European Commission funds new parliament

The European Commission (EC) has approved a project to support the newly constituted Parliament of Somalia. In a statement on Wednesday, the EC said it "has approved a project to support the newly formed Transitional Federal Parliament". The parliament was set up in September after almost two years of peace talks. An EC official told IRIN that the two-year project will cost €1.9 million (US $2,476,502). The project will be implemented by the Association of European Parliamentarians for Africa (AWEPA), an international parliamentary organisation based in Europe, the statement said. The project is geared towards capacity building of the new parliament, said the official. "Areas of need will be identified in consultation with Somali MPs," he added. "During the four month inception period of this two year project, there will be detailed dialogue and needs assessment with the Parliament in order to develop a mutually agreed plan of activities," the EC statement added. The project may include "management modalities for the Parliament Secretariat, the technical training of committees, a constitutional review, support to reconciliation activities, a separation of powers of the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary, and oversight and control of the Executive", it said.