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UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Sergio Vieira De Mello said during a visit to Somalia on Wednesday that the country had been neglected by the international community in recent years but that his visit, specifically requested by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, should be seen as symbolic of a new commitment by the United Nations to helping Somalis in their search for peace and development.
“Africa in general has been neglected. And, within that, Somalia in particular has been neglected,” Vieira de Mello told IRIN in Baidoa, during the first visit to Somalia of such a senior UN official since 1993. He said his presence - along with nine UN heads of mission and the European Community representative for Somalia - should also be seen as a message to the international community that immediate measures were urgently needed to fend off the prospect of serious food crises in several areas of southern and central Somalia.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions