HOL
Wednesday, February 08, 2012
He thanked the Birmingham City Council for facilitating the meeting and assured the panel that he was representing the British government as a whole in preparation for the upcoming Somali Conference hosted by Prime Minister David Cameron.
He outlined the agenda of conference and said “the discussion will include Security in August after the deadline of TFI (Transitional Federal Institutions), piracy, humanitarian issues and greater coordination of stabilisation of the country. 40 plus countries and international agencies will attend. Among the delegates are representatives from Somaliland, Puntland, TFI (Transitional Federal Institutions), Ahlusunna Wal Jama and Galmug”.
He concluded his address by saying “we should not assume that we will resolve all the Somalia problems in this conference, but it is good start and solutions should come from Somalis; the international community can only support”.
The meeting was a frank, honest and open discussion where all parties voiced their point of view and the Minister did lot of the listening as he had promised.
Some of the points raised by the community representatives include the following: more coordination of the bilateral attempts of different countries involved in Somalia and choose one lead country and others to follow; invite other stakeholders to the conference and not only the parties mentioned in name by the Minister; and a greater role of youth involvement and include them as invitees to the conference.
The community shared with Minister the expectation of Somalis and thanked the British Government for its bold decision of hosting the conference.