A religious oriented approach to addressing female genital mutilation/cutting among the Somali community of Wajir, Kenya

The Somali ethnic community, in Kenya as well in Somalia, Djibouti, and Ethiopia, has practiced genital cutting for centuries and the practice appears to have remained largely unchanged. The community practices the severest form of FGM/C, type III or infibulation. The Population Council’s FRONTIERS program, with support from USAID/Kenya, carried out two studies to better understand the practice of FGM/C among the Somalis in North Eastern Province so as to inform the design and implementation of interventions that would encourage abandonment of the practice. Both studies collected data through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with community and religious leaders, and with recently married and unmarried men and women. The first study also interviewed health-care providers. As described in this report, FRONTIERS has developed a religious-oriented approach to engage with and educate the community about the harms of FGM/C to encourage them to question why the practice is sustained. This strategy is meant to generate discussion with respect to the correct position of Islam on FGM/C and hopefully build consensus among religious scholars so they can become community educators in encouraging abandonment of the practice

Managing and preventing female genital cutting (FGM/C) among the Somali community in Kenya

This report details the Council’s innovative work with religious leaders to reduce the practice of FGM/C in the Somali community in Northern Kenya. In the mid to late 2000s, through the USAID Frontiers project, the Council successfully engaged religious leaders and scholars as community educators to correct the customary misconception that FGM/C is a requirement of Islam. Through sermons and training sessions, these leaders were able to dis-associate FGM/C from Islam, raise public awareness about the harms associated with the practice, and encourage its abandonment

Motivational Factors and Performance of Women Entrepreneurs in Somalia

This paper examines the impact of motivational factors on performance of women entrepreneurs, the objectives of this study is to examines the motivational factors of women entrepreneurs in Banadir region and to analyze the performance of women entrepreneurs. As sample of 125 women entrepreneurs involved small and medium enterprises, This study found that self recognition and economic necessities are the major factors that motivate Women entrepreneurs also this study revealed that the performance of Somali women owned business are somewhat low due to women perform their business in terms of independence and social recognition compared to men. The findings also showed that there is moderate correlation among motivational factors and performance of Women entrepreneurs in Banadir Region but the relationship is not high because of women are not motivated in terms financial performance. Keywords: Motivational factors, women entrepreneurs, business performance SME in Banadir region, Somalia

Determinants of Islamic Insurance Acceptance: Empirical Evidence from Somalia

The current paper investigates the determinants toward Islamic Takaful Insurance acceptance in Somalia, the main objective was to explore knowledge, attitude, perception and awareness of Mogadishu residence toward Takaful Services. the study uses convenient sampling procedure,. The data were collected in February and March 2016 by using questionnaire. A total of 179 respondents were participated to this study. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 to answer research objectives. The study found that that attitude, perception, awareness and knowledge are influential predictors of Islamic insurance adoption and acceptance. The study provides an imminent into the understanding of determinants leading to the customers’ adoption of Islamic insurance. Keywords: Knowledge, attitude, perception,  awareness ,  Islamic Insurance, Determinants, Somali

Delinking female genital mutilation/cutting from Islam

Female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C) is practiced in at least 28 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, a few countries in the Middle East and Asia, and among immigrant populations from these countries in Europe, North America, and Australia. Worldwide, an estimated 100 to 140 million girls and women have undergone the practice, and at least three million girls are at risk each year. The Somali ethnic community in Kenya as well in Somalia, Djibouti, and Ethiopia, has practiced female genital cutting for centuries and the practice appears to have remained largely unchanged. The Population Council’s FRONTIERS program carried out two studies to better understand the practice among the Somalis in North Eastern Province to inform the design and implementation of interventions to encourage its abandonment. These studies confirmed that FGM/C is a deeply rooted and widely supported practice that is sustained through cultural justifications that reinforce its continuation. This booklet is an effort to clarify the truth about Islam and the practice of FGM/C by critically examining the evidence cited by supporters of the practice, especially those who describe it as an Islamic practice

Socioeconomic Consequences of Corruption and Financial Crimes

Corruption and financial crimes are major obstacles to the socioeconomic development of many countries in the world. This study employed descriptive research design to assess the socioeconomic consequences of these crimes. The data were collected through questionnaire from 200 respondents. The study results indicate that financial crimes and corruption both have significant socioeconomic consequences by destroying public confidences, weakening public service delivery such as education, health service, it also demolishes private sector particularly small business growth which ultimately affect employment level, GPD and, life expectancy, defeat culture, values, ethics of the society and finally eliminates trust, partnership and collaboration among business organization, public institutions, and society. Moreover, the socioeconomic consequences of these crimes include inequality and poverty in the country. The study recommends strengthening the capacity of public institutions, good governance, strengthening internal control systems, establishing effective monitoring frameworks, promoting accountability and transparency of the public sector, establishing legal frameworks and anti-corruption strategies, and supervision mechanisms in public institutions

Contributing towards efforts to abandon female genital mutilation/cutting in Kenya: A situation analysis

The Kenyan Ministry of Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services, with support from UNFPA/Kenya, commissioned the Population Council to conduct a situation analysis of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) programs in Kenya, with the overall objective of documenting the current status of and trends in FGM/C programming and to help identify crucial elements that need to be prioritized for support. Results show marked declines in prevalence nationally between generations, suggesting a decline in the practice as well as trends toward “medicalization” in recent years. The practice still continues for different reasons, such as rite of passage, for marriageability, controlling sexuality, religious requirements, family honor, and for cultural and ethnic identity. Respondents were all in agreement that there is an urgent need for a National Coordinating Agency that could bring together all stakeholders working toward the abandonment of FGM/C in Kenya and offered suggestions about the role, structure, and responsibilities of such an agency

Prevalence of diabetes foot ulcers and associated factors among adult diabetic patients in three referral hospitals in Mogadishu, Somalia

BackgroundDiabetes mellitus (DM) causes significant morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), including Somalia. Among diabetic patients, diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) constitute the largest proportion of admissions, amputations, and mortality. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of diabetic foot ulcers and subsequently determine factors associated with it among diabetic patients at three major hospitals in Somalia.MethodsAn institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 193 diabetic patients between August and November 2022. All eligible diabetes patients who were attending De Martini Hospital, Madina General Hospital, and Deynile General Hospital during the study period were included in the study. Patients were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. We collected demographic, clinical, and behavioral variables from all participants. A bivariate and multivariable logistic regression model was fitted to identify factors associated with diabetic foot ulcer. An odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval was computed to determine the level of significance.ResultThe mean age of the study’s participants was 50.9 ± 13.6 years. The prevalence of diabetic foot ulcer was 15%. Patients who were either overweight or obese (OR 4.63, CI: 2.08–10.30), had a lack of family support in managing diabetes (OR 3.33, CI: 1.74–6.36), and did not check their feet regularly were more likely to develop DFU (OR 1.99, CI:1.08–3.66).ConclusionIncreased body mass index, lack of family support, and not checking feet regularly were associated with DFUs. The high prevalence of DFUs and the plethora of needs of people with DFUs pose challenges for health care. A coordinated health care system is necessary to meet the needs of diabetic patients and prevent DFUs

Vaksineusikkerhet blant innvandrere under covid-19-pandemien – en kvalitativ studie

BAKGRUNN Vaksinasjon mot SARS-CoV-2 har vært et viktig tiltak i håndteringen av pandemien. I Norge har vaksinasjonsdekningen vært lavere i flere innvandrergrupper enn i den øvrige befolkningen. Målet med denne studien var å undersøke hvilke faktorer som kan ha bidratt til at innvandrere ikke tok vaksinen. MATERIALE OG METODE Det ble gjennomført 88 semistrukturerte kvalitative intervjuer av 49 kvinner og 39 menn i alderen 19–78 år fra ti forskjellige land. Intervjuene ble gjennomført digitalt i perioden mars–juni 2021. I en tematisk analyse (NVivo 12) ble det avdekket fire hovedkategorier knyttet til vaksineusikkerhet: systembaserte faktorer, faktorer knyttet til personlig overbevisning, faktorer knyttet til frykt og tillitsfaktorer. RESULTATER Selv om flere informanter var villige til å ta vaksinen, uttrykte flere vaksineusikkerhet. Mangel på kunnskapsbasert informasjon og frykt for bivirkninger ble oppgitt som årsaker. Vaksineusikkerhet var også knyttet til feilinformasjon og konspirasjonsteorier. Noen hadde ikke tillit til vaksinasjonsprogrammet eller til vaksineeffekten. FORTOLKNING Studien avdekket at det var flere ulike faktorer som påvirket innvandrere til å bli usikre på om det var trygt å vaksinere seg. Blant de viktigste grunnene var mangel på informasjon, manglende kunnskap om helse og hvordan vaksiner fungerer samt lav tillit til myndighetene.Vaksineusikkerhet blant innvandrere under covid-19-pandemien – en kvalitativ studiepublishedVersio

Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of shigella species isolated from diarrheal patients in Ahvaz, Southwest Iran

Introduction: Shigellosis is a significant global human health problem, and Shigella is in charge of almost 165 million cases of this disease annually, of whom 163 million cases are in developing countries and 1.5 million cases are in developed countries. The main aims of the current survey were to identify Shigella spp. isolated from diarrheal patients by conventional biochemical tests, determine the antimicrobial susceptibility profiles by disk diffusion method, and detect the ipaH gene using the PCR assay. Methods: The bacterial isolates were identified as Shigella spp. by microbiological tests and were serogrouped by the slide agglutination test. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using the disk diffusion method. PCR was performed to detect the ipaH gene. Results: The Shigella strains were isolated from 522 patients with various diarrhea, including bloody diarrhea (3), mucoid plus bloody diarrhea (1.9), mucoid diarrhea (3.2), and watery diarrhea (3.2). Overall, 69 (13.2) isolates were positive for Shigella spp., of which 34 (49.3) serotypes were identified as Shigella flexneri, 22 (31.9) serotypes were identified as Shigella sonnei, 9 (13) serotypes were identified as Shigella boydii, and 4 (5.8) serotypes were identified as Shigella dysenteriae. Antibiotic susceptibility tests revealed that the highest resistance percentage was related to ampicillin (82) and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (77), and ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone were the best antibiotics against Shigella isolates. Conclusion: We concluded that Shigella spp. can be considered as an etiological agent of diarrhea in southwest Iran. Since the drug resistance pattern of Shigella differs geographically and over time within a country, continuous and regular surveillance program is necessary. © 2019 Sheikh et al