The UN and UNDP in Brussels

Feature story: EU, UN and AU host international conference on Somalia

An international conference in Brussels on 22-23 April 2009 saw donors pledge over $200 million to bolster security in Somalia. The event, which was convened by the United Nations Secretary General and held under the auspices of the United Nations and the African Union, was hosted by the European Commission and European Union to ‘support the Somali security institutions and the African Union Mission in Somalia’. Representatives from over 60 countries and regional organizations, including members of the new Somali Transitional Federal Government, attended the conference, where the United Nations Secretary General Ban ki-Moon welcomed the international community’s commitment to addressing the issue of piracy and its recognition of the fact that land-based solutions to the root causes of piracy must be urgently rolled out alongside the reinforcement of the international naval presence off the Horn of Africa. A total of $213 million were pledged in support of the Somali security institutions and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). The $72 million which will be provided by the European Commission include $60 million to support AMISOM and $12 million for UNDP to train 10,000 Somali police officers over the next year.