(African Union Mission in Somalia) – The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the United Nations have reiterated their commitment to help develop capacity of the Somali national security forces to address all forms of human rights violations. The two organizations promised to continue mobilizing resources and providing specialized training to the Somali national […]
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(The Ferret) – More than 10,000 children were killed or maimed in conflicts during 2017, according to a new United Nations (UN) report, which has prompted critics of the arms trade to accuse the UK of complicity in human rights abuses. Citing “unspeakable” violence, the UN has verified more than 21,000 “grave violations” of children’s rights from January to December 2017, an […]
(Human Rights Watch) – I held my breath yesterday, waiting for the US State Department to issue its latest annual list of governments implicated in the use of child soldiers. Last year’s list was a disaster: then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson overruled his own staff and left blatant violators – Afghanistan, Burma, and Iraq – off the list. […]
(Public Radio International) – You can hear the anguish in Maalim Mohamud’s voice when he talks about his son Ismael. Ismael disappeared on his way home from school in the town of Baidoa in southern Somalia two years ago. He would be 13 years old today. “I still feel the pain as a parent. I can’t […]
(Human Rights Watch) – Three years ago today, representatives from countries from around the globe came together in Oslo to declare their support for the protection of students, teachers, schools, and universities during times of war. Three years later, an incredible 75 countries have joined the Safe Schools Declaration. Support for the declaration has come from the highest […]
(OCHCR) – The Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia, Bahame Tom Mukirya Nyanduga, has condemned recent terrorist attacks in the country, and called for the immediate release of all children kidnapped or recruited as fighters in the country’s armed conflict. “The abduction of children by the Al Shabaab group and their recruitment and […]
(BBC) – A German nurse with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been kidnapped in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, the aid group says. Armed men seized Sonja Nientiet from the ICRC compound at 20:00 local time (17:00 GMT) on Wednesday. The 10 remaining international staff are being evacuated to Nairobi until further notice, the […]
(The Guardian) – Two weeks after being forcibly evicted from their shelters, thousands of vulnerable families are still living rough in the outskirts of Mogadishu. Somali security forces went in and destroyed 23 camps for internally displaced people, housing more than 4,000 Somalis, on 29 and 30 December last year according to the UN. Link
(HRW) – The Islamist armed group Al-Shabab has threatened and abducted civilians in Somalia’s Bay region to force communities to hand over their children for indoctrination and military training in recent months. Since late September 2017, Al-Shabab has ordered elders, teachers in Islamic religious schools, and communities in rural areas to provide hundreds of children as […]
(UNICEF, Save the Children) – The recent unannounced destruction of several informal settlements on the outskirts of Mogadishu, together with the forced evictions of thousands of families living there, are having devastating effects on children, UNICEF and Save the Children said today. More than 4,000 families lost their property and many lost their livelihoods during the […]
