EC aids political transition and fight against poverty

The European Commission will support Somalia's political transition and fight against poverty through a €70 million (US $89 million) aid package for the Somalia Recovery Programme.

The announcement of the funding on Friday followed a memorandum of understanding signed on 28 March by EC President José Manuel Barroso, EC Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michel, Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and Somali Prime Minister Mohammed Gedi.

"The EU has never abandoned the Somali people in the past 15 years," Michel said. "The transitional institutions remain the only option for peace and stability, and I intend to foster linkages with them when visiting Somalia next month with a group of European parliamentarians."

Somalia is one of the poorest nations in the world, with 43.2 percent of its population living on less than $1 a day and an infant-mortality rate of approximately 22 percent. The Horn of Africa nation has had no functioning central government since the collapse of the regime of Muhammad Siyad Barre in 1991. After a national reconciliation conference, transitional federal institutions, comprising the federal government and parliament, were formed in January 2005,

"Now, for the first time in 15 years, Somalia has the beginnings of a governance framework, though the political situation remains fragile," the commission said in a statement.

On Wednesday, the British international development secretary, Hilary Benn, visited Somalia and announced that his department would provide US $18 million to support the transitional parliament and ministers, provide humanitarian relief for drought-affected people and support education programmes with the United Nations Children's Fund.