STORY: SOMALIA AFRICAN UNION 50th ANNIVERSARY TRT: 3:38 SOURCE: AU/UN IST RESTRICTIONS: This media asset

t is free for editorial broadcast, print, online and radio use. It is not to be sold on and is restricted for other purposes. All enquiries to news@auunist.org CREDIT REQUIRED: AU/UN IST LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ FRENCH/SOMALI & NATS DATELINE: 23/24 MAY 2013, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

DATELINE: 24 MAY 2013, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA 1. Wide shot, houses at the Africa Village 2. Mid shot, old and dilapidated buildings 3. Med shot, women and children in the buildings 4. Wide shot, building at the Africa Village 5. Close up, Hussein Sudi chatting with friend behind a wooden fence 6. Wide shot, Sudi chatting with a friend 7. SOUNDBITE (Somali) Hussein Sudi, Businessman: The Africa Village was one of the most beautiful places in Mogadishu. It had 160 units excluding the AU hotel and administration block. Each unit had a clinic, a basketball court, a swimming pool and additional homes for guards and support staff. DATELINE: 23 MAY 2013, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA 8. Wide shot, convoy carrying Somali President Hassan Sheik Mohamud 9. Med shot, president getting out of his car and greeting AMISOM officials 10. Med shot, President Mohamud and AMISOM head, Ambassador Mahamat Saleh Annadif 11. Wide shot, President Mohamud and Ambassador Annadif inspecting a Guard of Honor 12. Close up, ceremonial bayonets fixed on guns 13. Wide shot, AMISOM soldiers presenting the Guard of Honor 14. Med shot, President Mohamud and Ambassador Annadif saluting the soldiers 15. Wide shot, Somali government and AMISOM delegation walking into a building 16. Wide shot, delegates inside conference hall during the AU 50th Anniversary celebration

17. Med shot, Ambassador Annadif and President Mohamud standing for the Somali national anthem 18. Med shot, guest at the celebrations 19. SOUNDBITE (English) Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Somali President: This is the spirit of the African Union today, a community of nations who stand side by-side, to find our solutions to our own problems. 20. Wide shot, guest at the ceremony 21 .Med shot, AMISOM police officials at the ceremony 22. SOUNDBITE (French) Ambassador Mahamat Saleh Annadif, Head of AMISOM: The sacrifices by Africans within AMISOM during this difficult phase is just something that Africa is giving back to Somalia. DATELINE: 24 MAY 2013, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA 23. Wide shot, building in the Africa Village 24. Med shot, destroyed concrete block hanging from roof top 25. Wide shot, Sudi chatting with friends 26. SOUNDBITE (Somali) Hussein Sudi, Businessman: The changes have been dramatic but were thankful that security has returned. We would love to see this place come back to life and regain the prestige and beauty that it had before. It would be amazing to have another African conference held here in Mogadishu. 27. Wide shot, Africa Village complex 28. Med shot, children in one of the buildings 29. Wide shot, Africa Village building with people on the road STORY: Dilapidated buildings peep over the tree line in central Mogadishu, Somalias capital. This is the Africa Village, a sprawling complex built by former Somali leader Siad Barre, to host delegates from all over the continent during an Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Summit in 1974. After Barres fall in 1991, and the start of the civil conflict, scores of internally displaced people (IDPs) moved into the Africa Village and stayed here, until they were kicked out by extremist fighters al Shabaab, who used it as a base. The Somali government forces, backed by African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops, recovered the neighborhood from the al Qaeda-associated group in 2011. The IDPs soon came back.

49-year-old businessman Hussein Khalif Sudi recalls what a showpiece the African Village used to be, even before the fighting forced him to become one of its residents. The Africa Village was one of the most beautiful places in Mogadishu. It had 160 units excluding the hotel and administration block. Each unit had a clinic, a basketball court, a swimming pool and additional homes for guards and support staff, Sudi said. Sudi is just a year younger than the pan-African alliance, which celebrates its Golden Jubilee tomorrow (May 25). Somalia was one of the OAUs founding members. At a ceremony to mark the 50th Anniversary in Mogadishu yesterday (May 23), Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud reminded guests of the critical role Somalia played in the OAUs fight against colonialism. He also urged for increased cooperation to tackle current threats like poverty, disease and internal conflicts. This is the spirit of the African Union today, a community of nations who stand sideby-side, to find our solutions to our own problems, Mohamud said. AMISOM head, Ambassador Mahamat Saleh Annadif, thanked troop-contributing countries Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Djibouti and most recently Sierra Leone, for not deserting Somalia in its time of need. The sacrifices by Africans within AMISOM during this difficult phase is just something that Africa is giving back to Somalia, he said. With only a few pockets of resistance remaining, AMISOM is now focusing its efforts on helping the Somali government develop the political, social and civil systems and structures it will need to stand on its own. Even ordinary citizens like Hussein Sudi know that Somalias recovery will not be easy and that it will not be quick. But the odds have not dimmed his hopes. The changes have been dramatic but were thankful that security has returned. We would love to see this place come back to life and regain the prestige and beauty that it had before. It would be amazing to have another African conference held here in Mogadishu, Sudi added.

Its always harder to build something up, than to tear it down. The expectations of future generations of Somalis and other young Africans, will be all the motivation the continents leaders need, even as they mark this highly significant and symbolic milestone. ENDS.