David Cameron: The whole world should help Somalia

 

News in pictures
News in pictures
On Facebook
From the blogs

Political corruption reflects the widening chasm between the political class and the electorate

The corruption and hypocrisy which has come to characterise politics and politicians, and in particu...

Despite its popularity, the death penalty would allow the state to kill innocent people

The University of Michigan law school and Northwestern University have just compiled a database of o...

Listen and hear. Or meet us in Tahrir

Today Tahrir Square is not the scene of demonstrations against the military. Instead, it is a centre...

Crimbos? We could be heading for EastEnders gone mad

The whole point of the Asbo was to prevent anti-social characters wreaking havoc in local communitie...

Representatives from more than 50 governments and international organisations, including US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, are due to attend the London Somali Conference on Thursday to discuss how to tackle "piracy, terrorism, conflict, poverty and famine" in the nation.

The Prime Minister told representatives from Somalian community groups that it was important to be "realistic" about how much progress could be made at the one-day event but insisted he had "great expectations".

At a roundtable discussion with the Somali Diaspora in Downing Street today he said: "The strategy is to try to get the whole of the world to get behind the efforts of the Somali people themselves are making to build a stronger, safer, more prosperous country."

He added: "I just feel passionately that this is a country that has had such terrible drought, famine and war that we really ought to, over the world, be doing more to try to help.

"Let me absolutely stress this is not the West have a conference on Somalia and telling the Somalis what to do, it is actually just recognising there a huge amount of effort going on inSomalia to help rebuild the country away from the conference and actually, what the world needs to do is help that take place and to grow. That's what really lies behind this conference.

"I think we have to be realistic. It's an incredibly difficult situation.

"I have got great expectations and great hopes for what I think we can achieve in lots of different areas but I think we have to be realistic about what we can do in one conference."

Mr Cameron added: "In the end, it's about giving everyone in Somalia, particularly young people, some hope of a job and a voice and a future."

UN Security Council experts are discussing a strategy that would see the African Union force in Somalia extended from 12,000 to about 17,700 troops.

It is hoped a draft resolution aimed at breaking up the "business model" used by pirates in Somalia could be adopted on Wednesday.

Earlier this month William Hague warned more action was needed to tackle the terrorist threat from Somalia when the first British Foreign Secretary to visit the strife-torn African nation for 20 years.

PA

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Career Services

Day In a Page

Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?

Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?

As scientists at Rothamsted's GM trials plead with activists not to sabotage their work, Michael McCarthy visits the battle field
Monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV

Monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV

Deep in Cameroon's rainforests, poachers are killing primates for food. Evan Williams reports from Yokadouma on a practice that could create a pandemic
Catcalls, whistles, groping: just another day for a young woman

Catcalls, whistles, groping: just another day for a young woman

Government urged to take abuse more seriously as London study shows 41 per cent are harassed
Jailing of Maori separatists stirs colonial-era resentment

Jailing of Maori separatists stirs colonial-era resentment

Militant Tuhoe tribe members defiant amid claims race relations had been set back 100 years
Fatal crashes are cyclists' fault, says Boris

Fatal crashes are cyclists' fault, says Boris

Mayor condemned for saying that two-thirds of riders killed on the road were at fault in accidents
Move over Brangelina, this night belongs to Kingston Bagpuize

Move over Brangelina, this night belongs to Kingston Bagpuize

Unlikely community movie beats the stars to get prized Leicester Square premiere
Solved after 33 years? Case of first missing boy shown on milk carton

Solved after 33 years?

Case of first missing boy shown on milk carton
Like mamma used to make: Pizza Pilgrims is proving a word-of mouth sensation

Pizza Pilgrims: Like mamma used to make

A van dispensing purist pizzas is proving a word-of mouth sensation
The supper on its uppers: Why we need to learn to entertain lavishly for less

Supper on its uppers: Entertain lavishly for less

Dinner parties are buckling under the pressures of food snobbery and belt-tightening...
The 10 best summer cookbooks

The 10 best summer cookbooks

From Claudia Roden's The Food of Spain to The Art of Cooking with Vegetables by Alain Passard...
Gorgeous Georgian: Now we can enjoy the cuisine of Russia's fiery neighbour nearer home

Gorgeous Georgian cuisine

The food of Russia's fiery neighbour is among the world's most inventive and original
Fury at Obama over filmmakers' access to Bin Laden kill team

Fury at Obama over filmmakers' access to Bin Laden kill team

White House denies putting politics before national security
Novak Djokovic: Patriot's game

Novak Djokovic: Patriot's game

The world No 1 is fiercely proud to be from Serbia and to be improving his country's profile. And he knows that winning the French Open – and therefore holding all four Slams – will do his cause no harm at all
Rugby league's great drugs cover-up

Rugby league's great drugs cover-up

After Hull's Martin Gleeson failed a drug test last year it sparked an avalanche of lies, complacency and confusion which Robin Scott-Elliot reveals for the first time
Ian Bell: Forget good-looking shots, I want to be known as a tough operator

Ian Bell: View From the Middle

It was nice to play a pressure innings at Lord's on Monday and be recognised for it