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Mogadishu (AX) – The Somali Press League (SOPL) has committed to enhancing the capabilities of Somali reporters to effectively deliver vital information regarding environmental matters to the public and link local narratives to the broader ecological dilemma.
SOPL joined global coalitions and entities in commemorating Global Media Independence Day on Friday, May 3, 2024, with the theme “Media for Mother Earth: Journalism in the Midst of the Ecological Emergency.”
Mohamed Osman Makaran, the General Secretary of the Somali Media Association (SOPL), stressed the significance of Media Independence Day and the improvement of media coverage on environmental and climate challenges in Somalia.
Between May 2023 and May 2024, there have been 28 instances of aggression against Somali journalists, encompassing murders, abuse, and apprehensions. The recent fatalities include Ismail Sheikh Khalifa, a former General Secretary of SOPL, deceased on May 10, 2023, due to prolonged injuries from a bomb blast on his vehicle; Abdikarim Ahmed Bulhan, slain in Abudwak district, Galmudug State, on March 14, 2024; and Abdifatah Moalin Qeys, killed in a terrorist bombing in Mogadishu on October 16, 2023.
SOPL’s announcement revealed that 20 other media personnel in diverse sectors faced detention, abuse, abduction, and expulsion from their work areas. Additionally, an incident occurred where Radio Brava was assaulted, and employees were arrested.
“Of the 28 occurrences of violence, only one, involving journalist Abdikarim Ahmed Bulhan, has seen accountability as the perpetrator of his murder was given the death penalty, while most journalists have not received fair justice,” the statement stated.
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Associations advocating for media liberties in Somalia intensified their objections against the nine-member Somalian National Media Council set up by the federal administration in March 2024. They asserted that media groups were not consulted and that the freshly selected Council members were governmental employees.
The Somali Press League (SOPL) implored President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to step in and avoid endorsing the established media council through a presidential decree.
This year, Somalia observes Global Media Independence Day as El Niño, a normally developing climate model linked to global temperature elevation, exacerbates the unusually high precipitation affecting the nation’s southern and central sectors.
The backlash of El Niño-triggered downpours and floods in the lengthy (Gu) rainy interval from March to June has wreaked havoc on multiple regions in Somalia. Per UNOCHA, the heavy downpours and floods have disrupted close to 127,000 individuals in Somalia and evicted an additional 8,376 residents.
The torrential rains and floods have also ravaged infrastructure and decimated accessibility to water and hygienic amenities, intensifying the risk of infections such as cholera. Meteorological projections foresee more than 200 mm of rain across certain regions in the states of Galmudug and Puntland in Somalia.
In the central Somali township of Beledweyne, within the Hiiraan area, numerous households abandoned their residences following floods triggered by prolonged rain showers affecting several districts in the municipality, with no mortalities reported.
The United Nations General Assembly established Global Media Independence Day in 1993. This day seeks to illuminate the crucial function of the press, journalism, information access, and information dissemination in ensuring an enduring future.
According to the Global Climate Index ND-GAIN, Somalia stands as the world’s second most climate-sensitive nation and among the least equipped to tackle the climate predicament.