UK Minister for Africa makes maiden Somalia visit

Baldwin

The UK’s Minister for Africa, Harriett Baldwin MP, has made her first trip to Somalia, using her visit to follow up on British Prime Minister Theresa May’s recent visit to Africa during which she announced new packages of support for Somalia to help progress a comprehensive approach to Somalia’s long-term security, stability and resilience.

The UK is one of the top three international donors to Somalia.

In Mogadishu, Baldwin met with Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire, commending the government on the strides taken to progress political and economic reform. She reiterated the UK’s commitment to supporting Somalia, and emphasised the importance of sustaining and building on achievements to date.

During a tour of a UK-funded police training facility in Mogadishu, she witnessed how the UK is building capacity within Somalia’s own security forces, in addition to leading calls within the international community to increase support to AMISOM.

She also met with AMISOM troops and Somali officers, praising them for their efforts fighting against Al Shabaab to restore stability.

In meetings with international partners involved in humanitarian and resilience programming in Somalia, she reaffirmed the UK’s commitment to remain at the forefront of the humanitarian response including stepping up and focusing on providing durable solutions that take the realities of rapid urbanisation, demographic shifts and climate change into account.

She recalled the recent announcement by May of over £60 million from the UK to support vulnerable Somali communities to cope with and recover more quickly from conflict and climate extremes. In the longer-term, this work will contribute to a reduction in conflict, fragility and regional population displacement in Somalia by reducing vulnerability and competition for scarce resources.

On the second day of her visit, she visited Somaliland where she met with President Muse Bihi, reiterated UK support for economic development, job creation and long-term reform.

She also saw how UKaid is making a difference to the lives of local people when she visited a UK-funded mother and child nutrition centre, which is helping children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

In both Mogadishu and Hargeisa, she engaged with business representatives and entrepreneurs to discuss investment into Somalia, as a way of delivering economic recovery and long-term growth.