Brussels hosts international conference on Somalia

The European Union and the Somali government have jointly organised a conference called "A New Deal for Somalia" in Brussels on Monday, to help the reconstruction of the conflict-ravaged African country. "Monday's conference will be a milestone in terms of political reconstruction in Somalia with the economic, and practical support of the international community," Nick Westcott, director for Africa in the EU foreign service, EEAS, told a news conference here Friday. "We are seeing Somalia after 20 years of conflict pulling itself together," he said. The New Deal will be an agreement between Somalia and the international community to help the country re-establish key elements of statehood in a peaceful, democratic and law abiding way. Westcott said delegations from 50 countries and organisations including Kuwait, Qatar and UAE are expected to participate in the one-day event. Alex Rondos, EU Special Representative for Horn of Africa told the joint conference that Somalis have been have increasingly turned to negotiating with each other to set up a functioning and viable state. "More and more Somalia is coming under a normal administrative representative control," he asserted. "In this conference there will be further confirmation as to how they are going to complete the process of refining of the constitution and how to manage the security," he said. On his part Marcus Cornaro, Deputy Director General of Development and Cooperation in the European Commission said the EU on Monday will pledge a "significant amount" and hoped that other donors will also announce significant grants for the development of Somalia. He noted that the Somali finance minister will meet with World Bank and IMF representatives in Brussels on Sunday to discuss the financial needs of his country. The opening session of the conference will include speeches by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton, the President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy. This will be followed by three working sessions, one focusing on the new political order, two rebuilding the social and economic foundations and three the rule of law and security.