Saving Somalia

Saving Somalia

Author: Andy Carling 12 December 2010 - Issue : 915

A rally organized by Al Qaeda-backed Islamic militia al-Shabab in Mogadishu, Somalia's capita. Dozens of Koranic students have declared to join the al-Shabab and vowed to sacrifice themselves with suicide attacks to defend the Islam and holy Koran. |EPA/BADRI MEDIA

The UN Humanitarian Representative, with the UN Country Team, visited Brussels, looking for help towards $530 million to provide aid and humanitarian assistance to Somalia, regarded as being almost beyond saving. The state of affairs is more nuanced, and less hopeless, than the media portrays, according to the UN chief. He spoke about Somalia with New Europe.
What are you hoping to achieve in Brussels?
We’re trying to raise awareness over the humanitarian appeal, launched last week and to brief the European Commission. We want to develop a joint partnership with them.
What do you think about the EEAS strategy on the Horn of Africa?
Talking with ECHO, there is still further to go. The real challenge in Somalia is starting to deal with the root causes of the conflict and not just dealing with the peripheral politics. We’re now on the 14th version of a transitional government and I think there’s a general mood, in the EU and elsewhere, that we need to take a longer term look at Somalia and deal with the critical issues, such as the conflict over resources, increasing religious conflict and the sort of things that have led to instability in the country.
Is there any way for Somalia to become a nation state?
I think part of the problem is that Somalis have a very different concept of statehood than we do and there’s a danger that the international community are trying to force Somalia into a model that might work for Europe, but doesn’t necessarily work for Somalia. I hope part of the strategy will be to look for a more stable political configuration for Somalia.
What would you like to see being done?
I would like to see some development investment in Somalia. There’s tremendous potential in places like Somaliland and Puntland and unless you start to get serious infrastructure investment, we’re going to be dealing with an increasingly poor population across the whole of the country. The levels are already very high and people have lost most of their livestock because of drought.
People are displaced internally and the way out of that is to focus on development where it is possible and it is possible in 60% of the country, and to provide some stability in those communities and to safeguard the economy which are things like livestock, which is a large export market, and there are Somali entrepreneurs, who have areas like telecoms. We need to move into a situation where the government can get the benefits of what is considerable profit in some parts of the private sector. This requires people putting trust in the state as a... non predatory actor, but as a facilitator and a far looser structure of government than we’ve been promoting. I’ve been pushing for Somalia to sign the Kyoto Protocol because the environment is a huge issue and nothing is being done. Signing will release funds.
Somaliland has been a quiet success story, have we neglected it?
I don’t think so. Donors and others have recognised what is going on there. The tragedy is that Somaliland lives in a bad neighbourhood and it is dependent on overall perceptions of Somalia.  Overall flows of aid are affected. Somalia has a major issue with debt and it means that the whole of the country, including Somaliland, isn’t available for funds.
Other issues include the lack of a mechanism for large institutional projects, such as road building, which would really help with development.
What are the advantages for Europe of having a stable Somalia?
One, is that Somalia is, globally, the main refugee generator and that could stabalise, and lead to a return, because there is a very active Somali diaspora, who would return and Europe has the largest Somali diaspora. Secondly, it would have an immediate impact on piracy, because the solution is not military. The solution is going to be found on land and this is a very important trade route for Europe. The funds we are asking for are small, compared just to the cost of piracy.
Do you see al Shabab as transitory or are they going to be part of a future Somali state?
It’s a very difficult question. The older Somalis, who had a secular state, would say it has changed to be a more radical state, so there has been a shift. Shabab is a symptom, rather than a cause. Nobody quite  understands if they are interested in coming into government, because they talk about a Caliphate. Some groups associated with them might want to go into government and the government should be as inclusive as possible.