Nairobi/Hargeisa - Two staff members of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization working for the fisheries sector in Somalia, have been killed in car crash in a remote area in the north west of the country.

On Wednesday 29 April, the two FAO staff members died in a road traffic accident in outside Hargeisa town. Driver Yahye Osman, a Somali and his Spanish colleague, Jorge Torrens were travelling from the port city of Berbera to Hargeisa, in northwest, when the accident occurred.

Jorge Torrens joined FAO in 2010 as a consultant and later became a fisheries officer. Working at FAO, he served in Mauritania and Kenya and was currently implementing a fisheries development programme in Somalia. He was instrumental in building up the fisheries programme there from virtually nothing to the strategic, respected, broad ranging programme that it is today, delivering a range of results along many parts of the coast and in many areas.

Jorge will be remembered professionally not only for his accomplishments but for the way he went about getting things done. Everything he did he did with immense energy, intensity, passion, enthusiasm, commitment and the absolute conviction that FAO should and could make a difference.

Yaasiin Yuusuf, Director-General at the Puntland Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources wrote to express his condolences and sadness at the tragic news, describing Jorge as a “a great man and a good friend of the Somali people.”

In his nearly 5 years at FAO Somalia, Jorge contributed immensely towards improving the country’s fisheries the latest being the construction of Bossaso’s first fishing jetty. He was honoured at the on going session of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission in Republic of Korea, a process he was active in. Jorge was recently married and in his early thirties.

Yahye Osman, from Somalia, joined FAO in 2009 as a driver. Yahye was also very highly regarded, admired, trusted and liked by all. There was far more to him than met the eye as he sat smiling from behind the steering wheel. He had Masters in Development, specialized in fisheries and after recently winning a competitive process had just been appointed to the fisheries technical team in Somaliland, a tribute to his expertise and the realization of a long-held dream. Everyone who knew him was delighted for him.

“They died doing what they loved and did well. Jorge and Yahye will be missed”, said Richard Trenchard, acting Head of Office for FAO Somalia.

The FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva expressed his deepest condolences on behalf of the Organization to the families and colleagues of the two men.

“We are saddened to hear of the sudden loss and our thoughts and prayers are with all of you during this tragic time,” said Graziano da Silva.  

FAO has some 350 staff member working in Somalia and Nairobi in some of the toughest condition to implement activities in crops, livestock and fisheries to ensure that the Horn of Africa nation is food secure.