SOMALIA - PD ACTIVITIES UPDATE, NOVEMBER 30

UNCLAS NAIROBI 002427 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/RSA AND AF/E ALSO FOR S/CT ZROTHSCHILD ALSO FOR IIP/CTCC MAUSTEIN AND JVANDEVELDE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KPAO PTER MOPS SO SUBJECT: SOMALIA - PD ACTIVITIES UPDATE, NOVEMBER 30 REF: 07 STATE 116686 -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Per reftel, Post submits the following update for the third week of November 2009. End Summary. -------------- PD Activities -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The Somalia Unit, including the Military Information Support Team (MIST) dedicated to Somalia, performed para. 3-9 activities since the last report: ¶3. (SBU) PAO remains engaged with the Transitional Federal Government's (TFG) Minister of Information in an effort to assist the minister in his efforts to more effectively articulate the TFG,s viewpoints. PAO has attended two meetings of the UN-lead group aiming to coordinate all countries, and organizations, efforts to assist the TFG,s outreach efforts, with a parallel focus on freedom of the press and journalists in Somalia. No country has dedicated funds to the Ministry of Information as of this writing; Post feels strongly that once one of the actors makes a first move, several will follow in short order. The importance of this effort cannot be understated. On a related note, broadcasts from the newly-revamped Radio Mogadishu were temporarily interrupted by a transmitter ) reportedly erected by al-Shabaab in Mogadishu - purposely broadcasting on the same frequency as Radio Mogadishu; the jamming has since stopped. ¶4. (SBU) Post hosted the orientation visit of the AF/PDPA officer whose portfolio includes Somalia. The officer attended a series of internal and external meetings, highlighted by a day trip to Dadaab and an afternoon in Eastleigh, Nairobi's Somalia enclave. Post remains grateful to the AF/PDPA leadership for their support of our efforts towards Somalia, including the assignment of this officer to the Somalia portfolio. ¶5. (SBU) PAO, MIST, and the visiting AF/PDPA officer traveled to Dadaab refugee camps on November 16 to deliver over 800 sports uniforms, as well as soccer balls and volleyballs, to youth-led sports leagues in all three camps that practice conflict resolution in the context of their sports matches. The uniforms were adorned with U.S. flags on one sleeve, marking a significant step forward in our efforts to more fully brand our Somalia PD work. ¶6. (SBU) PAO remains engaged with the UN Support Office for AMISOM (UNSOA) in the context of UNSOA,s work to stand up a new radio station in Mogadishu. The station will not be heavily AMISOM-oriented, but will represent a new media outlet by which Somalis will be able to receive credible news reporting and cultural programming. Members of the three-company consortium that will manage the station have arrived in Nairobi, and PAO is consulting with them as needed. ¶7. (SBU) The infighting among Somali journalists continues and will be reported on in detail in septel. Most recently, the Dutch organization Press Now conducted a workshop in partnership with one of the Somali journalist unions, but with the precondition of the exclusion of members of certain other journalist unions. PAO briefed the organizer, Press Now, at their request, on some of the dynamics of this ongoing conflict. ¶8. (SBU) MIST activity: MIST met with the National Council of Churches in Kenya (NCCK) to coordinate a late November performance by the 3rd Light of the community Drama group, a drama club in the Dadaab refugee camps whose work is centered on themes like peace and reconciliation. MIST is also working with a comic book production team to pre-test a youth anti-violence comic prototype. MIST partners rebroadcast sheikh lectures & youth drama episodes in Central Somalia on Radio Daljir. ¶9. (SBU) MIST activity (cont.): A new MIST is scheduled to arrive in Nairobi on the evening of November 30. RANNEBERGER