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HIIRAAN ONLINE
E D I T O R I A L
Monday April 07, 2008
If one thing has been constant in Somalia in the past twenty years, it is the fact that the Somalia crises have been getting more challenging year after year. Today, the first quarter of 2008, the situation of Somalia, is the worst the country has ever seen. Indeed, in every measure used to rank human progress, Somalia comes out as the worst place on the planet. For instance, if one searches the two words, Somalia and worst, one would sadly find out that the adjective worst (and its affiliates) are disproportionately associated with Somalia more than any other country in the world.
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A Somali child waits for her mother in a torn tent as she goes to collect food aid at Johar refugee camp, Somalia, Sept. 26, 2007. (Khalil Senosi/ AP Photo)
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In the words of Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the top United Nations official for Somalia, “The situation in Somalia is the worst on the continent.” According to UNICEF, Somalia is the “worst place for children.” Transparency International designates Somalia as the “worst for corruption.” Reporters without Borders have named Somalia as “Africa’s deadliest country for journalists.” Amnesty International says, press freedom situation in Somalia, “worst since 1991.” The International Maritime Bureau says, “Somali waters have become the most dangerous for pirate activities in the world.” On the refugee front, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, “Somalia It is the most pressing humanitarian emergency in the world today -- even worse than Darfur,” According to UNICEF, Somalia is experiencing “bleakest malnutrition situation.” On money and currency issues, Somalia ranked, “the worst performance of all 72 currencies” tracked by Bloomberg News. On the human rights front, according to Leslie Lefkow of Human Rights Watch “…there is really little comparison when you look around the world in terms of the gravity of the crimes and the scale of displacement.". As for those who venture out to help, Somalia is “one of the worst, if not the worst, environment for humanitarian agencies to operate in the world," according to the World Food Program spokesman. “Health indicators in Somalia continue to be among the worst in the world”, according to World Heath Organization.
The primary sources of Somalia’s heart wrenching problems are the absence of peace and the raging of incessant wars. The Somali people need to reconcile among themselves in order to reverse the devastating trends that engulf Somalia. Somalis are the ones who ignite the violence and facilitate others to add fuel to this fire. Unfortunately, the idea of ushering peace in Somalia has become stale. Peace has remained illusive in Somalia. Why, we must wonder? Is it because, the Somalia question - whatever that question may mean - is such intractable that the quest for peace in Somalia is beyond the realm of the possible? Or, is it that those who spearhead or dominate reconciliation efforts in Somalia were/are on the wrong track or the wrong people? Or is it due to the fact that those who ought to search peace and bring about reconciliation in Somalia, were not up to the task or not ready to assume their responsibilities. Or are there other reasons that we do not know that make peace and Somalia two poles that could never meet?
Whatever the case maybe, what we currently have in Somalia is a country mired in a deadly conflict for over twenty years. Mogadishu, our capital, resembles more like a ghost town than a capital city. Somalia is a country hundreds of thousands of its citizens are internally displaced, or are on the verge of displacement due to the raging / simmering conflict.. Somalia is a country one-third of its northern territory opted to secede fifteen years ago with no effort to address the implication of this severance. Somalia is a country over a million of its middle class fled the violence and resettled in far-flung corners of the world with little hope of their returning. Ours is a country the two most important political actors – the TFG and the Alliance (the Asmara based opposition) - are not in the mood to negotiate peace. Somalia is a country that even the top United Nations envoy is hesitant to unveil his peace initiative because of the fear that other members of the international community might torpedo it. Ours is a country whose national image is shattered and supplanted by contagious tribal identities; a country hopelessness, foreign manipulation, and intransigence rather than collaboration in politics become the reflex norm and the standing operating procedure.
Anguished by this appalling state of affairs in the homeland; Hiiraan Online, decided to present this editorial piece to its readers. We are asking / seeking / in search of, how we, Somalis inside and outside Somalia, could help bring peace to our battered homeland. In our opinion, the only way Somalia could regain the glory that many of us fondly and faintly remember (and others dream about), is when peace prevails in Somalia. Such a peace will not come about without concentrated peace and reconciliation efforts by Somalis, for the cards have been stacked against the path of peace for close to twenty years.
In spite of the mammoth difficulties and onslaught of every imaginable misfortune, Somalia limbed along for two decades. We believe this was possible because of the resilience of the Somali people. We also believe Somalia’s only hope of digging itself out of these predicaments, is through the ingenuity and the positive energy of its sons and daughters. Hiiraan Online wants to hear from them.
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