A brainstorming meeting aimed at designing outreach campaigns to build trust between communities and the Somali security sector has been hosted in Mogadishu by the federal Ministry of Internal Security.

The meeting was attended by representatives of several federal ministries, security agencies, community policing officials and members of civil society groups, including women and youth organizations. Participants contributed to the deliberations that will culminate in developing concrete actions for reaching out to the communities.

Participants at the day-long meeting emphasized the need for better cooperation between security forces and Somali communities to tackle insecurity.

Abdillahi Yusuf Farah, the Director of Social Affairs, Advocacy and Media in the Ministry of Internal Security, assured participants that their ideas will be the driving force in the implementation of outreach campaigns by the ministry.

“Participants have called for better collaboration on outreach campaigns and confidence building between the police, security agencies and the population. We need to double the efforts through the media, through seminars, forums, sports, tournaments, poetry, billboards with slogans, and many other platforms to reach the community,” emphasized Mr. Farah.

Senior Strategic Communications Advisor to the Federal Government of Somalia Abdirahman Omar Osman (Eng. Yarisow) was full of praise for the deliberations. He said, “We collectively and actively discussed how the internal security ministry can design and manage effective public outreach aimed at bringing lasting peace and stability in Somalia. The ideas that were shared today and the decision that will follow will steer us into a new chapter in the cooperation between the population and the security agencies for a more peaceful Somalia.”

The chairperson of the Somali National Women Organisation, Batuula Sheikh Ahmed Gabale, welcomed the inclusion of women in the country’s security discussions as a step in the right direction, adding that it would ultimately yield admirable results.

“We are very happy to participate in the inclusion of women in discussion about security in Somalia and our neighbourhoods. This is the only way to address insecurity because women are in every part of the country and the society; they are in every home, markets and places of work. Women deserve proper recognition because they are active everywhere. We hope the security of Somalia will fully return,” said Batuula.

In order to implement the many concrete propositions gathered during the brainstorming session, participants agreed to foster the participation of different organizations and transform ideas into concrete actions.