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Somalia President Hassan Sheik Mohamud speaking in Mogadishu during a National Conference on tackling extremism in Somalia. EU will host an international conference on Somalia on Monday aimed at underpinning economic and political recovery after two decades of bloody civil war.
BRUSSELS: The EU hosts a “milestone” international conference on Somalia today aimed at underpinning economic and political recovery after two decades of bloody civil war.
Some 50 high-level delegations from Africa, Europe, the Gulf and elsewhere are expected for the “New Deal in Somalia” event, gathering President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, other Somali leaders, world aid groups and global finance institutions.
“We will not just be managing conflict, on Monday we will be signalling and kick-starting the consolidation of peace and stability in Somalia,” said Alexander Rondos, the EU’s Horn of Africa envoy.
Britain’s ambassador to Somalia, Neil Wigan, said the conference was “a major milestone” after the country’s remarkable progress over the last year.”
With diplomats hoping to see more than a billion euros in pledges, Wigan said “our combined efforts will maintain momentum and deliver the change that the people of Somalia desperately need.”
In January, Mohamud won formal US recognition of his government for the first time since the 1991 overthrow of diciator Mohamed Siad Barre that plunged the country into civil war.
For the past year, it has seen a president, government and parliament function without interruption but the fragility of its institutions means it cannot yet be given loans and will have to accept grants.
At stake today will be the approval of a New Deal Compact setting out the federal government’s political, security and economic priorities, agreeing a fund to support the programme, and ways of monitoring international support in the future.
AFP
