To help young people in Beletweyne develop healthy habits through participating in sports in a safe environment, Djiboutian troops serving under AMISOM have donated an assortment of sports equipment to be distributed to various centers and youth groups in the town.

On hand to receive the donation was the Mayor of Beletweyne Town, Nadar Tabah Maalin and the Deputy Governor of Hiran Region in Charge of Social Services, Hussein Osman Ali.

"AMISOM’s assistance to us has been in a variety of ways. There are many projects for the benefit of our community that have been going on in Beletweyne, including the rehabilitation of five boreholes in Bundaweyn Suburb and the drilling of a borehole in Mahas. I am told that there are other planned projects that will be implemented soon, so we are happy for AMISOM continuous support to us,” said the Mayor of Beletweyne Town during a ceremony at Lama Galaxy Military Base.

The donated items include sports uniforms, referees uniform, linesmen flags, trophies, watches, footballs and whistles. The donations are part of AMISOM’s Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC) in Somalia, aimed at strengthening relations with the local communities.

"These items will be distributed to Beletweyne sports teams and to teams in towns like Jalalaqsi, Bula-burde, Halgan, Mahas and Dhusa-mareeb where AMISOM has a presence,” said Ibrahim Yussuf Ahmed, AMISOM Sector 4 CIMIC officer.

The CIMIC officer said that participating in sports can help the young people of Somalia to develop healthy habits, and AMISOM would assist in the development of goal-driven and focused young people who are motivated to rebuild their country.

Ali Mohamed Abdi, the chairman of Hiran Football Federation thanked AMISOM for the contribution to the physical and mental well-being of local communities under its areas of operation, especially the youth.

In the last months, AMISOM troops have provided an assortment of medical supplies to Beletweyne Hospital to benefit local communities who were not able to access AMISOM facilities for medical assistance following the lockdown of AMISOM bases as part of wider measures aimed at combating the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.