African Studies Blog

Dr Steve Howard, Ohio University Director of the African Studies Program was honored Wednesday with the President’s Award from the President of Somalia in Columbus, Ohio.

The President of Somalia, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was in Columbus on a visit sponsored by African Studies in cooperation with the Columbus Council on World Affairs. The inscription on the statuette read, “Thank you for being a friend of the Somali community.”

Read it in  Outlook : Ohio University News and Information

From The Economist:

The UN says that 3.2m Somalis (out of about 8m) now need aid just to stay alive: a 77% rise on last year. A sixth of Somali infants are at risk of starving to death. Due to what aid organisations call “intolerable insecurity”, almost all international charity workers have left. Offshore, Somali pirates are as bold as ever. They are holding around ten vessels, including three large tankers with 130 crewmen captured this week.