Fifty countries and organisations have gathered in London for an international conference aimed at preventing Somalia from slipping back into lawlessness.
David Cameron, UK prime minister, and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Somali president, are co-hosting Tuesday’s meeting, which hopes to bolster political stability in the Horn of Africa country.
Britain has pledged $15m to help train Somali security forces and judges.
“The Somalia conference in London aims to capitalise on the significant progress made over the past year and to agree coordinated international support for the government of Somalia’s plans to build political stability by improving security, police, justice and public financial management systems,” Britain’s Foreign Office said.
Organisations such as the UN, the African Union, the International Monetary Fund and Somalia’s neighbours are among those invited.
Al Jazeera’s Peter Greste, reporting from Mogadishu on Tuesday, said the feeling in Somalia seemed to be that this was one in a line of international conferences, and it was unlikely the results would be seen.
“A lot of people mention that this is one in a series of international conferences and people are yet to see the outcome of these on the ground,” he said.
“If the security situation in Somalia breaks down, there is a fear we could see a resurgence of Islamic extremism and piracy. The key reason for the drop in hijackings is seen as the increase of security.”
{aljazeera}
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