Yusuf
Garaad Omar appointed Head of African Services
The
current head of the BBC World Service Somali Service, Yusuf Garaad
Omar, has been appointed Head of African Services.
He
will stand in for Kari Blackburn, who will attend a course at the
University of East Anglia followed by a three month attachment outside
the BBC before she returns to BBC World Service on 1 January 2003.
Yusuf
graduated from the Somali National University and then studied in
France and Italy.
In
the early 1980's he worked for Radio Mogadishu in Somalia and, before
joining the BBC, taught French and worked for the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
"BBC
World Service has a large, loyal audience across the continent but
demand for more interactive programmes and FM quality delivery is
growing," he said.
"Backed
by the professionalism and creativity of editors, producers and
journalists in the African Service, I am looking forward to meeting
this demand."
Barry
Langridge, Head of Africa and Middle East region at BBC World Service,
said: "Yusuf and his Somali team have made huge strides in
developing and broadening the Somali Service over recent years -
we now look forward to him giving similar impetus in his wider role
as acting Head of African Services."
When
he was studying in Italy in 1991 Yusuf began reporting for the Somali
Service and joined the service in 1992.
Since
then he has also worked on the flagship programme, Focus on Africa,
and in World Service training.
Yusuf
was the inspiration behind a training programme for Somali journalists
who lacked proper training because of the civil war in Somalia.
His
idea resulted in a BBC project funded by the EU in which more than
100 Somali journalists have been trained.
Yusuf
has travelled widely in Africa both to report for the Somali Service
and to train journalists.
Since
his appointment as Head of the Somali Service in 1999, the Service
has launched a successful website. BBCSomali.com
is now one of the ten most accessed BBC World Service sites.
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