The Chairman of the Justice and Welfare Faysal Ali Waraabe attended a reception in Ottawa

The Somaliland opposition leader and chairman of the Justice and Welfare Party (UCID), Mr. Faisal Ali Hussein, met with Mr. Jamieson F. Weetman, head of the Eastern and Southern desk at the Canadian Foreign Ministry on May 13th, 2005.

The Chairman of the opposition party, UCID, on the second day of his historic visit to Canada, discussed with Mr. Jamieson Weetman Canada*s foreign policy towards the Horn of Africa in general and the Issue of Soamliland in particular.

In his meeting with the Canadian foreign officer, Mr. Faisal Ali Hussein encouraged the Canadian government to take an active role in Somaliland*s sovereignty issue like other countries including Britain, South Africa and the United States. He added that the involvement of democratic countries such as Canada will advance democracy in the Horn of Africa and bring stability to the region.

The chairman of UCID appealed to the Canadian government to extend aid and relief to Somaliland to help it rehabilitate its civilian institutions and provide health and education services to its citizens. He also hinted at Canada*s possible involvement in helping Somaliland build telecommunication facilities financed by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

The Chairman also re-stated his earlier request to the Speaker of the House, and appealed for assistance to promote good governance, establish democracy and train Civilian institutions and Human Rights organizations in the democratization in Somaliland.

The chairman of UCID met also with Kaleem Akhtar, Executive Director of Human Concern International (HCI), a non-profit Canadian Moslem organization which raises funds to send aid and relief to needy third world countries. They assist many countries in Africa including Somaliland, Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea. Mr. Faisal Ali Hussein thanked Human Concern for its programs in Somaliland which include sponsoring orphans, providing food for school children and funding rehabilitative community programs.

The Director of HCI and the chairman UCID also agreed that there is a need for additional funding for new programs in Somaliland. They both promised to match funds raised by local Non-Governmental Organizations for programs delivered inside Somaliland.

To cap his visit to Canada, Mr. Faisal Ali Hussein attended a reception in his honor for his visit to Canada. The function, attended by several hundred Ottawa residents, was organized by the Somaliland Community Organization of Ottawa-Carleton and members of the community. The event included speeches, discussions and an exquisite Somaliland cuisine provided by the women*s branch of the community.

Several community leaders including Mr. Abdi Ismail, Mohamad Sheikh Dalmar, Mohamud Tani and other prominent community leaders spoke about the need to support the infant democracy in Somaliland, advance its sovereignty in Canada and solicit aid from Canadian non-governmental organizations to fund program in Somaliland. Mr. Kaleem Akhtar, the Executive Director of Human Concern International (HCI), also spoke about the role and activities of HCI in the Horn of Africa including Somalialnd and Somalia.

As the guest speaker, Mr. Faisal Ali Hussein, spoke about the role of his party in the democratization process in Somaliland. He explained how the three parties discussed and agreed on many issues to facilitate the holding of the upcoming parliamentary elections. He further detailed the reality of many political events which were interpreted wrongly by many Somaliland web sites and the electronic media. He stressed the need for the Diaspora to ascertain the credibility of posted news items and articles to reach reasonable conclusions that help their participation in the democratization process.

After his speech, the chairman answered questions ranging from the role of UCID in the upcoming parliamentary elections, the role of women and minorities in the country*s political process, his party*s commitment to improve the educational and health sectors and many other issues important to Somalilander-Canadians.

Mr. Abdi Nasir Yussuf, the Chairman of UCID party in Canada and Ms. Zamzam Ali Ade-Gude, chairwoman of the Canadian Woman*s branch of the party, detailed the party*s history in Canada, the role of women in Somaliland politics and painted UCID as the party of the future. They encouraged the attendees to join UCID and labeled it as the only party which meets the aspirations of Soamlilanders in the Diaspora.

The chairman of UCID left Ottawa for Toronto on Saturday, May 14th, 2005 for Toronto and will visit Europe for the second leg of his outside Somaliland.

Press Release by: Somaliland Candian Community Org, Ottawa, Canada

Reporting:
Radio Somaliland

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