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Summary: Somali Child Protection and Development (SOCPD) has organised a large ceremony to commemorate International Peace Day. It started at 9:00am and finished at 1pm on 21 September 2005. The ceremony was held at the hotel happy conference hall in Mogadishu, and it was attended by NGOs’ representatives, the media, CPOs , civil society groups, women and youth groups.
Somali Child Protection and Development (SOCPD) has organised a large ceremony to commemorate International Peace Day. It started at 9:00am and finished at 1:pm on 21 September 2005. The ceremony was held at the hotel happy conference hall in Mogadishu, and it was attended by NGO representatives, the media, CPOs, civil society groups, women and youth groups. The chairman of the SOCPD opened the ceremony and different dignitaries made their presentations afterwards. Somalia has been in a fragmented state since the collapse of central government in 1991, and their many social, political and socio-economic issues have led to psycho social problems for much of the population and as a result, great civil unrest. The impact of many years of civil war in tandem with the breakdown of social and political institutions; the lack of law and order; human rights violations and abuses; recurrent droughts and floods have all had serious consequences on the situation of the child protection and their social, cultural, traditional condition, especially on those most vulnerable. The ability of key duty bearers to provide a protective environment for the children that ensures the fulfillment of their human rights has also been weakened, exposing children to violence and exploitation. The newly established Somali government in Nairobi, Keyna is going to fail because, the government is split in to two parts: one lead by the speaker of the parliament, Mogadishu-based, and the other lead by the president and based in Jowhar with the prime minister. Somali people are worry about the possibility that fighting may restart again in Somalia and child recruitment may happen again because of it. Thus, Somalia is commemorating international peace day and hopes to join the world in the coming years, although the situation is not as expected yet. Grean Gates Coordinator: Mr. Jelle spoke of the importance of the day and hoped for Somali people to get peace and reconciliation in the coming years. COGWO: Nurto Sheik spoke deeply of the increasing number of violations against women and children recently, and encouraged duty bearers to protect Somali children. The lack of peace caused this issue and we have to put pressure on political leaders to build peace in Somalia. YDC. The chair lady of the youth development centre presented a speech clearly emphasizing the importance of peace. She said that women, girls, and children are the most vulnerable in a war. She also said, that we are kindly requesting warlords to stop inciting fighting and daily threats to human rights activists and that the new established government should reunite again and consider the above mentioned groups. Many people spoke about the valuable relevance of the Day and the chairman of Somali Child Protection and Development (SOCPD) Mr. Mohamed Abdi, who spoke about the spirit of the Day and thanked the participants of the ceremony. He also made an appeal to the new government expecting to bring peace and reconciliation in Somalia and not civil war again The ratification of the convention on the rights of the Child (CRC) was also expected as well as to put a stop to the recruitment of children in the army or militias. The establishment of new schools was also mentioned to be expected. In short, not just good words but the creation of a safe environment. Threats and violence can only create psychosocial problems and these are no longer acceptable. A football match was organised between the horsed and wabri teams to commemorate the importance and seriousness of the day.