The African Union on Tuesday called on the international community to re-energize its support towards the transitional federal government of Somalia (TFG) so as to help stabilize the Horn of Africa nation.
AU Special Representative to Somalia Nicolas Bwakira also called on actors in Somalia to work in close collaboration with other international partners to ensure that there is proper coordination of capacity building assistance to the Somali government.
Bwakira told a two-day meeting in Nairobi that challenges are quite enormous, and that tackling them successfully would require international community's firm commitment and continued partnership with the government and people of Somalia.
"It is also vital that we approach this task in full consideration of the priorities identified by the TFG itself," the AU envoy told the Joint AU, IGAD and UN Political Office for Somalia Technical/Experts Meeting on Capacity Building Support to Somalia which kicked off in Nairobi on Tuesday.
The meeting is deliberating on the priority capacity building needs of the TFG and participants hope to identify practical and innovative ways of addressing those pressing needs of the government.
Bwakira said the lawless nation has undergone years of violent conflict that has completely destroyed its state institutions, lamenting that a climate of instability has prevailed in the country.
The security sector, he said, has been in shambles and the absence of the rule of law has remained a norm.
"It is this unfortunate trend of events that the AU, IGAD, UN and all other partners of Somalia are trying to reverse through our common support to the Djibouti Peace Process," he said.
Fighters from Al-Shabaab and Hezbul Islam, an allied faction, have been mounting attacks against forces loyal to Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a moderate Islamist elected in January by the expanded Somali parliament following successful UN-brokered peace talks between the Somali government and a faction led by Ahmed.
Al-Shabaab now effectively controls almost the entire south andcentral portions of Somalia except for few pockets run by Hezbul Islam, which also partly controls the central Somali town of Beledweyn, the last stronghold of pro-government forces in central Somalia.
"The undeniable fact, however, is that despite our significant achievements in the peace process, there is still a long way to goin re-establishing functional institutions of state in Somalia. This is exactly why we must continue to support the transitional government by assisting the government in building its capacity invital areas of need," Bwakira said.
The AU envoy emphasized the need for the pan-African body to coordinate all ongoing and future training support and other services pledged by AU member states to the TFG in order to avoid duplication and wastage of the scarce resources.
He encouraged the AU and other partners to re-energize their resolve to support the TFG by initiating or reactivating their bi-lateral co-operations with the government.
"We call upon bilateral and multilateral institutions and governmental institutions to contribute the requisite expertise and resources to support capacity building of the TFG in key areas, with specific focus on the security sector," Bwakira said.
To achieve coordination of capacity building support to the TFG,Bwakira said it is important that "we the partners assign responsibilities amongst ourselves to avoid overlapping of activities or inputs by different partner countries or institutions. And that is certainly why this meeting could not have come at a better time."
"I would like to point out here that this initiative is not about undertaking the long-term post war-reconstruction and development support to Somalia. On the contrary, what we seek to undertake here is a stop-gap capacity building initiative to help the TFG get on its feet. This represents a starting point to rebuilding the institutions of state."
Bwakira said it is about making key institutions of the security sector functional, such as the paramilitary and the police.
"Additionally, the humanitarian and human rights dimension need to be addressed through the provision of human rights training to the Somali paramilitary and police forces," he said.
The regional bloc, IGAD, which brokered peace that culminated in the formation of the transitional government in the Horn of Africa nation, is spearheading efforts of stabilizing Somalia.
Under President Sheikh Ahmed, a moderate Islamist and a former insurgent leader who took office in January, the Somali governmenthas been trying to reconcile with other Islamist factions, but has vowed to take a harder stance in recent weeks, as insurgents have continued to carry out attacks.
Somalia, a nation of about 8 million people, has experienced almost constant conflict since the collapse of its central government in January 1991.
Source: Xinhua
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