STORY: Somalia marks International Day for Mine

Awareness
TRT: 4:04
SOURCE: UNSOM PUBLIC INFORMATION
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CREDIT REQUIRED: UNSOM PUBLIC INFORMATION
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/SOMALI NATS
DATELINE: 4/APRIL/2019, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

SHOT LIST:

1. Wide shot, participants attending the event marking the International Day for
Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, in Mogadishu
2. Med shot, Somali police officers at the event
3. Wide shot, participants at the event
4. Close up shot, Phil Evans, Head of the UK Department for International
Development (DFID), at the event
5. Med shot, Mohamud Mohamed (Bonow), State Minister for Internal Security, and
Abdulkadir Abdulle Hooshow, Director-General of the Somalia Explosive
Management Authority (SEMA), at the event
6. Med shot, Marco Carmignani – UNSOM Director of Rule of Law and Security
Institutions Group and Qurat-ul-Ain Sadozai, Head of UNMAS Somalia, at the event
7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Abdulkadir Abdulle Hooshow, Director General of the
Somalia Explosive Management Authority (SEMA)
“The numerous deadly IED incidents in high populated areas is an obvious tragic
reminder of the harshness of the threat that we face. But by facing these threats and
by working together collectively, we will continue to enhance the protection of
civilians, establishing efforts sustainable to national capability and ultimate peace,
security, development and safe-ground for the people of Somalia”

8. Wide shot, participants at the event

9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Qurat-Al-Ain Sadozai, Head of UNMAS in Somalia
“The path forward in achieving the 2030 agenda for sustainable development must
be clear of landmines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices.
All people have the right to live in security and not fear their next step. Mine action
clears paths and creates safe ground on which homes can be built or rebuilt. Mine
action changes mind sets so that people know how to protect themselves. It gives
people and communities new horizons and hope.”
10. Wide shot, participants attending the International Mine Awareness Day event
11. Med shot, UNMAS staff at the event
12. Med shot, participants at the event
13. Med shot, participants at the event
14. SOUNDBITE: (Somali) Mohamud Mohamed (Bonow), Federal State Minister of
Internal Security
“We are dedicated, through SEMA, to double our efforts to provide safety, preserve
dignity and observe human rights of every Somali and protect them from the threats
of explosive hazards and landmines.”

15. Close up shot, Qurat-ul-Ain Sadozai, Head of UNMAS in Somalia, listening

16. Med shot, participants listening
17. Close up shot, a participant listening
18. Wide shot, UNMAS staff at the event
19. Med shot, Sayid-Ali Abdullahi, Chairman of the Somali Disability Council,
speaking
20. SOUNDBITE: (Somali) Sayid-Ali Abdullahi, Chairman of the Somali Disability
Council
“While acknowledge the multitude of challenges, I ask for collective efforts to assist
survivors of explosive hazards in Somalia. UNMAS and SEMA should come up with a
plan, with the support of the International Community, to better the lives of the
disabled persons in Somalia.”

21. Med shot, Somali police officers at the event

22. Close up shot, a participant listening
23. Wide shot, participants at the event
24. Med shot, UNMAS staff at the event
25. SOUNDBITE: (English) Phil Evans, Head of the UK Department for International
Development (DFID)
“We believe in a sustainable country that approaches the mine action; and central to
all our mine action work is supporting national mine action authorities like the
Somali Explosive Management Authority, in order to build capacity and achieve full
national ownership of the mine and ERW [explosive remnants of war] challenges and
of course to help all those communities in need.”
26. Wide shot, a Somali police officer demonstrates use of mine and explosives
detection equipment
27. Close up shot, equipment
28. Med shot, Somali police officer explains usage of equipment
29. Close up shot, equipment
30. Wide shot, Mohamud Mohamed (Bonow), State Minister of Internal Security,
listening
31. Med shot, UNMAS staff interacting with Mohamud Mohamed (Bonow), State
Minister of Internal Security
32. Close up shot, equipment
33. Wide shot, UNMAS staff and shots of equipment
34. Close up shot, improvised explosive devices (IED) scanner
35. Wide shot, Mohamud Mohamed (Bonow), Federal State Minister of Internal
Security, testing the IED scanner

STORY

Somalia marks International Day for Mine Awareness

Mogadishu, 4 April 2019 – Senior officials of the Federal Government of Somalia and
the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) observed the International Day for
Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action with an event in the Somali capital
that drew over a hundred participants and provided some troubling statistics about
the menace still posed by the increasing use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in
the country.

“The numerous deadly IED incidents in highly populated areas is an obvious tragic
reminder of the harshness of the threat that we face,” said Abdulkadir Abdulle
Hooshow, the Director-General of the Somalia Explosive Management Authority
(SEMA) that was established in 2013 to spearhead the federal government’s efforts
to rid the country of landmines, unexploded ordnance and other explosive hazards.

According to estimates compiled by the UNMAS programme in Somalia, civilians

account for 44 per cent of the number of fatalities caused by IEDs and 53 per cent of
all injuries.

Mr. Hooshow pledged that Somalia will continue to enhance the protection of
civilians through the sharing of information that can deter future IED attacks. He also
reaffirmed the country’s determination to bolster national capabilities to counter
that threat in a sustainable manner.

Participants in today’s forum learned that 37 locations contaminated by explosive

hazards were identified in Somalia during 2018. More than 1,400 explosive remnants
of war were destroyed last year.

“The path forward in achieving the 2030 agenda for sustainable development must
be clear of landmines, explosive remnants of war and IEDs. All people have the right
to live in security and not fear their next step,” said Qurat-Ul-Ain Sadozai, Head of
the UNMAS Somalia Programme, as she read out a statement on behalf of UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

According to Ms. Sadozai, UNMAS has increased its outreach activities in the areas of
mine risk education and community engagement in order to curb the threat posed
by unexploded ordnance left over from Somalia’s long civil war. A total of 30,438
people were reached by the UN agency’s outreach campaign in 2018.

The theme of this year’s International Day for Mine Awareness is “Safe Ground –
Safe Home”, and it supports the forging of coalitions to raise funds to benefit
survivors of armed conflict.

The Federal State Minister for Internal Security, Mohamud Mohamed ‘Bonow’,
called on stakeholders and the mine action community to support the federal
government’s implementation of a national plan to eradicate explosive hazards.

“We are dedicated through SEMA to double our efforts to provide safety, preserve
dignity, observe the human rights of every Somali and protect them from the threats
of explosive hazards and landmines,” he stated.

Representatives of civil society organisations also attended the forum, and Sayid-Ali
Abdullahi of the Somali Disability Council called for increased support to survivors of
explosive incidents.

The UNMAS programme in Somalia includes support to the African Union Mission in
Somalia and the Somali Police Force to help mitigate the threat posed by IEDs.

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