PRESS BRIEFING ON SOMALIA

PRESS BRIEFING ON SOMALIA

Without a real central government, police force or transport network, Somalia, nevertheless, supported a few vibrant business sectors and promising education centres; and with its committed diaspora, the war-torn country was showing signs of recovery, a senior United Nations humanitarian official said today.

While the Somali capital, Mogadishu, remained dangerous, there were pockets of peace and stability elsewhere, said Max Gaylord, Resident Coordinator and United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, during a press briefing at Headquarters this afternoon.

Mr. Gaylord is also the head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Somalia, as well as the Organization’s designated security official for the country.  He was in New York to participate in a panel discussion organized by the Economic and Social Council on humanitarian operations in higher-risk environments.

“In various ways, it’s the Somali people that are taking the lead”, he said, “and the United Nations is taking its cue from them”.  With mattress factories and other businesses going up, the business sector was “vibrant”, even in Mogadishu.  He added that there was a very concerned and engaged Somali diaspora –- perhaps 7 million people inside the country and a million or so outside –- that remitted perhaps as much as $750 million to Somalia each year.

Showing particular signs of recovery and growth were Somaliland in the north-west, and Puntland, in the north-east, where United Nations-organized law enforcement training programmes were set to get under way in the coming months with the opening of a police academy.  He added that there were also some islands of peace in the country’s south-central regions.

With the other training initiatives under way, the aim was that sometime in the future all the scattered law enforcement officers and facilities could be united as a functioning country-wide police force.  The United Nations was also involved in trying to help the Somali people improve the transparency and accountability of their companies.  The country had very recently formed the Somali Financial Services Association, which would help their credibility.

Responding to a question, he said that there were actually two Mogadishus:  one behind the walls and in the compounds; and another on the streets.  The compounds were home to the Centre for Management Training, University of Mogadishu, BanadirMedicalSchool and a newly opened Coca-Cola factory.  But, in the streets “it’s another story -– too many young men with guns, too many militias and much potential for conflict”, he said.

For the wider country, there were also plenty of problems, he continued.  Somalia’s social indicators were “abysmal”, particularly in the areas of health and education, where low attendance rates permeated every level of the nascent education system.  Only about one in six children of primary school age go to school, and only a “tiny fraction” of the country’s youth attended the five or so emerging universities.

The United Nations was taking its cue from the Somali people, he said, pointing out that various agencies, including the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), as well as the UNDP, were behind efforts to improve health and education facilities.  He added that the Organization had been involved in the great strides Somalia had made towards eradicating the deadly polio virus.  The United Nations also closely followed small projects that had been initiated at the local level and tried to help out whenever possible.

He said that Somalia faced a host of long-term development challenges, including curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS, and overhauling its education system.  Almost two decades of “massive” environmental degradation was another serious concern, he said, describing the devastating impact of charcoal burning, desertification, and water pollution on the country.  Four years of nearly continuous drought had also wreaked havoc on farm communities and nomadic families, killing countless livestock and destroying hard-scrabble crops.

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