Negotiations between Somali leaders to organise elections after a lengthy postponement are making progress, raising hopes of an end to the country's worst political crisis in years, a UN official said on Tuesday.
James Swan, the UN’s envoy to the Horn of Africa nation, described “highly positive” talks between Somalia’s feuding political leaders.
He said they were close to a deal after more than three months of tension and violence.
President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, known as Farmajo, last month extended by two years his mandate which had expired on February 8, leading to clashes between government forces and pro-opposition groups in the capital, Mogadishu.
Addressing the UN Security Council, Mr Swan said "closed-door, confidence-building meetings" led by Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble this week in Mogadishu were close to a breakthrough in the crisis.
“We are encouraged that so far, a positive atmosphere prevails, and all sides report progress being made in the discussion,” Mr Swan said.
"The news this afternoon is also highly positive, and it appears the Somali principals are very close to an agreement … we hope it will be delivered in the coming hours."
He urged Somalia's political leaders to strike an "implementable agreement" on holding elections as soon as possible and steer the country away from "instability and insecurity" when drought and widespread threaten.
The talks between Mr Roble, the leaders of Somalia's five semi-autonomous states and the mayor of Mogadishu, are taking place in a tent at the city's airport, a high-security zone protected from attacks by Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabab extremists.
The summit has focused on sources of disagreement, including the composition of the electoral commission, poll security and logistics, voting in semi-autonomous regions and the date for an election.
Somalia’s Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdirizak told the 15-nation Security Council that negotiators had reached a deal on holding free elections, fair elections but he said talks would be likely to continue until Thursday before an announcement was made.
“The negotiation process has not been easy,” Mr Abdirizak said.
“This demonstrates how vital consensus remains. And, without consensus, how fragile peace in Somalia is and how fragile our institutions of governments remain.”
Mr Mohamed's rise to the presidency in 2017 was seen by Somalis as a sign of hope, as he had committed to tackling corruption and the Al Shabab group that has, since 2007, fought to topple the federal government.
The president’s decision to extend his mandate was, however, seen as a means of reinforcing his power base while his time in office has achieved only limited gains against Al Shabab.
Mr Mohamed struck a deal with the states in September 2020, paving the way for indirect elections before his government's term expired.
But the agreement collapsed as Mr Mohamed and the leaders of Puntland and Jubaland states argued over terms before, under domestic and global pressure, the president agreed to return to the terms of the September deal.
Somalia has been ravaged by conflict since long-standing dictator Siad Barre was toppled in 1991. A UN-backed federal government controls only a small portion of territory with the backing of some 20,000 African Union troops.
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$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
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Troy Payne, head chef at Abu Dhabi’s newest healthy eatery Sanderson’s in Al Seef Resort & Spa, says singles need to change their mindset about how they approach the supermarket.
“They feel like they can’t buy one cucumber,” he says. “But I can walk into a shop – I feed two people at home – and I’ll walk into a shop and I buy one cucumber, I’ll buy one onion.”
Mr Payne asks for the sticker to be placed directly on each item, rather than face the temptation of filling one of the two-kilogram capacity plastic bags on offer.
The chef also advises singletons not get too hung up on “organic”, particularly high-priced varieties that have been flown in from far-flung locales. Local produce is often grown sustainably, and far cheaper, he says.
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