Brussels, 07/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 7 May, the EU committed to financially supporting - up to €44 million - the development of the judicial system and police capacities in Somalia. The announcement was made by European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs during an international conference on Somalia, which brought together over 50 countries and organisations and which was organised in London by the United Kingdom.
The new funding will be added to the €120 billion spent by the EU since 2008 to try to stabilise Somalia, which has been involved in civil war for over 20 years. While “the situation in Somalia has improved considerably” and “encouraging advances” have been made, as Piebalgs stated, Somalia still faces recurrent suicide bombings, the constant threat of the Shabab Islamist group, and a famine which returned with a vengeance in mid 2011 and at the beginning of 2012 - affecting half of all the population of Somalia.
As “security goes hand in hand with justice and the rule of law”, the European Commission underlines, the €44 million will be used to strengthen the governance of the federal government. Half of the funding will go directly to support reform of the security sector - to train and equip police officers, judiciary and custodial corps among others. (JK/transl.fl)