UN must boost presence in Somalia: Aid officials

Geneva, Mar 6: The United Nations urgently needs international support to boost its presence in Somalia and restore basic services, or the country could collapse into chaos, U.N. aid officials said.

The officials, from three of the world body's key aid agencies yesterday, told a news conference it was vital to help the Transitional Federal Government currently based in the town of Baidoa to set up quickly in the capital, Mogadishu.

''We must be able to increase our presence on the ground in south and central Somalia and start delivering the services that people need,'' said Philippe Lazzarani of the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

''This is the time to seize the opportunity for change,'' said Graham Farmer, head of the Somalia office of the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation. ''There is no standing still. We can't wait and see. If there is no support, then the situation will deteriorate.'' Christian Balslev-Olesen of the children's agency UNICEF said the United Nations aimed to get schools functioning, to establish steady supplies of clean water and ensure Somalis had access to health services.

In December, the United Nations appealed for 237 million dollars to underpin relief and rehabilitation projects helping some 1.8 million. Only 13 per cent of that sum has been pledged so far.

Last Friday, a senior UN official for Somalia said in New York the country appeared to have reached a turning point after two decades of strife, but needed more aid and foreign help to stave off further anarchy.

Since the overthrow of dictator Muhammad Siad Barre in 1991, Somalia has had no functioning central government, with the south and centre controlled by warlords and for a few months until December last year by an Islamic movement.

That administration was driven out of Mogadishu by Ethiopian forces and troops of the Transitional Government. The UN Security Council has authorised an African Union peacekeeping force of 8,000 troops to take over from the Ethiopians.

Lazzarino, who heads OCHA's Somalia operations from the Kenyan capital Nairobi, told the Geneva news conference there was now ''an ongoing process'' of establishing of reconciliation among Somalis.

The United Nations, whose aid operations have either been directed remotely from Nairobi or focused on the northern regions of Somaliland, which is seeking independence, and Puntland, now needs to be present in a more robust way, he said.

Reuters

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