It’s the silent and unsung war in Somalia, and the forces of information are winning. In a setup unique in modern-day conflict, the United Nations has sub-contracted the task of winning Somalia’s media war to a private company with worldwide media experience, Albany Associates.
For the past few years a pan-African army called AMISOM has cleared the Islamist group Al-Shabaab from major towns in Somalia and laid the best chance for rebuilding Somalia that the country has known for 20-odd years.
A parallel battle has been waged at the same time to break Al-Shabaab’s dominance of the airwaves and public information by reaching out to the Somali public with messages that support the democratically elected Somali government and the African Union Mission for Somalia (AMISOM).
“It’s strategic communication in action,” says Jem Thomas, Albany’s Head of Operations. “There was a crucial need to counter the Al-Shabaab propaganda machine and get people to see that what AMISOM is bringing is more stability than anyone has seen here for decades.”
The Information Support Team (IST), as it is known, was set up in 2009 when Al-Shabaab had almost total control of the airwaves and depicted AMISOM (the African Union Mission for Somalia) as foreign invaders fighting a Western proxy war against Islam.
“One of our first goals when AMISOM began taking on Al-Shabaab and driving them from major towns was to end its stranglehold over the airwaves and give the Somali public an alternative voice and an opportunity to take part in two-way conversations with the authorities,” says Thomas.
As AMISOM broke out of its airport base in Mogadishu and began capturing key towns from the insurgents, the IST sprang into action to explain to Somalis what AMISOM was and what its goals were – peace, stability and addressing the ever-present humanitarian needs.
The same messages were spread on all international media to underpin trust in AMISOM and build the credibility of its mission.
“By capturing the airwave space, we were able to allow Somali stakeholders to engage with the TFG (Transitional Federal Government) and each other in a way that had just not been possible before,” says Desire Karakire, an IST Press Officer.
“We’ve also managed to degrade Al-Shabaab’s extremist messages by broadcasting that its beheadings, grave desecration and the suppression of traditional Somali culture, music, dance and values, are inconsistent with Somalia’s long-held mainstream Islamic beliefs. We’ve pointed out that suicide bombings have no place in Somali religious beliefs.”
IST helps local journalists cover AMISOM and United Nations activities and is the go-to place for visiting foreign media to counter the long-held impression that Somalia is a hopeless failed state.
“I meet the journalists at the airport and welcome them to Somalia, first with the hot and humid climate as they step off the aircraft,” says Press Officer Nduta Wangari. “They are accommodated at our 5-star establishment – the IST compound (at least that is how I’d like to think of it). The journalists are then given a tour of the establishment, shown to their room and finally given an IST press office and admin brief as well as a brief on the African Union mission and mandate.”
“In a nutshell, a media embed entails arranging transportation for the journalists, setting up interviews, taking them on night patrols, taking them on excursions of Mogadishu and ensuring they are well taken care of,” Wangari says.
IST also trains journalists and AMISOM Press and Public Information officers in media techniques as well as conducting public opinion polls on major events and themes – something unthinkable only a few years ago.
Despite its aversion to much of modernity – Al-Shabaab recently banned areas under its control from using the Internet – the Islamist group has developed a sophisticated armoury of websites, tweets and social media inputs casting AMISOM as an “invader” and proxy of the infidel West.
A key success has been the establishment of Bar Ulan (Meeting Place) radio, which has become a trusted and impartial resource of information for Somalis and an avenue to express their views through phone-ins and other interactive tools.
“Bar Kulan is blazing a trail for a Public Broadcast system in Somalia, There are lots of private stations, but BK has a reputation for impartiality and straight news. That’s why it is so successful,” Thomas says.
Andy Hill, MediaTrain Director