- Title: [SW News] (VOA) peace
can prevail in Somaliland
- Posted by/on:[AMJ][Sunday, October 22, 2000]
DATE=10/13/00
TYPE=BACKGROUND
REPORT
TITLE=SOMALILAND
NUMBER=5-47171
BYLINE=LUCINDA
GORRINGE
DATELINE=HARGEYSA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Somaliland declared itself
a republic when it broke away from Somalia after dictator Siad Barre
was overthrown in 1991. Somaliland has managed to restore peace and
avoid much of the civil war that hit the rest of Somalia. Lucinda
Gorringe recently visited Hargeysa, Somaliland and found people were
working hard to rebuild their lives.
TEXT:
/// SFX: TOWN MARKET ///
The sounds of a busy Somaliland
market. It is filled with
shoes, bags, cosmetics, spices and vegetables.
They are all stacked neatly and are typical of almost any
market one might find in this part of Africa.
What is impressive about this
market, however, is that it has grown out of the rubble of battle.
The civil war that gripped the south of Somalia for so many
years reduced much of the north to a state of utter desolation.
And it is here, in the north of Somalia, that Fou-zia Yusuf H
Adam is one the founders of a new university in Hargeysa.
/// YUSUF ACT ///
People are coming together, [to] fight the old and start a new
life and development. The
country was destroyed entirely. We
decided to establish a research-oriented university, research for
development, retain people who were in key positions, start a proper
institution for high school graduates.
We also want to establish the Horn of Africa's first gender
studies [facility]; it will have four departments.
There is nothing impossible in this world.
If you want to do it, you can do it. We
just started with an idea.
/// END ACT ///
It is this attitude of
determination that led the people of Somaliland to establish their own
government, currency and banking system, and other institutions, all
largely achieved without any international assistance.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Mohammed Sahah Noor says the
people of Somaliland are very proud of their successes.
But he adds that the self-declared republic cannot progress
without international recognition.
/// MOHAMMED ACT ///
We are a country [that is an] oasis of peace and stability, in
a region engulfed by war. The
major constraint in our social and economic development is the lack of
international status. We
can't deal with I-M-F [the International Monetary Fund].
[We] can't tap into donor resources.
Foreign investment cannot come in.
/// END ACT ///
Minister of Defense Omar Mohamed
Nee-mo-le-ee says Somaliland maintains a fragile grip on peace and
stability. He says almost
all revenue from the country's main resource of livestock goes into
keeping peace. That hurts
the country's economy and ultimately its development.
/// OMAR ACT ///
Going back to the union [with Somalia] we think will be a
disaster. It will be a
lot of fighting again, and that is why we want to be independent of
Somalia. Now the
international community are not helping us, and for nine years we are
keeping the peace. Our
country was peaceful and we are absolutely really struggling hard to
keep this peace. What we
think is, if the
international community continue to stop their aid, not to help us, I
have my doubts, it will be difficult to keep the peace in this
country.
/// END ACT ///
Although
the majority of people in Somaliland want to keep their independence
from the rest of Somalia, there are still deep divisions among many
of the rival clans. But with new homes being built and successful
business being set up almost daily, there is a mood of optimism that
peace can prevail in Somaliland.
(Signed)
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