In 1991, certain political and military leaders in Somalia, wishing to gain exclusive control over the state, mobilized their followers to use terror-wounding, raping, and killing-to expel a vast ...number of Somalis from the capital city of Mogadishu and south-central and southern Somalia. Manipulating clan sentiment, they succeeded in turning ordinary civilians against neighbors, friends, and coworkers. Although this episode of organized communal violence is common knowledge among Somalis, its real nature has not been publicly acknowledged and has been ignored, concealed, or misrepresented in scholarly works and political memoirs-until now. Marshaling a vast amount of source material, including Somali poetry and survivor accounts,Clan Cleansing in Somaliaanalyzes this campaign of clan cleansing against the historical background of a violent and divisive military dictatorship, in the contemporary context of regime collapse, and in relationship to the rampant militia warfare that followed in its wake.Clan Cleansing in Somaliaalso reflects on the relationship between history, truth, and postconflict reconstruction in Somalia. Documenting the organization and intent behind the campaign of clan cleansing, Lidwien Kapteijns traces the emergence of the hate narratives and code words that came to serve as rationales and triggers for the violence. However, it was not clans that killed, she insists, but people who killed in the name of clan. Kapteijns argues that the mutual forgiveness for which politicians often so lightly call is not a feasible proposition as long as the violent acts for which Somalis should forgive each other remain suppressed and undiscussed.Clan Cleansing in Somaliaestablishes that public acknowledgment of the ruinous turn to communal violence is indispensable to social and moral repair, and can provide a gateway for the critical memory work required from Somalis on all sides of this multifaceted conflict.
Mogadishu is a medieval trading city in Somalia, which reached the peak of its prosperity during the 14th and 15th centuries, when it became an important commercial and cultural crossroad between the ...Middle East, India and Eastern Africa. This text describes the incredible and neglected history of the Mogadishu. Rich and rare photographic evidence in the text makes it possible to explore the mosques, ruins, gravestones and residences with their 300-year old beams. The book will be of interest not just to scholars of history and archaeology, but also to anyone concerned by the destruction and decline of the medieval treasures of the first so-called freight village in the Horn of Africa.
The first contribution to Global Flashpoints: A Scarecrow Press Series, Christopher Daniels’ Somali Piracy and Terrorism in the Horn of Africa provides readers with a comprehensive and in-depth ...analysis of the spate of piracy and terrorism plaguing the waters of Somalia and the global threat posed by this activity. Contesting the commonly held perception that the piracy and terrorism occurring in Somalia are two separate and unrelated activities, Daniels reveals how the collapse of the Somali state and the chaos that has ensued created the environment for piracy and terrorism to flourish in combination. He also notes how the failure to restore a functioning central government has allowed both to become dangerous threats not only to the people of Somalia but the entire world. Underscoring Somalia’s dire state, Somali Piracy and Terrorism in the Horn of Africa lays out for readers such significant topics as the reasons behind the collapse of the Somali state and the secession of Somaliland, Puntland, and Jubaland; the rise of internationally-linked terrorist groups, such as Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam; and the dramatic spike in pirate attacks off the Somali coast. Daniels concludes by critiquing the methods that have been used to help alleviate these global security challenges and gives policy recommendations for future consideration. Designed to enhance readers’ grasp of this global flashpoint, this volume includes a timeline, a glossary of terms, biographical entries on key individual and institutional actors in this conflict, and selected primary sources. It is the ideal introduction to students and scholars of international relations, African history and politics, terrorism, and maritime studies.
This study reviews trends in aid provided to the health sector in Somalia over 2000?2009. It is a testimony to the commitment of donors and implementers who have relentlessly tried to improve the ...dire health situation of millions of Somalis. At the same time, this study is a wake-up call for all donors and implementers. Have donors been generous enough? Have millions of dollars been invested in the most efficient way to maximize results? Did donors choose the right priorities? Did they stay the course? Did they learn from their own mistakes?The answers are mixed. Donors stepped up their contributions over the decade: some new financiers came, some others left, but overall, financial support has been constantly increasing. Emergencies took up 30 percent of the overall funding, thus demonstrating the impact on the health sector of man-made and natural disasters. Only 20 percent was allocated for horizontal programs, with increasing funds over the last part of the decade. Vertical programs dominated aid financing for health: in the case of AIDS, TB, and malaria, the generous funding of the last years of the decade do not appear justifiable. Malnutrition, EPI, and reproductive health programs never got the attention they deserved. The key conclusion of this study is that donors? funding for public health in Somalia over the past decade could have been used more strategically. Better coordination among donors, local authorities, and implementers is now needed to avoid the mistakes of the past and to ensure that priority setting for future interventions is more evidence based and more results oriented.
This study reviews aid flows to the health sector in Somalia over the period 2000-2006. In close collaboration with the Health Sector Committee of the Coordination of International Support to Somalis ...the authors collected quantitative and qualitative data from twenty-six international agencies operating in Somalia, including bilateral and multilateral donors.The paper reaches three main conclusions. First, aid financing to the health sector in Somalia has been constantly growing, reaching US 7-10 per capita in 2006. Although this is a considerable amount compared to other fragile states, it may still be insufficient to address the populations needs and to meet the high operational costs to work in Somalia. Secondly, contributions to the health sector could and should be more strategic. The focus on some vertical programs (e.g. HIV/AIDS and malaria) seems to have diverted attention away from other important programs (e.g. immunization and reproductive health) and from basic health system needs (infrastructure, human resources, etc.). The third conclusion is that more analytical work on health financing is needed to drive policy decisions in Somalia. Similarly to other fragile states, quality information on health sector financing is scanty, thus affecting the policy making process negatively.
Somalia - the Untold Story Judith Gardner, Judy El Bushra / Judith Gardner, Judy El Bushra
2004, 20040101
eBook
Somalia came to the world's attention in 1992 when television and newspapers began to report on the terrifyingly violent war and the famine that resulted. Half a million Somalis died that year, and ...over a million fled the country. Cameras followed US troops as they landed on the beaches at Mogadishu to lead what became an ill-fated UN intervention to end hunger and restore peace. In this book, Somali women write and talk about the war, their experiences and the unacceptable choices they often faced. They explain clearly, in their own words, the changes, challenges – and sometimes the opportunities – that war brought, and how they coped with them. Key themes include the slaughter and loss of men, who were the prime target for killings; rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war; changing roles in the family and within the pastoralist economy; women mobilising for peace; and leading social recovery in a war-torn society. This book is not only an important record of women's experience of war, but also provides researchers and students of gender and conflict with rare first hand accounts highlighting the impact of war on gender relations, and women's struggle for equal political rights in a situation of state collapse.
