Moulid Hujale

Female baristas in Mogadishu are transforming Somalia’s emerging cafe culture as improving security fuels rapid growth in coffee shops. Young women such as Saabiriin Hassan and Yusra Abdifatahi are overcoming gender stereotypes, finding stable employment and gaining confidence through barista work. Expanding chains like Beydan are creating jobs and attracting new businesses to previously quiet neighbourhoods. Training centres now offer barista courses, many attended by women, reflecting rising demand for skilled workers in the hospitality sector and growing opportunities for Somali youth.

Drought, flash floods and armed conflict have displaced millions of Somalis and pushed more than 6.5 million people toward severe hunger. In Mogadishu and other displacement camps, families lack reliable food, water, sanitation, healthcare and shelter, while nearly 1.9 million children under five face acute malnutrition and hundreds of nutrition clinics have closed because of funding shortages. Humanitarian agencies say international aid cuts are limiting their ability to respond. Somalia's political crisis, including disputed extensions of the president's and parliament's mandates and the violent dispersal of protests, is further distracting leaders and threatening to worsen the humanitarian emergency.

Mohamed Ibrahim Warsame, known as Hadraawi, died in Hargeisa at 79 and was widely mourned as one of Somalia’s greatest poets. His poetry helped preserve Somali language and culture while expressing opposition to injustice and dictatorship; a verse from “The Killing of the She-Camel” led to his imprisonment for five years under Siad Barre. After his release, he continued composing and later promoted peace, including through a 2004 march during Somalia’s civil war. Tributes from Somali leaders, artists and international partners emphasized his role as a symbol of unity, democracy, reconciliation and cultural identity.

Somalia’s worst drought in decades has driven more than 300,000 people from their homes since January into already overcrowded displacement camps with inadequate food, water, healthcare and sanitation. Three failed rainy seasons have destroyed crops and killed livestock, leaving more than a quarter of the population in urgent need of food aid and about 1.4 million children at risk of acute malnutrition. Humanitarian agencies warn that below-average rains could trigger famine, while conflict, insecurity and limited funding further obstruct relief efforts. The UN and aid groups are calling for an immediate international scale-up, including assistance delivered in rural areas to prevent further displacement and deaths.

The disappearance of 24-year-old intelligence and cybersecurity expert Ikran Tahlil Farah has intensified a power struggle between Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble and President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, known as Farmaajo. Roble dismissed intelligence chief Fahad Yasin Haji Dahir and accused him of mishandling the case, while Farmaajo rejected the decision as unconstitutional and ordered Fahad Yasin to remain in office. Intelligence officials said al-Shabaab had killed Farah, but the group denied abducting her and her mother accused the intelligence agency of responsibility. The United Nations and African Union Mission in Somalia called for a credible investigation and urged political de-escalation as the dispute threatens to disrupt the country's electoral process and revive armed confrontation in Mogadishu.

Somalia is facing a worsening humanitarian crisis as droughts, floods, climate-related resource shortages, armed conflict and Covid-19 converge. More than 800,000 children are at risk of acute malnutrition, one in four people face acute food insecurity, and millions have been displaced. Interviews with displaced families and livestock traders show how hunger, lost livelihoods, unreliable rainfall, violence and disrupted exports are deepening hardship, while humanitarian agencies warn that funding shortages are limiting the response.

Humanitarian organisations in Somalia are rapidly expanding digital aid and mobile-money programmes, but local staff and rights advocates warn that weak data-protection practices and inadequate informed consent could expose displaced and vulnerable people to serious harm. Sensitive information such as names, locations and phone numbers is shared among NGOs and mobile operators, while some beneficiaries may not understand how their data is used. The Somali Cash Consortium says it follows EU-style GDPR principles and is improving verbal consent procedures, but allegations that telecom companies use aid data for marketing and the absence of Somali data-protection law remain significant concerns. Somali officials are working on legislation as humanitarian organisations distribute large sums to millions of people affected by conflict, displacement and disasters.

Somalia's parliament has introduced a sexual-intercourse-related crimes bill that could allow children to marry once they reach puberty, potentially as young as 10, with parental consent. The proposal has drawn strong opposition from Somali lawmakers, civil society groups, UNICEF and the wider UN, particularly because it differs from a 2018 bill that sought to criminalize child marriage and other sexual offenses. Child marriage, already common in Somalia and reportedly increasing during the coronavirus pandemic, is linked to poverty, dowries and entrenched social norms. With elections approaching and parliament's mandate nearing its end, activists fear the legislation could be rushed through for political purposes.

Drawing on his childhood in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp, Moulid Hujale compares pandemic lockdowns in the UK with the indefinite restrictions experienced by refugees. Panic-buying queues, limited food choices, stigma and constraints on movement echo camp life, though people outside camps retain greater freedom and access to alternatives. He argues that the global urgency and cooperation devoted to developing a COVID-19 vaccine should also be applied to finding durable solutions for the 79 million people displaced worldwide, while criticizing border closures and the return of people fleeing danger.

Women in Kismayo are entering Somalia's male-dominated fishing industry, where selling fish can generate substantially more income than selling milk or tea. With loans, training and mentorship from Kaah International Microfinance Service, a women's cooperative has helped members expand businesses, create jobs and increase monthly earnings. Participants still face abuse, sexist stereotypes and limited access to investment and supportive public policy. Somalia's growing effort to regulate offshore fishing could create further opportunities, but women say reliable financing is essential to building a sustainable domestic fishing economy.

Somalia recorded 237 confirmed coronavirus cases and eight deaths as Ramadan approached, with about 90% of cases in Mogadishu. Despite a night-time curfew and school closures, people continued gathering in mosques, teashops, restaurants and neighbourhoods, raising fears of rapid transmission in overcrowded settlements housing roughly 800,000 displaced people. Authorities and Muslim clerics are working to counter misinformation spread by militant groups and self-proclaimed healers, but firm guidance on communal Ramadan rituals had not yet been issued. Somalia's health system, weakened by three decades of conflict, has only 14 isolation centres and three approved testing facilities for a population of 15 million, while a modern hospital in Mogadishu remains unused because of political tensions with the United Arab Emirates.

A series of suspected al-Shabaab attacks in north-eastern Kenya has prompted thousands of teachers to leave their posts and led to the closure of hundreds of schools, including 100 in Wajir county. The violence has devastated education in a marginalized, predominantly ethnic Somali region where many children are now returning to nomadic pastoralism. Local leaders accuse the Teachers Service Commission and national government of abandoning the region and failing to protect teachers, while the commission says staff will not return until their safety is assured. Education advocates are promoting digital learning to help fill the teacher shortage.

Kamil Ahmed, the only female radio journalist in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp, produces and presents Somali-language programming for a community of more than 200,000 refugees. Gargaar FM provides essential information on health, education, registration and repatriation while connecting residents to wider news amid uncertainty over Kenya’s threatened camp closure. Ahmed’s work has inspired other young women despite social pressure to marry, limited educational and career opportunities, travel restrictions and the danger of eventually returning to Somalia.

Jawahir Roble fled war-torn Mogadishu for the UK as a child and became England's first female Muslim football referee. After earning Football Association qualifications, she progressed from youth to adult matches while wearing a hijab and now coaches young girls through an FA-backed nationwide participation programme. Roble aims to referee at the 2023 Women's World Cup, establish a football academy in Somalia and eventually train the Somali women's national team.

Reported sexual violence against children is rising in Somalia, particularly among internally displaced people around Mogadishu, while stigma keeps many cases hidden. Survivors and families face weak colonial-era laws, customary settlements that may force victims to marry perpetrators, lengthy legislative delays and retaliation when alleged attackers are police or military personnel. Civil-society groups provide essential support, but campaigners warn that proposed reforms and existing laws in Puntland and Somaliland will have limited impact without effective enforcement and political stability.

Moulid Hujale mourns his childhood friend Abass Siraji, a former Dadaab refugee who returned to Somalia, worked in humanitarian aid, won a parliamentary seat and became Somalia’s youngest minister. Siraji was shot dead at age 31 near Mogadishu’s presidential palace by bodyguards linked to the auditor general, amid uncertainty over whether the killing was accidental or targeted. His death is presented as a devastating blow to the hopes of Somalia’s young population, while the author calls for justice, healing, accountability and renewed efforts to rebuild the country.

A revised executive order by Donald Trump suspending refugee resettlement and restricting travel from six Muslim-majority countries has again halted the US relocation plans of Somali refugees in Kenya’s Dadaab camp. Refugees who endured years of screening and uncertainty describe shattered hopes, family separation and pressure to return to Somalia, despite security and humanitarian risks. The suspension also threatens urgent medical resettlement cases, while Kenya’s plans to close Dadaab increase fears of forced return. UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi warned that the order could deepen the anguish of people fleeing deadly violence.