The commitment by the Federal Somalian Government to carry through the reforms for economic development, peace, security, stability and democracy and the progress achieved since the international conference in London (May 2017) and the window of opportunities opened by the peace and reconciliation agreement between Somalia and Eritrea were unanimously welcomed on Tuesday 17 July in Brussels at the opening of the Partnership Forum on Somalia, co-shared by the EU, the Somalian government and Sweden (see EUROPE 12063).
In an address to the Somalian President, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, explained that “Somalia is starting to take responsibility for its own security, as we see in Mogadishu. You have agreed on an electoral model for the elections in 2020, as well as how to share resources between the Federal Government and the Federal Member States”. She also said that they were aware that the road had been a bumpy one and would continue to be so, as borne out by the terrorist attacks.
The latter pointed out that this progress would not have been possible without the support of international capital community, particularly the EU, its member states, the US, Turkey and international institutions - and called on all the participants to align their contributions on the priorities in the national transition plan.
Ms Mogherini announced a package of around €200 million, including €100 million in development support for state building and state resilience - one of the plan's priorities. She also explained that “We want, in particular, to help the Federal Government deliver on its citizens’ needs, and we want to help improve trust between the Federal Government and Federal Member States.”
The Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Margot Wallström, in which 1% of the country's population is of Somali origin, has doubled the funding for its cooperation with Somalia to $350 million over the next five years which she believes “crucial for the participation of women at all levels” and for strengthening state building. She also highlighted the fact that implementation of the transition plan “is in everyone's interest” and that the long-term objective was to have a safe Somalia.
In the opinion of the Commissioner for Peace and Security at the AU Commission, Smaïl Chergui, many challenges still remain, such as the finalisation of the revision of the Constitution and consensus building for a federal Somalia. He also referred to the transfer in four years time of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to Somalian troops, as included in the transition plan and called on the international community to speed up efforts to help Somalia create the necessary capacity for the security forces.
The Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Rosemary A. DiCarlo, stated that “mutual accountability should drive the implementation of the transition plan but implementation will not be possible with out adequate resources and political will”. She also said that they had to “channel required funding to Somalia national systems”. According to the latter, the presence of AMISOM is still of crucial importance at a time when the Somalia is building its own security capacity. She also expressed the hope that the EU would maintain “its investments”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)