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UN, AU holds workshop to improve humanitarian operations in Somalia

Xinhua, April 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

A two-day training workshop on how to improve humanitarian assistance in Somalia has wrapped up in Mogadishu.

The training aimed to formulate and create awareness on Somalia-specific humanitarian and civil-military coordination guidelines, a statement received on Monday in Mogadishu said.

The workshop which kicked off last Friday was jointly organized by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

"Humanitarians and military don't always understand each other and there may not always be the kind of patience on both sides to cooperate," Peter de Clercq, the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (DSRSG) for Somalia said in the statement.

A group of civil-military coordination officers from AMISOM and participants representing various sectors, including police and military officers from troop and police contributing countries of Djibouti, Kenya, Burundi, Uganda, Nigeria and Ghana have taken part in the training.

"I hope that this workshop will increase the mutual understanding between military and humanitarian players and improve cooperation," De Clercq, who is also the UN Humanitarian Resident Coordinator said.

The AU Special Representative for Somalia Ambassador Francisco Madeira noted humanitarian challenges in Somalia call for increased coordination and dialogue between AMISOM and humanitarian actors operating in the country.

The AU envoy said the workshop was important in aiding AMISOM and UN agencies to review the way they operate Somalia by highlighting good practices as well as those that require improvement.

Col Dahir Aden Abrar, AMISOM Deputy Chief of Staff, urged participants to apply what they had learned during the two-day workshop.

He noted the Horn of Africa nation needs a lot of humanitarian assistance because of the long period of instability and conflict, however the assistance should be delivered in a coordinated way to avoid competition, duplication and misuse of resources. Enditem