Better news for children in Mogadishu, Somalia

After a difficult year in Somalia on which we reflected at Christmas, within the past days, the security situation in Mogadishu, in particular the area where our project is located is changing rapidly for the better. Ahmed Ibrahim, director of SOS Children Somalia, comments that the Ethiopians have withdrawn from the project area and there is no real insecurity at present. This is a very promising development, which fills us with hope. With the Ethiopian troops out of our project area, we are hopeful that peace will sort of prevail and we can consider re-opening both the SOS Children's Village and the school within the next few weeks.

However, it must also be noted that the political situation in the country remains as fluid as ever, and it is not clear where all of this will lead. Uncertainty prevails, and that serves to remind us that anything can still happen and that we must remain constantly alert and cautious about the future of our children. For that reason we keep on monitoring and evaluating the situation on a daily basis and regularly update our emergency evacuation plan so that in the worst scenario we have a safety route in place and can react fast in any situation to keep our families safe.

Despite the physical absence of international staff from the projects over a period of almost one year, the local management and co-ordination team have done an extraordinary job in continuing helpng the children, supporting the mothers and operating the clinic. This in itself is a huge achievement and success story.