a clearer insight [...]
Everyone is always focusing on the Somali youth and understandably so. Like a politician looking to win the most votes in his constituency by attracting the minority vote, each group/organisation is looking to attract the Somali youth to join their cause. But there are few things that we are not looking at objectively or [...]
Over the past few years we have seen a boom of Somali youth groups springing up all across the globe. This in itself is a feat to be celebrated as it shows that the youth are waking up to the problems our community is facing and are working towards solutions to tackle these issues. [...]
Some of you may have wondered why I haven’t mentioned the Somali delegates that attended the LDN conference. What can I say? What other nation has four presidents, a prime minister, and a mayor to represent them at one meeting? If that doesn’t show our divide, I don’t know what does. To be honest, I [...]
Okay, so I mentioned that we need to lobby for what we want. Not really a new idea for many of you, so what makes me mentioning it any different this time? And who do we lobby to? Who will lobby on our behalf? We have had many movements across the Diaspora in [...]
Having finished on some of the background information I wanted to share with all of you in Part I and Part II of this post, I hope to be able to look at the LDN conference from a different perspective than those who have written about it thus far. Politics is a lot [...]
North America The relations between US and Somalia are well known, especially its Dual Track policy of late. Some argue that it will increase humanitarian aid whilst others strongly criticize the policy. The US have been using drones to strike at insurgents and it has even been suggested that the CIA has sites in Somalia [...]
It’s been way too long, but I’m back with The Awoowe Diaries. First thing I wanted to write about is not the London Conference on Somalia, surprisingly enough, but it is about the cross-Atlantic connect between Somalis. I wanted to be able to have a look into our Diaspora communities and figure out a [...]
Growing up in Minnesota I was fortunate enough to grow up around the Somali community. My family lived in the suburbs up until the end of my high school years but every weekend we would all make sure to go down to the city and chill with grandma. My grandma lived in the heart of [...]
“Only a few people who read the title knows what this is about. We all know that genocide is one of the worst horrors that occurs in the world. Deliberate killing of an ethnic group. Ogaden is totally unknown to most readers. Yet here is one of the worst disasters happening. People are deliberately stoked [...]
I’m a lucky girl. Despite being a relatively obscure blogger, I’m in a fortunate position of having access to an amazing network of Somali intellectuals, writers, journalists, and film makers, who not only continue to push us harder, but act as a source of inspiration for many of our media pieces here at Afrolens.com. I’ve [...]
This is the 3rd trip made by Global Somali Response team. This time we went to Daffur, Kenya to bring the first wave of supplies directly to the refugees fleeing drought and famine. The 80 families we fed are mainly from the Somali-Kenyan border villages on the Kenyan side. Share on Facebook
It is excellent to see the President of Somalia Sheikh Sharif walking round neighbourhoods that he could only dream of capturing a week ago. Like love struck tourists in a new place he and his appointed ministers take turns to visit the Mogadishu football stadium and shopping areas previously under Al-Shabaab control. From the images [...]
