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Millennium Development Goals

Woman collecting water in Somali region © Rachel Stabb / Oxfam Great Britain

The extreme instability and political fragmentation in Somalia has left very little capacity for delivery of any of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. The absence of a strong central government since the overthrow of President Siad Barre’s military regime in 1991 has exposed Somalia to lawlessness and inter-clan warfare, where even the collection of development data has proven difficult. Where information is available, the measurements of key indicators rank Somalia as amongst the worst in the world.

Recent years of severe drought in the Horn of Africa region have been followed by widespread flooding towards the end of 2006, compounding Somalia’s uncertain food security - projections for 2007 suggest improvement in some areas and high risk of shortages in the more dangerous and unsettled central and southern regions.

The WFP ship taken by pirates, Somalia © United Nations' Integrated Regional Information Network

UN agencies estimate that about one million people will require humanitarian assistance in 2007 including 400,000 long term internally displaced persons scattered throughout the country, many of them living in camps where conditions are very poor. Relief efforts are hampered by conditions on the ground as well as ongoing dangers of violence and piracy which have resulted in Somalia being declared the most dangerous and difficult of all countries for aid workers, to the extent that four out of every five Somalis in need do not receive assistance.

Waterborne disease and other epidemics have resulted in the average life expectancy of a Somali male being reduced to just 46 years. The under-five mortality rate is estimated at 219 children per 1,000 live births and the maternal mortality rate at 1,000 mothers per 100,000 live births, both these rates high even for this region. The education system has also fallen victim to the unrest and school attendance figures are far below MDG targets.

Somalia's situation is however more complex and perhaps a little more positive than statistics might suggest, due largely to enormous regional differences. In the more stable north-western regions of Somaliland (a self-declared but internationally unrecognised Republic), and the adjoining Puntland State (again, self-declared), there are encouraging signs of progress. Basic infrastructure in

Somali women leaders at NGO conference - November 2004 © United Nations' Integrated Regional Information Network

both regions, such as hospitals and clinics that were destroyed during the years of civil war, are gradually being rebuilt and education systems are developing.

The mixed results achieved in rebuilding Somali society through political means continue to be supported by the determination of hundreds of local NGOs. These work in a variety of fields but are particularly prevalent in agriculture and healthcare. Since 1995, NOVIB (Oxfam Netherlands) has been attempting to co-ordinate these civil society organisations for greater efficiency. On a larger scale, the Somali Aid Coordination Body (SACB) is responsible for monitoring and implementing a code of conduct for all INGO/NGOs and donor organisations working in Somalia, producing annual guides and reports.

Conflict

Mounted gun in Mogadishu © United Nations' Integrated Regional Information Network

The internationally recognised state of Somalia was formed by the merger of a former Italian colony with a British protectorate in July 1960. The newly independent Republic of Somalia had a number of short-lived civilian regimes before Mohamed Siad Barre led a military coup in 1969, the “October Revolution”. Widely popular at first, Barre proclaimed Somalia a socialist state and the country flourished. However, under pressure following disastrous attempts in the late 1970s to incorporate Ethiopian-held “Somali territories”, Barre moved to dictatorial extremes to secure his power and effectively divided the country along clan lines.

In 1991, Barre was overthrown. His survival politics had created such division amongst the opposing clans that no unifying replacement could be found and the country descended into lawlessness, split into warring factions. A UN peacekeeping intervention led by American troops moved in during December 1992, but faced violent resistance. A decisive moment came on 3 October 1993, when two US Blackhawk helicopters were shot down during a desperate battle in Mogadishu. The following year, US troops were withdrawn from Somalia, with a full UN withdrawal completed in 1995.

Somali President Yusuf Ahmed (center) with aides © Hilaire Avril / United Nations' Integrated Regional Information Network

Since 2000, efforts have been under way to return a central administration to power in Somalia. A transitional government was set up and based in Kenya, for security reasons. In October 2004, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, a former leader of Puntland, was chosen as the interim President, with Ali Mohamed Ghedi as Prime Minister. Unwelcome in Mogadishu, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) eventually held its first assembly on Somali territory in the compromise location of Baidoa in February 2006. The power vacuum in Mogadishu was filled during 2006 by the meteoric rise of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) - a network of courts originally funded by businessmen to bring stability to the capital Mogadishu. This they duly achieved through imposing a moderate form of Sharia law, having first defeated the Mogadishu warlords in June 2006 by urban warfare.

However, the emergence of the UIC and its subsequent military advance on Baidoa prompted US fears that Somalia might become an Islamic state, ruled along the lines of the Taliban in Afghanistan with al-Qaeda links – an accusation denied by the UIC. Nevertheless, evidence suggests that US ‘war on terror’ dollars were made available to support the TFG and to condone the intervention of a sizeable Ethiopian force. With his own internal concerns about Islamist influence, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi had declared Ethiopia “technically at war” with the UIC by October 2006 and his army routed the Islamists in the space of a few days in December 2006, enabling the transitional government to regain control of Mogadishu.

Somali family displaced by fighting, January 2007 © Manoocher Deghati/IRIN

Proof of US involvement came in January 2007 when US warplanes bombed areas close to the Somali/Kenyan border, reportedly in an attempt to kill senior figures from al-Qaeda. Somalia is clearly recognised as the ‘third theatre’ after Iraq and Afghanistan in the ‘war on terror’.

The TFG largely comprises members of the Darod clan and is perceived to be hostile to the Hawiye clan which is dominant in Mogadishu and in the former UIC. Violence flared again in early 2007 as Hawiye and Islamist insurgents regrouped to fight government and Ethiopian troops. This stage of the conflict was described as the worst seen in Mogadishu resulting in 1,000 deaths and at one time 400,000 people were forced to leave their homes. Mogadishu is once again in a dangerous power vacuum and everyday life is exceptionally difficult.

Conflict Resolution

Militia in Mogadishu

Painful history may preclude any chances of a UN peacekeeping force for Somalia but the UN has authorised an Africa Union Mission to Somalia (Amison), to be comprised of 8,000 troops belonging to Africa Union (AU) countries. So far only 1200 Ugandan troops have entered the country, further pledges proving elusive to obtain or deliver. The Ugandans have made it clear that there is as yet no peace to keep nor sufficient AU resources and they maintain a low profile in Mogadishu. Although the transitional government has declared Mogadishu to be the capital once again, the TFG is weak and unpopular and therefore dependent for control of the city on Ethiopian troops, themselves historically a source of much hostility.

Encouraged by a US-backed International Contact Group of 11 countries, the TFG has made gestures of peace, granting amnesty to all prisoners other than those accused of international terrorism, and calling for a national reconciliation and governance conference to engage all parties. Observers fear that there are undertones of too many wars to permit the necessary decisive compromises – as well as Somalia’s internal conflict, there are tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea, and between the US and Islamic militias. Nevertheless a recent high-level UN visit conveyed the view that the current situation represents the best hope for lasting peace that Somalia has had for years.
Somaliland and Puntland

Somali woman casting her vote © Jamal Abdi / United Nations' Integrated Regional Information Network

After Barre’s fall in 1991, the north-western part of Somalia separated from the union, and established itself as an independent country, the Republic of Somaliland. Although not internationally recognised, Somaliland has conducted its own affairs since then, and following the election of President Dahir Riyale Kahin in 2003, held its first parliamentary elections in September 2005. The internationally observed proceedings saw two female candidates elected and a high percentage of women voters, suggesting a step towards representative democracy. Indeed, in 2006 the region of Somaliland applied to the African Union for recognition of its status after 15 years of proclaimed independence, a request acknowledged as “an issue that must be addressed”.

In 1998, the region adjoining Somaliland also declared itself a self-governing province, known as the Puntland state of Somalia. Although it has a President (Mohamud Muse Hirsi “Adde”), Puntland does not aspire to full independence. Like Somaliland, Puntland has since seen increased stability and development, opening its first police academy in December 2005, accepting and training female recruits alongside male colleagues.

The fleeting emergence of the UIC as a potential power to the south raised the question of the Islamic credentials of these two semi-autonomous states. In an interesting move, Puntland has declared that it will become subject to Sharia law. Somaliland will be less inclined to take such step but its economic health is believed to be highly dependent on Islamist businesses. Puntland is the source of some of the most distressing refugee stories in the world as desperate Somalis seek a passage to Yemen from the town of Bossaso. If discovered and pursued by Yemeni coastguards, the unscrupulous boat owners have been known to force their human cargo overboard to face certain drowning.
Education

The nomadic/partially nomadic existence of large segments of the Somali population, together with a fourteen year breakdown of central state government has led to only one in every five Somali children being enrolled at a primary school. The adult illiteracy rate is around 80%. Indeed the UNICEF 2006 State of the World Report claims that, “the net primary attendance ratio is lower than anywhere else in the world at just 12% for boys and 10% for girls”, despite 2005 seeing gross enrolment rates increase by around 4%. Even in the more settled regions of Somaliland and Puntland, primary school attendance figures are low, though there is reason to be hopeful. The government of Somaliland has had a functional educational system for some years now, running primary schools, secondary schools and even universities. In 2004, the president of Puntland announced that his government was to inaugurate salary payments for primary school teachers, a major step in his administration’s aim to achieve “gender parity in access, retention and completion of basic education”.
Health

Women bring children for health screening © Espen Rasmussen / Medecins sans Frontieres

With its history of violent conflict, population displacement, extreme food shortage, disease and poor medical infrastructure, Somalia has some of the worst health indicators in the world. In statistical terms, UNICEF estimates that “5.6 million Somali children continue to live without or with limited access to basic services and are highly vulnerable to preventable disease". Hospitals and clinics in Somaliland and Puntland are being rebuilt, allowing professionals to return to work, but until the central and southern regions of Somalia become more stable, health and poverty will continue to affect the country’s population and limit the activities of international aid agencies seeking to help them.

More positively, Somalia is one of the few countries on the African continent that might avoid an HIV/AIDS epidemic, with latest indicators suggesting a comparatively low HIV rate of 0.9% among women visiting ante-natal clinics. HIV/AIDS infection rates are markedly lower than in surrounding countries and with education drives it is hoped that a major epidemic can be averted.

Polio had all but been eradicated following an intensive UN-led immunization effort in 1997 but fresh outbreaks in Mogadishu in 2005 have led to further intensive vaccination campaigns. Another issue of concern is the high instance of genital cutting in Somalia, and the associated medical and human rights complications, with an estimated 95% of girls in rural areas undergoing this traditional practice before the age of twelve.
Information and Media

Since the disintegration of the Somali central government in 1991, journalists and broadcasters within Somalia have struggled to remain objective, either for fear of their lives or for clan lineage. Somali media are divided into two - the factional media which relies on the support of the warlords and a completely independent one. The vast majority of journalists (95%) are independent and do not rely on the support of warlords. The recapture of Mogadishu by the TFG has however led to a setback for independent media when three of the most popular radio stations were ordered to omit any coverage of the security situation.

Even in Somaliland, the media is subject to pressure from the government, with dissenting journalists arrested. However, an ongoing boom in telecommunications across the whole of Somalia is transforming the range and variety of media available to Somali people. Mobile phone network and internet connections are increasingly available at affordable rates.
Environment

Toxic waste in Somalia

A lack of central government policy and prolonged conflict has had a severe toll on the environment of Somalia. Concerns include the widespread felling of trees for charcoal or export in exchange for hard currency, a lack of maintenance/fuel at mechanical boreholes causing overcrowding amongst nomadic herders at natural water sources, the over-hunting of wildlife and over-fishing of Somali waters, much if it by foreign vessels. Equally alarming are reports that Western countries have sought to dump industrial waste in Somalia following the disintegration of the central administration.



Jonathan Uglow has recently graduated from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London with an MA in African Studies. His thesis focused on the use of the camel in Somali poetry. He is currently training as a garden designer specialising in gardens for peace and reconciliation.

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