In 2022, my faith in media as the voice for the voiceless was rejuvenated.

In this era of the digital age, misinformation, disinformation, and fact-checking have become words that are interchangeably used to validate the authenticity of what we read and listen to on the news.

These terms are even viewed with more skepticism in developing countries where literacy is low, ruling party loyalists drive systematic propaganda, and lack independent media monitoring that can track fake news sources.

The Horn of Africa is one of the regions that have suffered its share of disinformation. Supporters of political and social actors in the region, in which conflicts, and climate crisis force millions out of their homes, use social media to spread false narratives to enforce their interpretation of events that shape their power.

In most recent cases, digital platforms in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia have been washed with unverified claims on Kenya and Somalia elections as well as the war in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Among the many social media posts on the Tigray war, BBC identified some of the content was not actually from Tigray.

 Leaders of these countries have raised concerns on the issue several times. In February 2022, While speaking at the African Union summit, Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo described disinformation as a national security threat for the country. Yet Somalia is one of the most fragile states in the world. Access has been limited due to conflicts in the country for over three decades. Many Somalis in the country and the diaspora rely on information through media and mainly social media platforms. Commonly, people view the news with suspicion. Ethiopia's Prime Minister has also blamed online disinformation as a key issue fueling violence in his country.

 Some government loyalists brand their opponents and the independent media as fake news sources. Under these perceptions, many citizens of these countries have blamed (western) media for spreading false or fake news about their countries.

 For Somalia, anti-media sentiment, especially foreign media, was at its peak amid devastating drought and political stalemate that have delayed elections by more than a year. As a result, many articles in mainstream media have been refuted as propaganda against the Somali state. Somali people were facing the brunt of a devastating drought and needed the media to call for international support to respond to a severe food crisis that affected nearly half of the population while about 1.5 million children faced acute malnutrition- today, this figure is 1.8 million children.

 Southern Somalia was the hardest-hit part of the country. In November 2021, I joined senior colleagues to visit areas hit by the climate crisis in Baidoa, Garbaharey and Dhoobley. In these regions, families started to arrive in those locations. I met Abla, who, together with 700 families, lived outskirts of Garbaharey. She told me she left her home because “ All my goats are dead”. In Baidoa, one community centre hosted about 300 people. The centers were crowded, and you could sense a disaster unfolding before these families. Although many wanted to return to their homes if it rained, they did not know many more families would be joining them in these camps.

 I knew this was not the first drought for many families as it has become recurrent. In 2011, famine killed over a quarter of million people. In 2017, a timely response averted famine. But, in 2022, Somalia faced the same narrative and story as in 2011 and 2017. This time, the number of people affected is hugely staggering— about half of the country’s population, half of the children under the age of five suffer acute malnutrition, and a quarter of the population may not afford even one meal a day. The country’s economic backbone was also devastated by the drought, as about three million animals died.

 Worth noting that Somalia is not the only country that needs external support to avert a disaster. There are also several humanitarian crises worldwide— Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Tigray, and then the war in Ukraine, which has become the main story across all the major media outlets and has been devoted to the undivided attention of the west. So, Somalia faced the daunting task of getting international community attention, and it is right to say they have been fatigued by the same story that has been coming from Somalia— terrorism, droughts, and starvation dominating Somalia news since the collapse of the government.

In this situation, our team decided to scale up its humanitarian response by channelling resources to the most in need and increasing our media advocacy to call for action and prevent children from dying because of a preventable cause. We have hosted media trips to tell the stories and how a devastating drought leaves millions across the country on the brink of a disaster. But the main question was, will Somalia get through it this time? Will the voiceless people facing unimaginable suffering get space in the already Ukraine war-dominated mainstream media and diplomatic platforms? For a Somali like me, the best stories you want to see from your country should not be of starving children or bullet-riddled buildings, but we had to share these stories because they mattered most. Tragic stories could compel the world to act and save many children and their families who share the same fate.

Our first media trip went to Kismayo and then to Baidoa. Still, the war in Ukraine started just two weeks before our trip, so the chances of getting stories that would bring the international community’s attention to Somalia had already hit the wall. Until we got to Kismayo, we didn’t know what to expect.

Our heartbreak was to meet a mother named Johora Ali, who has been struggling to save her daughter. The mother arrived at a camp outskirt of Kismayo just a few days ago. She lost almost all their livestock and left her husband behind to care for the few weak remaining goats; she was alone and did not have enough to feed her children. The following day, she lost her daughter. The story was featured at DW, and has been widely viewed worldwide.  

The stories from the trip kick-started a multi-agency media campaign to increase media pick-up on the situation in Somalia. As a result, our first and many other trips hosted by humanitarian agencies in Somalia have helped mobilize resources. As a result, about $1.1 billion were raised, which has helped prevent famine. But the need is still here, and funding available can provide sufficient food to 5.8 million every month until March 2023.

 Without the media, especially global media and the humanitarian community in Somalia, the stories of Malyka, Johora Ali, who lost her four-year-old daughter due to severe malnutrition, Dahir who lost his brother and many more families affected would not have been told if not the brave journalists did not come to tell their stories. The media become their voice to tell the world what is happening here in Baidoa, Kismayo, Dollow and many other areas in Somalia.

That is why I have to say that 2022 has helped me and many media professionals in this part of the world get a reboot and find new hope amidst a cloud of suspicion on media's role as a positive tool for social change and the voice for the voiceless.

Disclaimer: The opinion presented here is solely mine. It does not in any way represent the views of my employer. If you have any concerns or misrepresentation in this article, kindly reach out to me directly, and I will review your concerns.