PRESS BRIEFING BY UNITED NATIONS RESIDENT AND HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR FOR SOMALIA

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY UNITED NATIONS RESIDENT AND HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR FOR SOMALIA

The United Nations humanitarian and political efforts in Somalia would be stepped up to support the peace-building initiative there and, in particular, to support the new Transitional National Government, correspondents were told this afternoon at a Headquarters press briefing.

Randolph Kent, United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, said the United Nations was committed to continuing its projects to support the needs of the people and the aims of the Transitional National Government that had emerged out of a difficult and complex process. The United Nations would support Somalia's attempt at capacity-building, demobilization and development of administrations, as well as increase its involvement in such basic infrastructures as water and health.

The operational side was working closely with its colleagues on the political side of the system to determine how to best support peace through the transitional authority and throughout the Northeast and the Northwest, he added.

Mr. Kent told a correspondent who asked for details on the programmes that, at present, the United Nations had about 60 international staff permanently placed in Somalia, another 200 who traveled in and out of the country on a regular basis and about 1000 local staff who assisted the United Nations agencies.

The United Nations ambition was to increase its engagement in Somalia, he said. However, he cautioned that along with that increase would come a need for increased security. Security during the transitional period would remain a very difficult and sensitive issue.

"I would hope that the international community and the donor community take heed of the fact that we are willing to create and extend our operational commitments, but at the same time, this inevitably will cause tensions and will create security situations that only more effective security can deal with," he said. More security was needed to protect the United Nations staff and their colleagues from non-governmental organizations.

Asked if the recent threat to staff from the World Food Programme (WFP) looking at facilities in Somalia had affected United Nations involvement, Mr. Kent said the incident, which had involved two security officers, had been readily resolved. It had been the result of local politics between a local non- governmental organization and a Sharia Court. The Court had tried to send a signal -- by threatening to hold the officers hostage -- that outsiders must deal with them and not just the non-governmental organization. He added that the security officers had not been held hostage.

Asked if the new President had genuine authority or if power was still in de facto control of the clan leaders, Mr. Kent said that at this point the new President's authority rested solely on his persona and not on that of a strong Government. Over the long term, the Government's authority would depend on the clan base it would be able to assemble. How the President structured his Government would reflect on the kind of authority he had.

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