"All my other pregnancies were fine with no bleeding. If stayed at home a little longer, I would have died from profuse bleeding, yet my children do not have a grandmother to take care of them," Sokorey says with wide eyes. Sokorey Hassan lives in Kabasa, one of the biggest refugee camps in Dollow, Somalia. Her previous deliveries happened at home under the care of traditional birth attendance without any complications. She was not too concerned when she experienced vaginal bleeding in the eighth month of her latest pregnancy so she visited a private clinic. Local community influencers, from a programme of women who visit other women at household level for health interventions, advised her to go to Dollow Referral Health Centre (RHC) for specialty care. Sokorey did not have extra money for transport so Trocaire’s ambulance took her to the health facility for an emergency obstetric ultrasound and she was admitted. After one week, the bleeding stopped, and both Sokorey and her unborn child's condition improved. She was discharged but advised to attend the antenatal clinic and encouraged to deliver her baby by caesarean at RHC. Two weeks later, Trocaire’s female community influencer visited Sokorey for a follow-up and shared her contact information in case of complications. However, Sokorey opted to stay home and not visit the clinic. A week later, Sokorey started bleeding at home and was immediately brought by Trocaire ambulance to Dollow RHC. On admission, Sokorey was in shock and experiencing respiratory failure. Also, the unborn baby's heart rate was weak. Doctor Shueb Abdishakur immediately administered 4 units of blood. Sokorey and her husband were informed she must have an emergency caesarean section to save her and the baby’s life. The delivery was complicated with a degree of bleeding but eventually a baby boy was extracted. The baby was immediately resuscitated and put on oxygen and the mother was taken to the recovery room in stable condition. For seven day, she was observed with the baby by Dr. Abdishakur, on antibiotics and had given two units blood. Once healthy, Sokorey was advised on antenatal services to improve her nutritional status and encouraging exclusive breastfeeding. The baby was also immunised before they were discharged.   Sokorey returned after 1 week for a check-up; her wound had healed, and her baby was doing well. "I thought I was going to die, but doctors and nurses saved my life here in Trocaire", says Sokorey Hassan. "My son also received immunization. None of my eleven children had been immunized before. Two of my children are still eligible for the vaccine, and I will ensure to bring them for immunization," she concludes. Globally, many women suffer pregnancy-related complications with a significant number of fatalities. This is primarily due to a lack of access and/or sufficient knowledge. The few who can access medical care also delay doing so hence putting themselves at a greater risk. The statistics are worse in Somalia, a country that has one of the highest rates of maternal deaths, mainly due to the decades of dysfunctional health systems, cultural stereotypes and harmful cultural practices. Trocaire, with funding from the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), has been implementing the Somali Health and Nutrition Programme in Gedo. Through this support, Trocaire has managed to provide basic and comprehensive emergency obstetric and neonatal care to many women. Many pregnant women’s lives have been saved and maternal deaths averted by a fraction. Link to the original piece. 

Hargeisa – On a visit to Hargeisa today, a senior United Nations official pledged the world body’s support for efforts to rebuild the Waheen marketplace which was recently destroyed in a blaze. “I am here primarily to reassure our partners in the government of Somaliland, civil society, the business community and all those affected, that the UN is here, and we are in this together,” the UN Resident Coordinator for Somalia, Adam Abdelmoula, said while visiting the ruins of the marketplace. Located in central Hargeisa and spread out over five square kilometres, the Waheen marketplace was the largest market in Somaliland. It played a vital role in the local economy, with an estimated 5,000 businesses present, drawing sellers and shoppers from the city and surrounding communities. It is estimated that the market provided income for 17,000 merchants and workers and, taking their families into account, a total of around 136,000 people are directly affected. Amidst the destruction, the UN official was shaken by what he saw and heard. “For the first time, I can say that I'm very unhappy being in in Hargeisa. I have never said this before. It looks like a war zone; what you see behind me is a devastated city. Hargeisa used to be a centre of vibrancy, trade. It used to be a big hub. I recall over 20 years ago, even we in the UN system used to come from Nairobi to shop for some of the electronics from Hargeisa – and to see all of that which has been built by this resilient people for over 30 years ago go up in smoke overnight is truly heartbreaking,” said Mr. Abdelmoula, who also serves as the UN Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative to Somalia and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia. Joint assessments Mr. Abdelmoula’s visit followed a week-long visit by a team of UN technical experts, who worked with the Somaliland authorities and the fire response committee, to assess the immediate, medium- and long-term support needed to help those affected by the blaze. The UN team included staff from nine UN agencies, funds and programmes – the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN-Habitat, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), UN Women, the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM). The joint preliminary assessment was presented to international donor partners in a meeting held in Nairobi last week. The UN team and partners are continuing with the collection of data, while also jointly working on a more detailed assessment report with Somaliland partners. Short to longer term While in Hargeisa, the UN Resident Coordinator met with the Minister of Planning and National Development, Omar Ali Abdillahi, to discuss the support. He offered UN technical assistance in the designing and rebuilding of a new and safer marketplace. “In the medium-term, we will continue to partner with the government and with the municipality to see to it that the UN contributes the technical input that is required for the designing of a fire-resistant, state-of-the-art, modern market that is compliant with the best safety standards,” Mr. Abdelmoula said. He added that the new marketplace would also designed to be environmentally-friendly, accessible to people with disabilities, and with facilities especially for women, while also blending with local culture and traditions. Also for the medium- and longer-term recovery efforts, the UN senior official said the rebuilding of the market would help with lessons learned to be used in other parts of Hargeisa. “This is an opportunity for the rethinking of not only building back better, but also for looking at the other markets, which I understand are equally congested, and how can we decongest them, how could we use this opportunity to improve things and do so in a way that that would ensure safety, but also sustainability to incorporate best practices,” Mr. Abdelmoula said. In terms of more immediate support, he flagged that recovery planning should address the needs of the most vulnerable people affected by the blaze. These include daily wage-earners, small business owners, female-headed households, internally displaced people, people with disabilities, refugees and minority groups. “Those are, by far, the most affected. So as soon as we are certain the numbers and the data get disaggregated, we will coordinate very closely with the government to see to it that the UN contributes to the alleviation of the suffering of the most affected,” Mr. Abdelmoula said, and also noting the government had been providing cash handouts to those some of those most in need. While in Hargeisa, the UN senior official also met with one of the city's Deputy Mayors, Khadar Ahmed Omer, and city councillors, as well as members of the response committee. “The total loss of property and impact of the fire in the Waahen market has been estimated to be around $1.5 to $2 billion. So far, we have received less than $20 million and so we ask the world to help us in the reconstruction of the market as well support to all those who lost property,” the deputy mayor said. He added that a list had finalized with around 5,000 people identified as victims who lost property in the inferno, and that there were many more affected people who were employed in businesses at the marketplace. In addition to providing for the livelihoods of thousands of local residents, the Waheen marketplace was a significant source of revenue for the Hargeisa municipality, as well as for overall government revenue. Somaliland’s Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture estimates that the fire accounted for 40 to 50 per cent of the city’s economy. According to Somaliland’s response committee established to lead the immediate relief efforts and planning for the market’s reconstruction. In addition, the destruction of so many goods has led to scarcity and inflation in Hargeisa. Link to the original piece. 

“I'm 95 years old and I have never seen such drought. Animals died, people now… we seriously need support and people who can help us. We don’t even have something to cook for our families; we have almost nothing,” says Seynab Fiddle Cirowe, a grandmother residing in a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) outside the town of Dollow, in Somalia’s south-west. Her words, and the emotion they carry, are not lost on a group of veteran senior United Nations officials listening to her under a tree. They have come to Dollow to assess the humanitarian situation there and highlight the dire state in which millions of Somalis find themselves. “It is part of our effort to bring this to the world’s attention – these people are looking at the threat of famine in the face… without resources we cannot scale up, we cannot help these people. I saw malnourished children who are struggling for breath, whose mothers are equally malnourished,” said the Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Adam Abdelmoula, after speaking with Ms. Cirowe. Located in the southern Federal Member State of Jubaland, Dollow has been hard hit by Somalia’s current wave of drought. Three IDP camps have sprung up since November 2021 alone due to an influx of newly-arrived IDPs. The UN has been working with district authorities and humanitarian partners to help those in need. The local response has been scaled up to target 180,000 people, primarily through cash transfers totalling around $1.6 million, and with the provision of 108,000 metric tons of food rations. Grim outlook The outlook remains grim, with more people being displaced and seeking aid in regional centres such as Dollow. “The resources are not anywhere near enough. Everywhere you go, look at these people behind me – all of them are new arrivals – 400 families arrived in the past two weeks alone in this single IDP camp, and there are many around Dollow,” said Mr. Abdelmoula, who also serves as the UN Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative to Somalia and UN Resident Coordinator. Mr. Abdelmoula was in Dollow, located on Somalia’s border with Ethiopia, with top officials from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). While on the ground, they met the local district commissioner and members of Dollow’s drought committee. They later visited a local clinic run by Trocaire, a non-governmental organization, as well as a school for young IDPs. They also visited the Kaxareey IDP camp – home to some thousands of IDPs – and met with its community leaders, as well as Ms. Cirowe. The humanitarian situation around Dollow is an example of how severe the impact of the drought has been. Somalia is facing the risk of famine as a combination of poor rainfall, skyrocketing food prices and huge funding shortfalls leaves almost 40 per cent of Somalis – around six million people – facing critical levels of food insecurity. Despite limited resources, UN humanitarian agencies and partners have been hard at work. Collectively, they reached almost two million people with humanitarian assistance as of February 2022. But unless more donor funding is received, assistance cannot be maintained nor scaled up to meet growing needs. Underfunded response Somalia’s Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for 2022 was launched late last year. It seeks close to $1.5 billion to cover the estimated costs of providing support for Somalis in need – but, so far, only 4.4 per cent of that amount has been received. “Funding is everything – we have the expertise, we have people, we have the communities who will work with us, but what's needed are the supplies, and in some locations additional staff and partners,” said UNICEF’S Representative a.i., Angela Kearney. “You need Plumpy Nut [a peanut-based paste for the treatment of severe malnutrition], you need the chlorine tablets, you need to truck the water, you need all of those things,” Ms. Kearney continued. “We need recreation kits for children; they need to play; they need to have a childhood. Once there is funding, UNICEF, the Government and our partners can do so much more.” Children under five are among the most vulnerable as the drought worsens, and access to food and milk is very scarce due to rising commodity prices and livestock losses. Around 1.4 million children face acute malnutrition through the end of this year, with around a quarter of them, or 330,000 children, facing severe acute malnutrition. Ukraine impact The war in Ukraine is having an impact on the situation in Somalia. Previously, up to 85 per cent of Somalia’s wheat imports came from Russia and Ukraine; that has stopped, leading to price increases of 160 per cent in just one month. The conflict there, as well as other crises in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, Yemen and Afghanistan, has also drawn away attention. “I know that the world is very much occupied by Ukraine, but human suffering is human suffering, no matter whether in Europe or Asia or Africa. And here we have to live up to our moral values, and [according to] our moral values, humanity matters – if we are not responding now and we are not increasing our response, those people will be heading to famine. And that is not acceptable,” said WFP’s Representative and Country Director, El-Khidir Daloum. Geneva meeting The United Nations plans to hold a high-level meeting in Geneva later this month to bring together international donors on the issue of more support for Somalia’s humanitarian needs. “We cannot really emphasize enough the fact that the drought situation is getting worse – we are actually moving from a drought response now into a prevention of famine,” said OCHA’s Deputy Head of Office, Peter Ekayu. “So it is getting more intense, it is getting more severe, is getting more acute,” he added. “And all of the indicators are that this situation will get more severe because we are expecting probably a fourth failed rainy season.” Weather forecasts are predicting an average to below-average rainy season for Somalia. More than 80 per cent of the country has remained generally dry, and water and staple food prices have experienced dramatic price hikes. In addition, current levels of food and water assistance are quickly being outpaced by the rapid increase in the size of the food insecure population, widening of household food consumption gaps, loss of livelihood assets, and worsening acute malnutrition levels. If the funding gap is not urgently addressed, it will contribute to worse outcomes with a real risk of widespread famine. The last time such a humanitarian tragedy struck Somalia was in 2011, when famine conditions killed a quarter of a million people. Link to the original story.

Mogadishu – Efforts to ensure that women’s voices are heard in Somalia’s media sector received a boost this week with the launch of ‘Bilan,’ the country’s first all-women newsroom. Somali women journalists cite a litany of challenges to doing their work. They are harassed on the street when taking out a camera or trying to conduct an interview. Official figures sometimes refuse to talk to them, demanding that a male journalist asks the questions instead. Even inside their own newsrooms, women face harassment from colleagues and are routinely denied training opportunities and promotions. If a woman does reach a position of authority, she is often ignored while more junior figures get to call the shots. As a result, women’s careers are stymied and the Somali media sector can fall short on covering issues of concern to half the population – such as domestic violence, child marriage, female genital mutilation and much more. “The Somali media is a hostile environment for female journalists. They are frowned upon by a society that believes a woman’s role is to stay at home, cook and have children,” is how Laylo Osman, chairperson of the Somali Women Journalists Rights Association, described the situation in a recent assessment of the Somali media scene done for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Somalia. In response, UNDP has supported the creation of Bilan, an all-women, editorially independent media outlet. Bilan, which means bright and pure in Somali, began its operations this month. Staffed and run entirely by women – five journalists and an editor – it aims to produce high-quality, high-impact, original journalism across all platforms, including television and radio. Hard news and features The Bilan team’s reporting will cover both hard news and in-depth features. With its unique perspective and access to women’s lives and opinions, it also aims to break new ground for Somali journalism overall, shining a light on stories that have long been ignored. It is being hosted by the Dalsan Media Group, a leading media house in Somalia, in specially-equipped offices that occupy an entire floor of a building in Mogadishu. In addition to the office space, Dalsan provides a guaranteed platform for distribution of the women’s reports on its television, radio and web platforms. UN support UNDP is covering Bilan’s costs. It will also manage a comprehensive programme of training and mentoring, designed in consultation with local women journalists and based on their experience of real-life challenges. According to the UN agency, the rolling programme of support brings onboard well-respected trainers, including Lyse Doucet and Razia Iqbal from the British Broadcasting Corporation, Lindsey Hilsum from the UK’s Channel 4 and Mohammed Adow from Al Jazeera, as well as high-profile government spokespeople and public figures. The training covers all aspects of digital journalism. On the technical side, it includes skills such as video production, photography and sound editing. More broadly, it will cover investigative reporting and interview techniques, media ethics and safety in the field. Bilan also runs an internship programme for women journalism students in their final year at Mogadishu University and Somalia National University. Those with the best scores who pass a competitive interview will have the opportunity to spend six months working with Bilan and benefitting from both practical experience and the ongoing training programme. UNDP is also helping Bilan find a global audience by working with international outlets that can feature its reporting work. The UN agency also plans to set up networks for Somali women journalists to collaborate with women reporters in similarly difficult environments, such as in Afghanistan, as part of an effort to provide ways for women to support each other, share experiences and skills and learn how other people have overcome similar challenges.