Tuesday, May 31, 2011
“This lack of alternative livelihoods opportunities within Somalia means that there are few opportunities presented to this generation of Somali youth,” said the report released by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime during a piracy conference in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
According to the U.N.’s International Maritime Organization, the 489 cases of piracy and armed robbery against ships off the coast of Somalia earned more than $100 million for the pirates in 2010 alone.
That’s a considerable amount of money when compared with U.K. and U.S. ‘alternative livelihoods’ funding of $5 million, and the $17.6 million budget of the entire state of Puntland, the semi-autonomous state in the northeast that is Somalia’s piracy hub. In the context of the hundreds of millions that can be gained in ransom, it is “simply insufficient to deter future pirates,” says the report.
Somali Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdullahi Omar has called for greater funding to fight the causes of piracy on land, rather than only fighting at sea. Speaking at a counterpiracy conference in Dubai in April he said, “The world has so far only responded with a strategy of containment. This is not productive, effective, or sufficient for the world or for Somalia.”
He said the core of the piracy problem is Somalia’s weak government, which lacks police or military forces to curb the piracy problem. Two decades of conflict and anarchy have given pirate groups freedom to do as they please.
Speaking to foreign dignitaries from more than 50 nations, Omar said the first step is reestablishing the Somali state’s authority and ability to enforce the rule of law. “We have the will and we have the men and women. You have the resources.”
Total U.S. aid to the failed state was more than $411 million in 2009, but estimates put 2010 aid closer to $133 million. For 2011, only $85 million was requested from Congress, according the United States Agency for International Development.
In February, following British International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell’s visit to Somalia, the U.K. announced it would be bolstering aid to the country. In a press release, Mitchell announced that to “help build peace and stability” in Somalia, U.K. aid will rise from 26m pounds (US$42m) in 2010–2011 to 80m pounds (US$130m) in 2013–2014.
The aid will be used to help people find jobs, hoping to steer them away from resorting to violence and extremism. The money will also go to helping establish stronger communities and rule of law. Over the next four years, the aid money is expected to help 340,000 more people find jobs and enjoy better services, as well as benefiting over 500, 000 through emergency humanitarian assistance.
“Our aid to Somalia is helping to make Britain safer, because conflict doesn’t just claim innocent lives in Somalia, it also leads to international problems like piracy, migration, and terrorism. None of these will be solved without tackling their root causes: ongoing instability and extreme poverty,” said Mitchell in the press release.
Source: Somaliland Press