Willian Hague Spoke to Somali Diaspora at Chattam House

Transcript

A New Effort to Help
Somalia

Rt Hon William Hague MP

Foreign Secretary, UK

8 February 2012

This speech was delivered at the conference, British Government Consultation on Somalia,

organized by the Chatham House Africa Programme.



William Hague:

I   am   very   grateful   to   Robin   Niblett and   to   Chatham   House   for   hosting   this event. Chatham House’s Africa programme is highly regarded internationally, especially      for  their  work    with   diaspora     communities,       so   this  is  a   very appropriate place to hold today’s consultation. And I am extremely grateful to all of you for coming today, and to anyone who is watching us via live stream over the internet.

In just over two weeks’ time London will host a major international conference on   Somalia,   attended   by   heads   of   government   and   senior   representatives from more than 50 countries and organisations, including the President and Prime Minister of Somalia itself.

We   want   to   consult   you   about   this,  as   members   of   the   Somali   community here in Britain. I am joined by our Minister for Africa Henry Bellingham, who will take your questions later. Together, we want to explain to you what the London Conference aims to do; we want to hear your views; and we hope to inspire you to use your connections in Somalia to amplify the message that we care about Somalia and that now is the time for them to make their voices heard. The result of our discussions will be published on our Foreign Office website and will feed into the conference.

The   London   Conference   on   Somalia   is   an   initiative   launched   by   our   Prime Minister David Cameron. The Prime Minister is convinced, as I am, that we need   a   better   international   strategy   to   address   Somalia’s   problems   and   to help its people; and that conditions in Somalia mean that the time is right for a determined new effort to help the country get on its feet.

A   more   stable   Somalia   is   vital   to   our   national   security   here   in   Britain;   it   is essential for the stability of the Horn of Africa; and it is long overdue for the people of Somalia who have endured twenty years of desperate suffering.

Somalis suffer the most from the devastating effects of conflict and insecurity. But this also matters greatly to Britain. Our engagement with Somalia is not a luxury, it is a necessity. A lawless Somalia is a base for international terrorist attacks. Planned attacks linked to networks in Somalia have been thwarted as far afield as Sweden and Australia. Lawlessness in Somalia is also a threat to international   shipping.   23,000   ships   transit   through   the   Gulf   of   Aden   each year, a vital artery of the global economy. Nearly one trillion dollars of trade to and from Europe alone travelled through the Gulf last year.

We must try to change the dynamic in Somalia from one of inexorable decline to   an   upwards      trajectory  of   gradually    increasing    stability   and    security   – including human security. This is a deliberately modest objective because the scale   of   the   challenge   is   phenomenal.   But   we   must   be   under   no   illusions about how long it will take to achieve it. Our approach must be and is realistic and sober. We cannot turn Somalia around with one conference. But we can bring countries together to give additional meaningful support and strengthen the   mechanisms   that   implement   it.   We   can   send   a   signal   to   the   people   of Somalia   that   we   will   help   them.   And  we   can   remind   all   those   who   wilfully import     and   perpetuate     violence    and    terrorism    there   that  they   should    not underestimate our resolve.


Speaking to you today is part of our preparations for the conference. I made a fascinating visit to Somalia last week – the first by a British Foreign Secretary in twenty years. I took with me Britain’s first Ambassador to Somalia in twenty years. The Secretary of State for International Development has visited twice in the last year, and Henry Bellingham visited a few months ago. We have been   in   intensive  discussions   with   our   partners   since   we   announced   the conference, and tomorrow I will lead a debate in the House of Commons to seek the support of Parliament for the approach we are taking.

So meeting you is important to us, and we value what you have to say. We have   excellent   diplomats   and   experts   on   Somalia,   but   no   one   can   possibly care as deeply about Somalia or know as much about it as you do. We want to benefit from your experience and to keep the views and needs of Somalis at the forefront of our minds as we host the London conference – and to do so more than has been the case in the past. You all have an incredibly important role to play in the future of Somalia. The greatest asset   of   any   country   is   its   people, and  I was struck when   I  visited Somalia   by   the   heroic   individuals   I   met   who are battling   away  to   make a difference under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. Some of them feel a particularly     strong   connection  to  Britain   -  whether  it  was   the   Mayor of  Mogadishu, a   former resident and community activist  in  Camden  and employee  of   Islington   Council   whose   family   lives   here   in   London, or   the members of Somali civil society that I met. Of course there are many thousands of people who do not feel able to live in Somalia       at   present     or    who     have     fled   it  under     extremely      difficult circumstances.   We   are   very   grateful   for   the   contribution   that   many   talented and highly educated Somalis make to our society here – but recognise that many      of  them    will  also   care  deeply    about    seeing   a   stable   and   peaceful Somalia.  We have the deepest sympathy for the fears, anxieties, hopes and dreams they must have about their homeland and family members there, and 

the   Diaspora’s   great   potential   to   play   a   part   in   the   Somalia   of   the   future. 

Somalis worldwide worldwide provide more than $1 billion in remittances back to   Somalia   each   year   –   more   than   the   international   community   provides   in aid. This is largely made up of people sharing their hard-won earnings with their families, or helping to pay teachers’ salaries, to build schools and clinics, to dig wells, or to provide other much-needed assistance. So we know that Somalis around the world are a critical part of the solution to the country’s problems and I thank you for the part that I am sure many of you already play in that. I want to set out why we are holding the London Conference on Somalia; and what we hope it will achieve as well as the necessary limitations on it. 

First let me say that we do not take on this task lightly or without humility. We are fully aware of what Somalia is today: a failed state that has been torn by war, famine, displacement, warlordism and militias; half of whose territory is controlled by Al Shabaab, a group that has publicly declared sympathy for Al Qaida’s   aims   and   methods.   We   know   that   the   international   community   has not always got it right in the past, and that we can easily make mistakes, even where our intentions are good. 

We   know   that   Somalia   is   a   country   where   one   million   people   have   died through conflict over twenty years, where 43% of people live on less than $1 a day, and where more people are dependent on emergency food aid than the    entire   populations     of   Edinburgh,     Manchester,       Sheffield,   Leeds     and Liverpool combined. It is so unstable that three quarters of a million of its people are refugees in neighbouring countries, and where the average life expectancy, 48 years, is roughly equivalent to the life expectancy of Britons in the nineteenth century. 

In Mogadishu I scarcely saw a single building that was not scarred by bullet holes, alongside the many utterly destroyed by fighting. It is a country where in some areas piracy has become a way of earning a living. 

So the fact that we have not succeeded in turning Somalia round is not for a lack   of   effort   by   the   international   community   –   including   initiatives   by   the previous British government which we supported – but because the problems are   so   vast   and   complex.  We   must   always   be   clear-sighted   and  realistic   in setting our expectations for what we can achieve. We want to see a Somalia that is stable, where the basic needs of its population are met, and that is able to begin to build its economy and its future. We can help get Somalia on its feet – we cannot do the running for it. We can dictate its future nor can we provide   the   solution   to   its   internal  problems   –   those   are   things   that   only Somalis can decide, although there are many ways that we can and will give them our assistance. But   even   against   this   sober   background   we can see   a   glimmer of   hope   for Somalia today, and three compelling reasons why the time is right for a major push on Somalia. 

The first is that Mogadishu has been liberated by AMISOM forces under the skilful   and   courageous   leadership   of  the   Ugandan   troops   that   back   up   the backbone of the African Union contingent in Somalia, along with brave troops from   Burundi   and   Djibouti.   Today,   almost   all   of   Mogadishu   is   controlled   by AMISOM   and   the   Transitional   Federal   Government,   making   it   possible   to make progress on Somali governance. The second is that these operations and successful counter-terrorism work is putting pressure on Al Shabaab. We need to seize the opportunity to intensify this   pressure,   and   not   allow   Al   Shabaab   to   regroup.   Their   guerrilla   tactics inflict huge suffering on ordinary Somalis, and they harbour foreign extremists who   use   Somali   territory   to   plan   attacks   outside   the   country   -   including   the Kampala bombings of July 2010 – and to impose a violent ideology which is alien to the vast majority of Somalis. 

Related      to  this,  the   international    community       has   made     real   progress     in diminishing the pirate activity that fuels Somalia’s conflict, so that there have been no success hijacks since in the Gulf of Aden since November 2010. The number of vessels and crews currently held by pirate groups is at its lowest since 2009. 

The   third   reason   for   optimism   is   that   there   is   an   opportunity   to   create   a broader, more representative political arrangement when the Transitional Federal Government’s mandate expires this summer. This gives an opening to launch a broader political process that embraces all Somalis, and    that   places    emphasis      on   supporting    regional   governance   as   well   as better and more representative government from the centre. 

This sense of a moment of opportunity was shared by the Somali leaders and citizens that I met, who welcomed Britain’s engagement. We must make the most   of   the   opportunities   to   support  a   more   inclusive   and   representative political   process,   to   help   people   return to   Mogadishu   and   rebuild   their   lives there,   to   strengthen   AMISOM,   to   introduce   more   effective   arrangements   to tackle   piracy   and   terrorism,   and   to   work   better   to   support   those   pockets   of stability emerging across the country. 

This is what the Somalia conference will aim to do. 

It will be different from previous conferences because it will put the needs of Somalis   front   and   centre,   not   just   our  own   security,   and   it   will   attempt   to address the root causes of the conflict rather than just the symptoms. 

We have invited government and multilateral organisations that are active and influential on Somalia, representatives from Somalia including the Transitional Federal       Institutions,     the    Presidents      of    Puntland      and     Galmudug, representatives of Aluh Sunnah wal Jamaah, and Somaliland, We     have   secured     senior   attendance      from   the  region,   including    Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda, as well as from the US, Turkey, UAE, Nigeria, Sweden, the UN, African Union and the European  Union.                 I am delighted to say that Secretary Clinton and UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon are attending. 

As   you   would   expect   we   are   still   discussing   with   our   partners   the   precise detail of the outcomes of the conference. 

We hope that the conference will agree practical measures in seven areas. On the political track, the current transitional institutions in Mogadishu run out in August.    After seven years of minimal progress, they must not be extended. The Somalia political process must become broader and more representative. This   might   involve   a   constitutional   assembly   drawn   from   all   of   Somalia’s communities, not just Mogadishu. On security, African Union forces have pushed Al Shabaab out of Mogadishu to create political space and Kenyan action has also put Al Shabaab on the back   foot.   But   African   forces   have no regular   funding   for UNSC-mandated actions.    So the Conference should agree a sustainable funding package for 

Africans willing to put lives on the line. 

The success stories in Somalia are in the regions. Puntland and Galmudug have     established      local  peace     deals,    and   set   up    administrations.     The Conference should agree a   coordinated   international   package   of  support   to Somalia’s      regions    that  complements       work    on   peace    and   stability  at  the national level. 

Piracy off the Somali coast is an affront to the rule of international law. We must   break   the   piracy   business   cycle.    So   the   Conference   should   push   for transfers    of  convicted     pirates   from   regional   states   like  the  Seychelles Somalia; maintain tough arrangements to catch, try and imprison pirates and continue to develop regional maritime capacity within Somalia. 

We must make it harder for terrorists to operate in and out of Somalia. The Conference should agree the areas we need to develop to disrupt terrorism across the region, including stopping the movement of terrorists to and from Somalia,      disrupting    the   flow   of   their  finances,     and   delivering    effective intelligence     gathering,     investigation,     criminal    prosecution     and    detention against them. On     the   humanitarian      front,  the   Conference       provides     an   opportunity     to highlight the need for donors to continue to respond generously and on the basis   of   needs;   invest   more   in   livelihoods   and   basic   social   services   and   to work towards greater consensus on more durable solutions for refugees. 

Finally, we want London to be the start not the end of a process.  So we want the    Conference      to   agree    how    we    handle    Somalia     issues    in  future:   a revitalised International Contact Group; UN and African leadership; and more countries      deploying     diplomats     and    staff  into   Somalia,     not   just   basing ourselves in Kenya. These   are   all   practical   but   meaningful   steps   which   we   believe   will   have   an 

impact on the ground. 

We hope to emerge from London with a stronger common understanding of the way forward and a renewed political commitment for the long haul. I am told that there is a Somali proverb that says ‘alone I can travel fast, but together we can travel far’. This seems to me to be an apt and encouraging sentiment to guide our conference. As I said at the outset, Britain’s engagement with Somalia is not a flash in the pan but will endure. We have appointed a new Ambassador as I have said, and will re-open an Embassy in Mogadishu as soon as we can. We     will  continue    to  be   an   active   member      of  international    groupings     on Somalia,      including    the  International     Contact    Group     on   Somalia     and   the Contact Group on piracy off the coast of Somalia, and we will maintain our strong bilateral engagement. Through   our   Department   for   International   Development   Britain   is   providing £250   million   in   development   support   over   the   next   four   years,   working   on longer   term   programmes   to   address   the   underlying   causes   of   poverty   and conflict   and   helping   Somalis   to   take   control   of   their   lives   and   rebuild   their communities   and   livelihoods.        This   means   working   with   local   and   regional 

governments in areas like Puntland, that Andrew Mitchell visited last month, 

where we will help build democratic institutions that can respond to the needs of their citizens; help the police and justice systems work so that people can feel more secure, and increasing access to health care, education and jobs – which we recognise to be absolutely critical to Somalis. We   want   to   help   ensure   that   last   year’s   tragic   humanitarian   crisis   –   which claimed   between   50,000   –   100,000   lives,   half   of   them   children   -   is   never repeated.   Britain   has   been   one   of   the   most   generous   donors   to   the   relief effort.   We   have   provided   £128   million   to   the   relief   effort   across   the   Horn, including £58 million for Somalia alone in addition to our main development programme, and on top of the £72 million raised by the Disasters Emergency Committee from concerned British citizens. British Aid has reached over one million   vulnerable   people,   saved   the   lives  of   thousands   and   contributed   to lifting 500,000 people out of famine. 

We   are   proud   of   the   role   we   play   and   the   example   we   set   to   others   –   for example   the   UK   contributes   14%   of   all   European   Union   spending   in   an   on Somalia, including on development and humanitarian aid. We are part of all three international naval operations in the waters around Somalia – including providing the Operational Commander and Operation HQ in Northwood near London, for the EU naval mission Operation Atlanta. 

I hope that you will welcome all this work and our renewed commitment to a stable and peaceful Somalia, and that we can work together to help make this a reality. There can be fewer countries in the world where an investment in peace and security is more desperately needed, or where international effort can more worthily be devoted. 

By dedicating effort to Somalia today, we are not only helping the people of that   long-suffering   country   but   investing   in   our   own   long   term   security   and prosperity – bringing benefits to Britain and to Somalia. That is our hope, and that is what we are working very hard to help bring about. 

"Didiinglay dhamaateih"