UN security assessment team to visit

A United Nations team will visit Somalia next week to make a comprehensive security assessment in the country as the UN looks to increase its engagement there, according to a press statement released by the UN Humanitarian Coordinator's office on Wednesday. During the visit, from 15 to 24 January, the seven-member team "will travel to as many parts of Somalia as are accessible, and speak with as many authorities as possible" with a view to obtaining a broad picture of current security conditions. "There have been some positive political developments, resulting in increasing stability in various areas of the country", the statement said. This had prompted the UN system to focus on how UN staff could continue or increase their level of commitment, given Somalia's political and military dynamics. The team will renew security guarantees for UN staff from the Transitional National Government and other groups, and examine UN operations and programmes and how they affect staff security. It will also review operational engagement in Somalia, the statement said. Furthermore, the mission will consider the need for access to strategic sites such as airports and seaports. The statement added that since March 1995, UN agencies have operated in Somalia from bases in Nairobi, Kenya, because of widespread insecurity in the country.