Thursday, November 26, 2009

Ogaal Radio's Hassan Abdillahi Receives Media Award at NEPMCC Event

By Farid Omar.

Members of the Somali-Canadian community and Canadians in general continue to congratulate Mr. Hassan Abdillahi "Karate" the Founder, President and Host of Ogaal Radio (Somali Media), FM 88.9, for being presented with a NEPMCC media award by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, at the November 21-22, 2009, National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC), Development Training Seminar at Seneca College.

Mr. Hassan Abdillahi has clearly emerged as an influential media personality in Canada and his increasingly popular Ogaal Radio has joined the ranks of the most progressive and highly recognizable ethnic media outlets in Canada.

Popularly known as “Karate”, Mr. Hassan Abdillahi is a respected journalist and community leader with twelve years experience in community radio programming.

OGAAL RADIO is the largest Somali language Community radio in Canada and it's weekly broadcasts reach a large, diverse audience in the GTA and other parts of Southern Ontario and millions worldwide through the internet. It broadcasts live every Sundays on CIRV Radio, 88.9FM, 10:00pm – 12am.

The mandate of Ogaal Radio is to meet the news, information and entertainment needs of the Somali and all Somali speaking communities in Ontario and rest of Canada. The Radio's potential audience is estimated at over 150, 000 listeners, comprising mainly of Canadians of Somali and East African descent as well as immigrants and newcomers to Ontario.

From Coast to Coast, the Somali-Canadian and North American Somali Diaspora community in general have rejoiced at the news that an important, hardworking member of their community has received such an important recognition.

Mahad Isaniye, the Executive Director of the Somali Community of British Columbia, said that it is“wonderful news, to see a Somali person who cares about his people receives an award. It is a deserving gesture from the Prime Minister to recognize such a person who created a radio station and supported his community with his effort and dedication”.

Speaking at the NEPMCC training seminar, Prime Minister Harper called upon journalists to “shine light into dark corners and assist the process of holding governments accountable” adding that “Members of the ethnic press and their readers understand what it's like in countries where truth is only what the state says it is and journalists are co-opted as government mouthpieces or threatened with their lives”.

The NEPMCC is a non-profit media organization made up of journalists representing editors and publishers of diverse cultural media across Canada. The organization promotes excellence, understanding and cooperation among its members. The purpose of the seminar is to provide training on best practices in Canadian journalism and skills development for the NEPMCC members.
The NEPMCC media training conference brought together more that 150 members of Canada’s ethnic media who traveled from across Canada to attend the historic event held at Seneca’s Markham College.

The event was also attended by a large number of dignitaries including Honourable Jason Kenney, M.P., Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Honourable Peter Kent, MP., Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Canada, Honourable Bob Rae, M.P, Honourable Justin Trudeau, M.P, Honourable Gerry Phillips, M.P.P., Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Timothy Hudak, Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and Mr. Scott Shortliffe, Director, Policy and Program, Canada Magazine Fund.

Seneca’s President, David Agnew, was delighted that the conference gives the College the opportunity to share its expertise from several programs with “an important industry, whose members reflect the diversity of our own staff and student population, and to provide them with information to better serve their communities.”

Thomas Saras, President and CEO of NEPMCC, hailed the important partnership between Seneca and NEPMCC saying that Seneca College has developed sessions designed “ to meet the needs of ethnic media, tying together our objectives of better marketing ourselves, encouraging and recognizing excellence in content, and encouraging professional and business development in the field.”

Ogaal Radio will continue to play an important role in NEPMCC circles. The lively Radio informs, engages, delights and empowers its target audience through original programming that include news analysis and commentary, interviews and interactive on air discussion with and between listeners.

More importantly, Ogaal Radio provides a forum for extensive cultural, musical and artistic expressions along with socially progressive ideas which arise from communities who are socially, politically and economically disadvantaged and whose access to mainstream media is limited.

Overall, it provides a progressive voice for the socially disadvantaged including women and other marginalized sectors of society whose views and artistic expressions are not represented in the mainstream media.

Ogaal Radio makes programming decisions based on the area's listening needs and encourages listener participation in all activities. Every week, the radio receives a large volume of phones from its listeners throughout the GTA and southern Ontario.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Global Poverty on the Rise

By Farid Omar

On Saturday, October 17th, social justice activists and concerned global citizens from around the world will observe the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Since the 1990s, the eradication of poverty and destitution in all countries, in particular developing countries, has become one of the priorities of development, considering that the promotion of eradication of poverty and destitution requires public awareness.

First observed on October 17, 1987, when over a hundred thousand people gathered at the Trocadéro in Paris, to honour the victims of extreme poverty, violence and hunger, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly through resolution 47/196 adopted on 22 December 1992, declared 17 October as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and invited all States “to devote the Day to presenting and promoting, as appropriate in the national context, concrete activities with regard to the eradication of poverty and destitution”.

The Resolution further invites intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations “to assist states, at their request, in organizing national activities for the observance of International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, paying due attention to the specific problems of the destitute”

According to the UN, October 17th presents an opportunity to acknowledge the effort and struggle of people living in poverty, a chance for them to make their concerns heard, and a moment to recognize that poor people are the first ones to fight against poverty. Participation of the poor themselves has been at the centre of the Day's celebration since its very beginning. The commemoration of October 17th also reflects the willingness of people living in poverty to use their expertise to contribute to the eradication of poverty.

With the global economic crisis, the food crisis and the impacts of climate change combining to reverse the gains made over the past few years in reducing poverty, redoubled efforts by world leaders are required if nations are to continue to move forward on achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

As the gap between the super rich and the poorest communities on the planet continues to grow, global poverty, more than ever before, is alarmingly on the rise.Throughout the world, it is mostly women and children who bear the brunt of poverty. The year 2009 coincides with the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child,which will be marked on November 20th. UN figures show that each year, nearly 10 million children die from preventable causes before their fifth birthday, and that that some 1.2 million children are trafficked worldwide.

In recognition of this, the 2009 observance of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty focuses on the plight of children and families living in poverty and the need to fulfill children's rights in partnership with them and in keeping with the Convention.

When it comes to global poverty, the statistics are grim. Every 3 seconds, a child dies of extreme poverty. Over 1 billion people around the world live on less than $1 a day while in Canada, over 1 million children live in poverty. In addressing these challenges, anti-poverty groups in Canada and beyond demand a more and better aid for developing nations, trade justice, debt cancellation and an end to child poverty.

Despite rapid economic growth in the last two decades, it is estimated that a large number of Canadians still live in poverty. But a Pan-Canadian Movement to combat poverty is fast building as activists are mobilizing across the country to spearhead a united front to eliminate poverty in Canada. Dignity for All: The Campaign for a Poverty-Free Canada, was founded in 2009 by Canada Without Poverty and Citizens for Public Justice. The campaign notes that freedom from poverty is a human right and that all are entitled to social and economic security.

In combating the structural causes of poverty in Canada, the Dignity for All Campaign calls for a sustained action by the federal government including a federal plan for poverty elimination that compliments provincial and territorial plans, a federal anti-poverty Act that ensures enduring federal commitment and accountability for results and a sufficient federal investment in social security for all Canadians.

On the international front, concerted efforts by social justice and anti-poverty groups, international organizations and governments from around the world are needed to make poverty history.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

London is Profiting from Somalia Piracy

By Farid Omar

Since the collapse of central government in Somalia in 1991, pirates have reigned supreme over the Somali high seas, hijacking commercial vessels and ships carrying humanitarian supplies. In the latest incident, pirates have released the Ukrainian freighter, MV Faina, walking away with an estimated $3.2 million in ransom money.

Piracy is a lucrative business in war-torn Somalia. Last year alone, pirate gangs were paid an estimated £35million from holding 40 ships and hundreds of crew members to ransom. Some sources claim that Somali pirates may have collected as much as $150 million last year although this figure could not be independently verified. While piracy continues to be a menace, it is was the pirates who hijacked the MV Faina, loaded with 33 tanks, artillery, grenade launchers and ammunition who captured global attention. The pirates had no idea that their booty was an estimated $30 million worth of deadly weaponry, heading for South Sudan via Kenya.

While the western media has often focused its attention on Somali pirates, the international community has paid a blind eye to the ravaging of Somali seas by foreign vessels that either fish illegally or dump toxic material, including nuclear waste in Somali territorial waters in flagrant violation of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the beleaguered East-African nation.

Sugunle Ali, a spokesman for the pirates on the just released MV Faina, once told the New York Times that in the eyes of the world, the pirates had been misunderstood.

"We don´t consider ourselves sea bandits," he said. "We consider sea bandits those who illegally fish in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas. We are simply patrolling our seas. Think of us like a coast guard." In Somalia, pirates claim that they only impose heavy "fines" as opposed to claiming "ransom" when seizing ships that illegally enter Somali seas.

Col. Gaddafi, the newly-minted African Union (AU)chairman, recently told Kenya's Daily Nation that he doesn't believe that Somalia's piracy was a crime.

" It is a response to greedy western nations, who invade and exploit Somalia's water resources illegally". Said the Libyan President. " It is not piracy, it is self-defence.It is defending Somalia children's food". Col Gaddafi argued.

After the collapse of the Somali state, there were no patrols along the shoreline and Somalia´s tuna-rich waters were soon plundered by commercial fishing fleets from around the world. Somali fishermen armed themselves and turned into vigilantes by confronting illegal fishing boats and demanding that they pay a tax.
However, things later got out of hand as the vigilantes in the high seas quickly transformed themselves into pirates hijacking any vessels they could catch.

But unknown to most in the rest of the world, Somali pirates are not the only ones benefiting from this high stakes industry. Last month, the BBC reported that the hijacking of ships off the coast of Somalia has created a mini-industry for a business entity based in the UK. An investigation by Simon Cox, a BBC reporter, on how ransom is paid ,has revealed that money trails lead to one destination: London.


According to Cox, securing the release of hijacked ships and crew members is "the responsibility of a hidden mini-industry of lawyers, negotiators and security teams based nearly 7,000km away, in London, UK, the business capital of the world's maritime industry".

Simon Beale, a marine underwriter, says that all these specialist services don't come cheap in the UK. He adds that by factoring in the cost of lawyers, risk consultants, security advisers, as well as the fixed overheads, and delivering the money to the pirates , all these "can lead to doubling the ransom amount."

Cox adds that this hidden mini-industry thrives because paying a ransom is not illegal under British law unless it is paid to terrorists. It has long been established that piracy in Somalia does not constitute a politically motivated act as pirates simply hold vessels for ransom. As such, they are treated as criminal gangs in the high seas, not terrorists.

Cox notes that last year, Somali pirates pocketed an estimated $50m. "Not all of this is going to British lawyers, negotiators and security teams but a fair chunk of it will be". Says Cox. "This has led to some criticism, particularly in Spain, that London is profiting from crime".

In dealing with piracy, the best solution is for the international community to put to an end the illegal fishing and dumping of toxic waste in Somali waters as well as reign in on the mini industry in UK that is profiting from this criminal enterprise.

More importantly, piracy can only be rooted out if the international community supports the creation of a peaceful and stable state in Somalia. This would entail the promotion of an inter-Somali dialogue that would bring together all parties in the Somali conflict in direct negotiations on the way to finding a lasting solution to the political crisis in Somalia.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Zimbabwe : Coalition Deal Finalized

By Farid Omar

After months of bitter wrangles on how the most powerful cabinet posts were to be shared out in Zimbabwe's coalition government deal, Southern African leaders, who have been mediating for a durable settlement have persuaded Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to join a joint administration despite their concerns over Zanu-PF's commitment to sharing power. The power-sharing deal was agreed in September 2008 but has been mired by bitter disputes.

In light of this new development, Zimbabwe's parliament has unanimously approved a constitutional amendment allowing opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to become prime minister.

Mr Mugabe is expected to sign the amendment on Friday and Mr Tsvangirai is due to be sworn in on 11 February.

Negotiators are still trying to hammer out who gets what ahead of the unity government taking over on 13 February.

Months after the ruling Zanu-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) signed a power sharing-deal; Zimbabwe still doesn’t have a new coalition cabinet in place. Under the power-sharing deal, Mugabe is supposed to remain President and Tsvangirai, the MDC leader, is to become Prime Minister.

Zanu-PF and the MDC have been unable to agree on how to divide cabinet posts. The MDC insists that it should take control of the Home Affairs Ministry which controls the police. This, the MDC claims, would help curtail the harassment of its leaders and supporters.

The MDC has often accused Mugabe of not being sincere about power-sharing, saying that despite the deal, its supporters, party officials and human rights activists are still being abducted.

But Zanu-PF has long maintained that its security operations directed at subversive elements within MDC ranks are aimed at defending Zimbabwe's sovereignty against imperialist detractors. It views the neo-liberal oriented MDC as a reactionary force working in collusion with western imperialism. Zimbabwe, President Mugabe insists, will never bow down to imperialist interests.

Further, Zanu-PF has stated that it is committed to a power-sharing deal, pointing to last month's sacking by President Mugabe of nine cabinet ministers and three deputy ministers. All the sacked ministers had lost their seats in the last March polls.

On the economic front, President Mugabe has blamed the economic sanctions imposed by western powers as the primary cause of Zimbabwe's worsening economic conditions. Zimbabwe has been hit by a hyper inflation that is spiraling out of control.

On the cholera situation, the United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki-moon has announced Robert Mugabe's agreement to allow a delegation of UN experts into the country to study the solutions which could be employed to stop the disease from spreading.

While Western governments blame the epidemic on the collapse of Zimbabwe’s health and sanitation system, the Zimbabwe government has blamed the outbreak on the British, stating that it is “a calculated terrorist attack on Zimbabwe”.

Last month, the Zimbabwe Herald quoted the information minister, Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, as blaming cholera on “serious biological chemical war... a genocidal onslaught on the people of Zimbabwe by the British.”