MOGADISHU — 

At a news conference in Mogadishu, Somalia’s special envoy for humanitarian issues on Monday said more than six million Somalis were affected by the record drought.

Abdurahman Abdishakur Warsameh said the number of people suffering was quickly approaching half of Somalia’s population.

Warsameh said the drought has hit 72 of Somalia’s 84 districts and that six of them were already facing famine-like conditions with extreme food insecurity.

Main photo: the roots of mangrove trees are seen along a river in Pitas, Sabah, Malaysia, July 6, 2018

Land Portal and Global Data Barometer Publish Benchmarks to Assess the State of Open Land Data in 100+ Countries

11 May 2022 (GLOBAL) — Today the Data for Development Network, Latin American Open Data Initiative, and the Land Portal Foundation are launching the 

Pristine parts of northern Kachin State are under threat as demand grows for high-tech devices that rely on rare earth.

Main photo: The leaching ponds at a rare earth mining site in Kachin State, where toxic chemicals are applied to dissolve the metals. (PHOTO: Maran)

Kachin State’s Chipwi Township in northernmost Myanmar is known for its pristine forests and crystal-clear water.

The latest flood disaster comes just six weeks after parts of KwaZulu-Natal were struck by devastating flooding in which more than 400 people died. At least 80 people are still missing. More than 40,000 homes were destroyed. Dozens of roads, bridges and water and electricity infrastructure were damaged and much of it has not been repaired or restored.

The polls have delivered a new chapter for the country, allowing attention to turn to other pressing problems. 

After a 15-month delay in voting, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud became Somalia’s new president on 15 May. Political leaders had disagreed over the election process, including whether to conduct a one-person, one-vote election or an indirect one. In the end, May’s poll was indirect, with clan delegates voting for parliamentarians, who then cast their ballot for the president.

HUNDREDS of villagers in the Chilonga area of Chiredzi district held a demonstration at Chief Chilonga’s homestead on Sunday, protesting the government’s continue manoeuvres to proceed with the setting up of a lucerne grass-farming project by a private company, Dendairy.

The villagers, who came in seven trucks, wanted their voices heard by the authorities on the day the chief was scheduled to meet community leaders and government officials to discuss the project.

The chief was however attending other meetings in Masvingo on the day, forcing the postponement of the meeting.

April and May 2022 will be remembered as the most important months in the post-independence era. During this short period the much hoped for people’s awakening expressed itself powerfully. People who wielded authority failed to see the writing on the wall although the wall was just next to the Presidential Secretariat and everywhere in the country. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa thought he was merely seeing ghosts. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa believed in the comforting words of his friends despite knowing that the treasury was empty.

This is a home-based freelance position for 2 days/week.

The Land Portal Foundation is seeking a dynamic and highly motivated Knowledge Engineer to join our open data team in charge of selecting, curating and ingesting different types of land-related data into the Land Portal.