The online users and access to internet have been getting momentum in Somalia and at the same time, the breaches of social media have been on the rise. People log in to their social media site and notice a string of posts or messages definitely not posted by them or they get a message that their account password has been changed without their knowledge.
Galkacyo Police Commissioner arrested a local blogger over reporting deterioration of security in Galkacyo and government’s unresponsive to an increasing bandits at the night. The process of his arrest was not made as prescribed by the law and without a court and was held at the Police Station for 12 hours.
The blogger runs social media based media outlet and always reports the social services matters and the arbitrarily arrest of journalists has been on rise recently and in particular, this is the second case in Galkacyo within a month.
Bareedo Platform whose activities are democracy, federalism and open government has achieved several milestones in promotion of women’s and youth’s political participation to achieve inclusiveness, promotion of freedom of information and digital rights, opening up of government data to the public to strengthen accountability and transparency and citizen’s engagement and promotion. The following report shows the details of the core activities implemented in 2019.
The term “open data” is something new to the Somali people, but it is definitely time to apply such approach in Somalia. Open data is not a new concept, although it only seems to have gained fame recent decades. It is simply defined as data that anyone can access, use and share. Openness of government data to the public has been recognized as a tool that can reinforce anti-corruption efforts by strengthening transparency, increasing trust in government and improving public sector integrity and accountability by reinforcing the rule of law through dynamic citizen participation and engagement.
Empowering youth and enabling them to play an active role within their country’s political process is Bareedo’s key priorities. Within efforts and activities to promote youth’s active participation in country’s political process, policy discussions and decision making which took place in different townships across Puntland, Bareedo Platform conducted a workshop for the key youth led organizations and groups in Qardho between December 20 – December 22, 2019.
