: Addressing social welfare is right step in Puntland

[sheekh-Farax-zero]

Any state's measure of success can be partly assessed by how far its helping hand reaches the poor and desperate strata of society. In Somalia, the situation has been exasperated by a 19-year civil war that has largely destroyed any sense of nationhood – the civil war has created unimaginable suffering such as swelling up the numbers of orphans, disabled persons and mental patients across the country.

Puntland State in northeastern Somalia is a self-governing regional authority that aspires to become the role model state for a future Federal Republic of Somalia. The state has suffered like the rest of Somalia as the international community largely chose to ignore the Somali conflict – except when terrorism or piracy is at play. But Puntland State's recently elected president, Dr. Abdirahman Mohamed "Farole," has demonstrated to the people of Puntland, to Somalia as a whole and to the world-at-large that helping people is a religious and cultural duty – regardless of your own shortcomings.

Despite its meager budget of less than US$20million annually, the Puntland State government established the Puntland Agency for Social Welfare (PASWE) earlier this month with the noble mission of helping the helpless – orphans, disabled persons, mental patients and other vulnerable groups, mostly impacted by the enduring civil war. The duty of PASWE has moral ramifications since one of the Five Pillars of Islam is giving charity. Islam teaches its adherents that helping people in need is a form of charity that benefits one's soul – both here on earth and in the Afterlife.

President Farole has taken the right step by instituting a social welfare agency that can best channel the state's resources in an organized and efficient manner to help those in need. It was a far overdue step that President Farole took – we welcome it as a bold, heroic and compassionate move to recognize and to help society's most vulnerable groups, including children orphaned by nearly two decades of war.

In a forgotten country like Somalia, where pirates and bombers make the headlines, it certainly was a change of tone to showcase a different image of the Somali people –and pride in our religion and culture.