For the last one year that I have been working as the Information Coordinator for Somalia programme, I seem to have a first for everything and my story below will not be any different. During the month of August 2015, I was honored to participate in the Hargeysa International Book Fair (HIBF) in Somaliland. For […]
Overcrowding on the thin strip of rocky beach at Kagunga, where over 40,000 people are estimated to have fled from neighbouring Burundi, has been so severe that women and children sit right at the water’s edge on the soaked sand as they wait for the boats to arrive.
A couple thousand feet from the ground on the propeller plane we’re in, heading to Jonglei state in South Sudan, what I find most striking are the miles and miles of lush green expanse. I’ve taken this route many times back and forth from Juba over several years of work on South Sudan and it […]
Words and Pictures: Emma Jane Drew “When I first came to Minkaman a year ago, it was a very sad and sombre picture of shocked people. No smiles, no laughter and the sounds of “thunder” (Bombing in Bor) in the background. Today, Minkaman is a very different place – smiles and laughter can be heard […]
Oxfam adds its voice to the campaign on violence against women Background November 2014 saw violence against women rise to an alarming level with at least five reported cases across the country. These five women have been stripped off naked and also stripped off their dignity by men who claim the women ‘are tempting them’ […]
It took 16 warnings for the international community to respond to the last catastrophe; lessons must be learnt from past to avert another crisis in the Horn of Africa.
Fishing in Puntland Puntland boasts an expansive 1,600 km coastline along the Indian Ocean. Its waters are home to some of the richest fishing grounds in Africa and present considerable potential for artisanal fisheries and coastal area development, where efficient fishing, fish marketing and processing remain critical to household livelihoods, creation of jobs and income […]
Safia Abndi Nuur is a mother of eight children. She was born in Hargeisa and is one of four children. When she was young, some of her brothers and sisters were privileged to attend school, some even finishing their bachelor’s degree in university. Safia finished her formal education in secondary school, got married in 1998 […]
The entrance to UN House is a stretch of dirt road, straddled on each side by makeshift shops and restaurants. The air is filled with the mixed sounds of heated conversation, eclectic music and sporadic laughter. If you close your eyes, you are transported to a cafe in Juba town, almost forgetting that you are […]
Blog post by Oxfam Novib Executive Director Farah Karimi on her visit to South Sudanese refugee centres in northern Uganda: Again, when I touch the sensitive subject of security, all I see is discomfort and eyes wandering off to avoid mine. On Friday I met with another young woman, a girl in fact, who is […]
The political progress in Somalia has inspired confidence and hope among many Somali people for the years to come, but there are enormous institutional, political, and economic challenges to overcome. Although the situation has improved since the 2011 famine, Somalia is still the focus of a complex humanitarian emergency. The magnitude of the crisis remains […]
