Brussels, 25/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - An additional €82 million are to be allocated by the EU to the African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the European Commission announced on Tuesday 25 September. This decision to provide financial support, taken the same day, comes ahead of the high level meeting on Somalia organised by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon during the ongoing UN General Assembly in New York. It brings to €411.4 million the total EU contribution to this peacekeeping force set up in 2007 with a mandate from the United Nations Security Council. The funds will allow AMISOM to fulfil its mandate and to step up its numbers to reach the total strength of 17,731 authorised by the United Nations (compared to 16,400 at present).
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, who was speaking on the same occasion, said: “Somalia has opened a new chapter in its history with the recent election of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the adoption of the provisional Constitution, the selection of the new Federal Parliament and election of its Speaker Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari. The EU will continue to contribute to stability and development in Somalia”. She added: “Support to AMISOM is a key pillar of the EU's comprehensive approach to Somalia” and is essential for supporting the efforts deployed at the country's political, security and development levels.
European Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs underlined for his part that “AMISOM (…) creates the basic conditions for the Somali people to live their lives in safety, pursue economic activities and rebuild their country”.
AMISOM supports dialogue and reconciliation in Somalia while providing security of key infrastructures, such as public buildings and the international airport in Mogadishu, in order to allow the new federal institutions to accomplish the tasks entrusted to them. It also supports implementation of the national security and stabilisation plan, by backing disarmament and stabilisation efforts, and facilitates humanitarian operations, including the repatriation of refugees and of internally displaced people. The EU is one of the main funders of the operation, both through the African Peace Facility (APF), which is the EU's main instrument to support peace and security in Africa, and through bilateral contributions of its member states. (AN/transl.jl)