Donors pledge support for AU Mission in Somalia
Donors have pledged to continue supporting the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to achieve its key mandate of stabilizing Somalia has seen deadly terror attacks.
The pledge was made, Thursday, at a five-day meeting held in Nairobi attended by AMISOM’s top leadership and representatives of the European Union (EU), the United Nations, Britain, the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), according a statement from the AU mission issued on Friday
The donors promised their commitment to helping Africa’s flagship peace and security mission pull Somalia, a country emerging from decades of war and anarchy.
“The EU overall will remain engaged in Somalia to contribute to this process of stabilization and the delivery of tangible peace dividends,” Mr. Braun stated.
He noted that over the last 10 years, EU-ACP has contributed more than 1.3 billion Euros (US$1.68) to AMISOM and had committed about two billion euros in between 2004 and 2017, in the field of peace and security through the African Peace Facility, with the bulk of the money channeled to AMISOM.
Mr. Braun said 180 million Euros has been earmarked for the period April – December 2017.
“So I do think that clearly demonstrates our continued commitment to AMISOM,” Mr. Braun told the meeting.
He praised AMISOM for the role it has played in pacifying the country emerging from decades of war and anarchy.
“It is obviously clear to everybody that without AMISOM, Somalia would not be where it is today. A lot has been achieved, thanks to AMISOM, which has provided the space for the political process to progress,” Braun said.
James Haggerty, an official from the British Embassy in Somalia, reiterated the importance of winning the hearts and minds of the Somali population, if stabilization efforts are to yield fruit while lauding AMISOM for trying to achieve the objective.
“We look forward to continuing and developing a very close relationship with the African Union and with AMISOM in particular in Mogadishu,” said Haggerty.
Francisco Madeira, Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia, told a meeting in Nairobi that the mission had failed to deliver on some of its objectives due to funding constraints, prompting the officials to seek alternative means.
“Inadequate funding has been a major challenge to the implementation of the 2016 budget. Resources were not available to fund our projects and in fact no resources were available,” Madeira said.
Source: Amisom