STORY: Somalia sets priorities for defector rehabilitation

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SOURCE: AMISOM PUBLIC INFORMATION
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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/SOMALI/NATURAL SOUND
DATELINE: 01/Dec/2017, NAIROBI, KENYA

SHOT LIST:

1. Wide shot, participants present during the workshop

2. Med shot, participants present during the workshop
3. Close up, a participant present during the workshop
4. SOUNDBITE: (SOMALI) CABDIRASHIID IBRAHIM MAXAMED, DIRECTOR OF THE
DEFECTOR REHABILITATION PROGRAMME (DRP)
Truly this workshop was very important and beneficial to us, as the Defector
Rehabilitation Programme (DRP), National programme and the Somali
government. We have all spent considerable amount of time and the organisers
have put a lot of efforts but we have gained a lot of knowledge from this
workshop. We are grateful to AMISOM and the African Union for the
facilitation.

5. Wide shot, participants present during the workshop

6. Med shot, participants present during the workshop
7. Close up, a participant present during the workshop
8. Med shot, participants present during the workshop
9. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) DR. OPIYO ODODA, AMISOM HEAD OF STABILIZATION
AND EARLY RECOVERY.
To deal with defectors we have to have collaborate effort that cuts across all
the institutions that are working in Somalia. But most importantis that we have
out of this workshop with set priorities. Priorities that have been developed by
our officers within the defector rehabilitation programme, priorities that they
can be able to put on their hands to know the activities they need to follow. At
the end of the day within the time frame that the organisation has decided to
follow up, they can be able to sit back and account for what we have done and
this is what we want from this organisations.

10. Wide shot, certificates are awarded to participants during the workshop
11. Med shot, a participant is awarded with a certificate during the workshop
12. Wide shot, Cabdirashid Ibrahim Maxamed, the Director of the Defector
Rehabilitation Programme (DRP)
STORY
Somalia sets priorities for defector rehabilitation

Nairobi, 1 December 2017 - The Somali Defector Rehabilitation Programme (DRP)

has set out a detailed work plan on integrating and rehabilitating converts from
violent opposition groups.
The priority plans include defector disarmament and community engagement at
local level, training and technical support for the DRP, network building, financing
and resource mobilization, advocacy and monitoring, establishing proper
communication and reporting network, creation of defector rehabilitation database,
and outreach.
To facilitate communication and reporting, a coordination committee would be
established to draw DRP, the National Intelligence Services, and other State
agencies. The detailed work plan will be implemented from next January through to
December 2018.
These priority pillars were crafted at an intensive four-day training on the
rehabilitation and reintegration of defectors. The workshop funded by the Danish
Government and organized by DRP and the African Union Mission in Somalia
(AMISOM), ended yesterday evening, in Kenyas Capital, Nairobi.
Eleven staff of the DRP and participants from international organizations, such as
International Organization of Migration (IOM), Norwegian Institute of International
Affairs, the UN and the British Embassy attended the workshop, which opened on
Monday.
This was an important workshop for my group, said DRP director Cabdirashiid
Ibrahim Maxamed at the closing ceremony. AMISOM has taken a lot of time to
ensure we take advantage of what they have been teaching us.
He said his organization required a lot of capacity building. The organizers have
taken a lot of time to prepare such a wonderful workshop. On behalf of the Somali
government, I am grateful.
The training was the first in a series DRP had lined up to build the capacity of staff,
he said. We hope we are going to have more of this.
During the opening ceremony Mr. Ibrahim Maxamed said 2000 defectors had
already been successfully reintegrated into society since the programme began in
2011.
The programme revolves around outreach, reception of the defectors, screening,
rehabilitation and reintegration. You can understand the risk they can cause if not
well integrated, Ibrahim said, in reference to Al-Shabaab ex-combatants and other
armed groups.
In his closing remarks Dr. Ododa Opiyo, AMISOMs Senior Civil Affairs Officer who is
also the Missions Head of Stabilization and Recovery, said the workshop had come
up with set priorities developed by participants to be met within the time-frame
agreed upon (by the participants themselves).
AMISOM, he said, would work with DRP to ensure success of the programmes
objectives, including support to its activities.
I am happy that we have reached at a point when we have direction set to
ourselves. During the interaction, we have appreciated the amount of work (to be
done).
He thanked the facilitators for what he termed a very successful training.
Topics covered at the workshop included political reintegration, radicalization
processes and approaches, financing and resource mobilization, disarmament
processes, profiling and eligibility criteria for DRP.
According to UN Resolution 2372 (2017), AMISOM, coordinating with the UN and the
Federal Government of Somalia, receive, on a transitory basis, defectors. This is not
only to reduce the threat by Al-Shabaab and other militant groups. But also to assist
the Somalia security forces to provide peace and order in Somalia.

END