Features

Analysis: Somali Oligorchs

Like most former communist states, Somalia's wealth was concentrated in Mogadishu, where the government's headquarters were located. While the mining, oil, and transportation industries were non-existent in Somalia, the government did own all the service sectors, including the banking, energy,…

Fatima Ismail Mohamed: "I saw too many girls suffering from FGM and knew I had to do something"

Mogadishu – One morning in 2011, Fatima Ismail Mohamed was seated in her 8th grade classroom in the Somali capital of Mogadishu waiting for the lesson to begin, when suddenly her friend seated next to her dropped to the ground, writhing in pain.

Somalia's first all-women media team hits first-year anniversary

Established with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Bilan has provided the first opportunity for Somali women journalists to exercise complete editorial independence, deciding what they want to report and how. They have already used this freedom to break some of Somalia's…

Local aid worker shot dead in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, family confirms

Mogadishu (Horn Observer) — A local female aid worker has been shot dead in Mogadishu, Somalia on Friday, according to the family, local media reportts

REVEALED: How a former Somalia state TV official was smuggled into Finland

MOGADISHU (HORN OBSERVER) The former director of the Somali National Television (SNTV), Sharma'arke Mohamed Warsame has been smuggled into to Finland as the local human trafficking networks escalate their profitable business in unstable region, the Horn Observer can reveal.

US court convicts 2 men of 2012 kidnapping of journalist Michael Scott Moore in Somalia

Nairobi, March 7, 2023—In response to a U.S. federal court's conviction of two men, Mohamed Tahlil Mohamed and Abdi Yusu Hassan, in the 2012 hostage-taking of German American journalist Michael Scott Moore, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement welcoming the conviction:

Naming and shaming press freedom violators in Somalia

MOGADISHU (HORN OBSERVER) The Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) last week published its annual press freedom report which provides an insightful highlight of the disastrous effect of the October 2022 directive of the ministry of information that restricted independent media coverage on the ongoing…

FAO and Somaliland Government Open New Desert Locust Monitoring and Pest Control Centre in Hargeisa

HARGEISA – Somaliland Vice President, and Mr. Ezana Kassa, Head of Programme of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have officially opened the first Pest Control Centre in Somaliland. The centre, which is based in Hargeisa, will act as Desert Locust Early Warning and…

Somali govt attorney describes international donors as 'western infidels' during a press freedom case hearing

MOGADISHU (HORN OBSERVER) The Banadir Regional Court on Monday concluded a series of court hearing related to a press freedom case brought by the Somali federal deputy minister of information Abdirahman Yusuf Al-Adaala through the deputy attorney general's office.

Lawyers sue eight Somali govt officials over human rights violation

MOGADISHU (HORN OBSERVER) Human rights lawyers representing Somali journalist and human rights defender Abdalle Ahmed Mumin have sued eight Somali government officials for their involvement in the detention, persecution and discrimination against Mr. Mumin, according to a new court filing seen by Horn…