On the occasion of the fifth Comprehensive Approach Workshop on the Horn of Africa organized on January 27th in Brussels by the European Union, EUCAP Nestor Acting Head of Mission (AHoM) Simonetta Silvestri and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Head of Global Maritime Crime Programme Alan Cole, presented a joint work plan for Somalia in 2016.
The joint work plan seeks to identify common end-state objectives for improved maritime security in Somalia with a preliminary division of labour based on the competencies of each organization.
As EUCAP Nestor’s AHoM explained, “security sector governance and administration capacity is essential for functioning law enforcement. EUCAP Nestor’s maritime, police and legal experts will work with the senior management of the Somali Police Force, with a special focus on the Maritime Police Unit, to provide the framework for the operational training and infrastructure rehabilitation carried out by UNODC. The joint work plan is an important step forward to provide comprehensive support for improved maritime law enforcement in Somalia”.
Alan Cole concurred with these principles and added: “ We recognize that a truly sustainable solution to combating piracy and other forms of maritime crime in Somalia requires addressing its root causes, and building Somali maritime law enforcement institutions from the ground up. We believe that Mogadishu Maritime Police, the Bosaso Port Police, and the Somaliland Coastguard have made significant progress in addressing the wide array of maritime crime they have encountered in the past year and a half. We have seen – among other – interdictions of vessels fishing without licenses, of illegal shipments of weapon, as well as search and rescue operations to secure the safe passage of refugees and Somali returnees fleeing conflict in Yemen. The support delivered by programmes run by UNODC and EUCAP Nestor is making an important contribution to this advancement.”
The cooperation between EUCAP Nestor and UNODC unfolds within guidelines provided by theNew Deal Compact for Somalia, a Somali-led agreement to strengthen capacities, ownership and mutual accountability, supported by the international community, in five priority areas for post-conflict transition (Peacebuilding and State-building Goals (PSGs); Inclusive Politics; Security; Justice; Economic Foundations; Services and revenue).
Background
EUCAP Nestor is a civilian EU mission, under the auspices of the Common Security and Defence Policy, which assists host countries in the Horn of Africa and Western Indian Ocean region in strengthening their capacity to ensure maritime security and in particular to fight piracy.
