An international fund to fight against piracy

(B2) At the Istanbul conference on May 22, 35 countries, meeting at the invitation of the Turkish government (1), reaffirmed their desire to support Somalia and its government in the search for stability. This Istanbul declaration - as it should be called (2) - endorsed the creation of two new mechanisms - a trust funds on piracy and a task force on rebuilding.

For the international community, there is indeed an imperative: the provisional reconstruction of Somalia must exist in addition to humanitarian assistance activities and before moving on to a development phase. But the fight against piracy and the training of Somali security forces are also a necessity. The conference also welcomed the role played by the EU operation Atalanta, NATO's "Ocean Shield" and CTF 151.

An international fund against piracy

The conference thus approved the creation of a "International Trust Fund" in charge of "support the initiatives of the Piracy Contact Group off Somalia to meet the costs of prosecuting suspected pirates and to support other anti-piracy initiatives". This fund would be fed by the Member States but also by other donors (international organizations but also - why not! - the maritime world, insurance companies or shipowners). This idea is very interesting because it could give certain States in the region which have little means financial compensation for their commitment to prosecuting pirates.

The conference thus called on other States (than those already committed) "facilitate prosecutions before their national courts, consistent with applicable international rules and human rights".

A task force for rebuilding

The conference also approves the creation of a "Task Force"responsible for designing very quickly (within the next four weeks) a mechanism to bring together development agencies and partners to meet the country's critical stabilization needs. This mechanism proposed by the Islamic Development Bank would be chaired by Turkey and could ensure the provision of humanitarian and basic services, the rehabilitation of infrastructure, the development of livelihoods and the creation of employment.

A roadmap to the Somali government on the security forces

The conference finally underlined how important was restoring, training, equipping, paying Somali security forces is 'vital' for the long term stability of Somalia”. It also gives the Somali transitional government a roadmap to ensure security for the Somali population: increase in the number of trained Somali recruits, reintegration of "all Somali forces, especially those of Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama's", improvement of the command and control structures of the Somali forces.

In general, it can be noted that the international community, while reaffirming its support for the Somali transitional government, shows a certain impatience, even a certain nervousness towards it, reminding it of its responsibilities, in particular "to respond to the humanitarian suffering of the Somali population" but also to avoid getting lost in "internal disputes" (2).

NB: the next international meeting on Somalia will be in September this year in Madrid with the meeting of the high-level group.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

(1) The Turkish government thus confirms its desire to play a leading role at world level, after the mediation with Iran.

(2) Read also: For the president Djiboutian, the battle must be won
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