-
-
Related
The United Nations hopes a 100-day plan will be agreed at a conference on Thursday to help Somalia build up security forces and restore stability after nearly two decades of anarchy.
Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN special representative for Somalia, said in an interview he hoped the international donors meeting in Brussels would provide a clear plan to combat the east African country's problems as well as urgent funding.
Organisers say at least $165 million is needed to improve security in Somalia, which has functioned without a central government since 1991 and is mired in conflict. Piracy has also become a big threat to international shipping off its coast.
"We have to start by being determined to help Somalia, to signal that it is no longer business as usual," Ould-Abdallah told Reuters late on Tuesday.
He hoped for agreement on "what can we do in the next 100 days to help the new government ... through concrete support in the area of security ... in the development area, by giving young people a job and by providing assistance".
"This has to be done quickly and in a time frame which strengthens the new government," he said. "We expect it to happen after this conference."
The conference will be hosted by the European Commission and chaired by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and African Union Chairman Jean Ping. The EU promised on Wednesday to provide at least 60 million euros to help Somalia.
Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, a former Islamist rebel leader, was elected in January at U.N.-brokered talks and is widely seen as the best hope for restoring stability.
His government faces problems with feuding warlords as well as an insurgency. More than 1 million people have been uprooted by fighting in the past two years and one-third of the population survives on food aid.
Somali gangs have made millions of dollars seizing vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, and have driven up insurance rates for ships sailing between Europe and Asia.
"We have to also do something about the piracy which of course starts on land, but this business of piracy has to be addressed correctly," Ould-Abdallah said. "Because it costs so much to fight piracy, it is better to address the root causes of piracy and these root causes are on land."
Ould-Abdallah said the task of rebuilding Somalia was daunting but it should not be a reason to abandon Somalia.
"Neglecting a far-away country can be as costly as was the case on September 11, 2001," he said, referring to the attacks on the United States nearly eight years ago. "The threat, the danger may come from a country you never heard about."
World News Video
-
Dangerous rush to Everest summit (1:59)
-
Dozens killed in Syrian massacre (2:09)
-
'King of Romance' competes in Eurovision (1:46)
