Talks Between Somalia and Somaliland postponed until the first week of Jan. 2014- FM

Somaliland Foreign Minister

HARGEISA - The Talks between Somaliland and Somalia has been postponed for the second time running following request made by Somali government. Turkish ambassador to Somalia previously announced that the talks were delayed and might have resumed in the first week of Dec.

Somaliland Foreign Minister who is on trip to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital spkeaking to BBC Somali services confirmed the postponement of the dialogue.

Mr. Mohamed Biihi Yoonis said that the appeal made by Somali goverment which is facing political crisis and until this standoff is resolved, the talks can not resume.

Somaliland FM has announced during the interveiw that the talks were postponed until the January 2014.

Somaliland FM Mr. Mohamed Biihi Yonis has added that the Turkish government is about to open Consular office in Hargeisa soon.

He stated that the diplomatic offices that both countries will open came follwing the visit embarked by delegation headed by Somaliland president H.E. Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo.

Mr. Biihi added that they talked with PrimeMinister Ergodan to open consular office in Ankara and that the Turkish government should follow siut in order to exchange diplomatic ties and open office in Hargeisa and he said that they accepted their appeal.

Egypt's transitional government prepares for battle over Ethiopia`s giant dam on the Nile

The continuing political turmoil in Egypt has had an impact on every aspect of the country’s life and one of those is foreign relations, as Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy readily admits. Most of this externalised turbulence, if you like, has been felt in the Middle East where Egypt’s alliances have oscillated as wildly as its own changes of government over the last two and a half years.

The biggest impacts have been on Egypt’s relations with Turkey and Qatar which were the regional states that most strongly supported former President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood and were therefore the states most angered when he was toppled on 3 July 2013. Egypt has just expelled the Turkish ambassador and Ankara quickly followed suit.

Fahmy told visiting South African journalists this week he had no choice after persistent and very negative criticism from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the 3 July ‘coup’ (which the current Egyptian transitional government calls the 30 June revolution, dating it rather by the day Egyptians massed again on Tahrir Square to demand that Morsi step down).

The Qatar ambassador will probably be next to pack his bags, Egyptian officials say. But of course in the highly polarised Middle East environment of the Arab Spring – if that expression still means anything – the toppling of Morsi was wildly popular with other anti-Islamist governments, notably the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

So, while Egypt had to quickly repay a US$ 4 billion loan to Qatar, this loss has been more than compensated for by credit from its new allies, such that Trade and Industry Minister Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour is able to say the country doesn’t need the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The events of 30 June to 3 July have also reverberated southwards across Africa, although not nearly to the same degree. They have certainly hurt Egypt’s relations with South Africa which have never been very warm but have chilled by several degrees in the past four months. Pretoria also criticised the removal of Morsi as a coup and was even more critical of the violence and hundreds of deaths when Egyptian security forces removed Muslim Brotherhood protestors from the streets of Cairo in August. The Egyptian authorities reacted angrily with some sharp remarks comparing the handling of the Brotherhood demonstration with South Africa’s Marikana disaster and so on. It got down to that level.

Although the African Union also condemned the ouster of Morsi as a coup and suspended Egypt from membership under its rules against unconstitutional changes of government, no other individual African state seems to have been as critical as South Africa was.

But the impact of the turmoil in Egypt has been felt in other, more subtle ways, as foreign ministry spokesperson Badr Abelatty explained this week when he suggested that Ethiopia had taken advantage of Egypt’s distraction by internal events to charge ahead with building its US$ 4,7 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile just 20 kms from its border with Sudan. He said the planned height of the dam wall had soared by about 35 metres while Egypt was distracted by internal turmoil.

The international panel of ten experts appointed by Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, which has been assessing the likely impact of the dam for some time, had reported that it was unable to assess the impact of raising the dam wall so high, Abelatty said. The panel said it required more studies and statistics from Ethiopia before it could assess the economic, environmental and safety impact of such a huge dam. Abelatty said that many experts question the location of the dam – in an area where a lot of earthquakes have occurred. If such a large dam were to burst ‘Sudan would be finished and the flood would destroy at least upper Egypt’ he claimed.

He points out that Egypt relies on the Nile for 95% of its water while the upstream Nile Basin countries depend on it for only 2% to 5% of their water needs. Egypt acknowledges that Ethiopia, in particular, has other needs, such as energy and development, which the dam is intended to serve, ‘but not if they harm our interests. According to international law, the Nile is a resource for all’. All countries involved must seek a ‘win-win’ solution, Abelatty says, noting that the panel of experts is scheduled to meet again on 3 December for its next discussion.

This represents a softening of approach from the bellicose stance the Morsi administration inadvertently revealed. On 4 June Egyptian politicians from across the political spectrum met to discuss what to do about the dam. There appeared to be wide consensus that Egypt should use force, if necessary, to stop construction, either by bombing the dam with aircraft or helping Ethiopian anti-government rebels to sabotage it. The meeting was accidentally broadcast live, causing huge embarrassment to Egypt.

The new ‘win-win’ talk will help it regain some sympathy from Africa where Egypt has lost much of its traditional influence while trying to manage its own turmoil. Fahmy insists that his transitional government is now determined to re-nurture its ‘African roots’ and says that he has put the emphasis on Africa rather than the West, in his first foreign visits since taking office in July, travelling to Uganda, Burundi, Senegal and Sudan. Abelatty elaborates on a new Partnership for Development with Africa which Cairo is developing which will increase Egypt’s development aid to the continent.

He pointedly notes that Fahmy has also visited Senegal since taking office, to demonstrate that Egypt is not just obsessed about the Nile. Nonetheless the Nile is undoubtedly front and centre of Egypt’s Africa policy right now and is likely to remain so for a while to come. Maybe Egyptian jets won’t bust the dam but Egyptian politicians and diplomats are certainly going to bust a gut trying to ensure by every other means, that it doesn’t go ahead, or at least not according to the present blueprint.

Peter Fabricius, Foreign Editor, Independent Newspapers, South Africa

Source: issafrica.org

Somalia’s Failure: A Broken System or Lousy Leaders?

Somalia's power-sharing system has failed.

(Albany Associates / Flickr)

By Nafisa G. Santur,

In most of the world’s parliamentary democracies, it’s rare to see presidents and prime ministers bickering, since their roles and responsibilities are more or less distinct and rarely overlap. However, in many African governments, power struggles between presidents and prime ministers are quite common, even when the offices have clearly defined constitutional roles.

In Somalia, the president is the head of state. His powers include appointing a prime minister and serving as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, which includes the power to declare of a state of emergency or war. The prime minister is the chief of the cabinet, guiding and overseeing the work of the other ministers. However, despite these neatly separated roles and responsibilities, Somalia is once again having great difficulty in governing itself under a power sharing system.

Although it’s designed to encourage collaboration between clans, the arrangement has yet to produce sustainable political stability, with a rift widening between President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon. The real issue between them is unclear, but according to media reports, the president recently asked the prime minister to resign due to incompetence, while the prime minister claims that the president has no constitutional power to request his resignation. The prime minister has complained that the government cannot achieve its goals because of the slim cabinet that the president had imposed on him, which has resulted in each minister being in charge of three to four ministries.

After its independence, Somalia had a parliamentary system based on political parties. But a coup d’état in 1969 installed the Siad Barre military regime, disrupting the democratic process and eventually plunging the country into civil war. Since then, a number of power-sharing agreements aimed at resolving the crisis have crumbled.

In 2000, a Transitional National Government was established in Djibouti that ended up disintegrating due to a power struggle that began with President Abdiqasim Salad Hassan and Prime Minister Ali Khalif Galaydh. Similarly, in 2002, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development organized a reconciliation conference in Kenya that gave birth to a Transitional Federal Government and a parliamentary system without any political party presence. The party system was replaced with a clan-based power-sharing formula called the 4.5 system, which awarded an equal share of parliamentary seats to Somalia’s four major clans, with a fifth retaining a half-share.

But something’s not working. Somalia’s three most recent presidents have each appointed three prime ministers, a rapid turnover rate indicating ongoing infighting between representatives of competing clans who are loathe to cede power to each other. As a result, Somalia has been plagued by a political process that is based on competition rather than cooperation and compromise. The current fallout between the president and the prime minister is a continuation of the political stalemate that has hampered Somalia’s progress for decades.

Meanwhile, precious time is being wasted on political brinkmanship rather than dealing with the innumerable challenges facing the country. Security, reconciliation, the economy, education, infrastructure, and healthcare are a few of the many issues that do not get addressed so long as the president and prime minister are locked in a power struggle. Consequently, many Somalis have lost faith in their leaders’ ability to unite the nation, which may lead the country towards another civil war and away from economic prosperity.

Therefore, the time has come for Somalia to try a different system of governance. Somali constitutional experts should review and amend the constitution from a power sharing system back to political party system in which a president and vice president from the same party are elected on the same platform.

The clan-based system has had its chance. Only through a party system, overseen by an electoral commission, can Somalia put together a government with the capacity to solve the country’s unique challenges—and bring about the political stability that has eluded it for the last two decades.

Nafisa G. Santur is a political researcher and conflict analyst based in Nairobi.

Source: fpif.org

Kenya Launches Mega $13.8bn Railway Project

President tells launch ceremony that railway line linking port city to neighbouring nations is a "historic milestone".

The new line, to be built with funds from China, will replace a dilapidated colonial-era railway [AFP]

Kenya has launched a $13.8bn flagship railway project linking the port city of Mombasa to the capital Nairobi and is eventually hoped to extend onwards to neighbouring Uganda.

The project, called a "historic milestone" by President Uhuru Kenyatta, who presided over a ground-breaking in Mombasa on Thursday, will also connect with proposed lines to Rwanda and South Sudan, according to the AFP news agency.

Built by a Chinese state-owned firm and with funds from the Chinese government, the railway line is expected to dramatically increase trade and boost Kenya's position as a regional economic powerhouse.

Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi form the the East African Community, a regional bloc that the five nations have used to boost economic integration.

"What we are doing here today will most definitely transform... not only Kenya but the whole eastern African region," Kenyatta told crowds at the ceremony, which was attended by Chinese officials.

"As a result east Africa will become a competitive investment destination. A busy growing east Africa is good for us as a country."

The new railway line will replace the dilapidated British colonial-era railway, and has been hailed by the Kenyan media as the region's largest infrastructure project for a century.

"Kenya is stepping forward...it will be a landmark project both for Kenya and east Africa," said  Liu Guangyuan, China's ambassador to Kenya.

Cargo costs

Financing, currently only from China, has so far been made for only the first 450km section from Mombasa to Nairobi, replacing the current single trainline with a high-speed standard gauge track, as well as building an additional line alongside.

Work on that section, by the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), is expected to be completed by 2017.

CRBC completed in August the first-stage of an expansion to Mombasa's port, including a berth able to handle 50,000 tonne container ships

According to plans, the new lines would see passenger journey times cut from the current 12 hours to around four, which is around half the current driving time on crowded and pot-holed roads.

Freight trains are planned to be able to cut the current 36-hour trip by rail to just eight, a major boost for regional landlocked nations, with planners claiming it will slash cargo transport costs by 60 percent.

Source: Al Jazeera

CHINA’S HUAWEI TO ROLL OUT 4G SERVICE IN ETHIOPIAN CAPITAL

A man walks past a Huawei company logo outside the entrance of a Huawei office in Wuhan, Hubei province, October 9, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Stringer

By Aaron Maasho

Addis Ababa (Reuters) – Ethiopia’s state-run Ethio Telecom said on Thursday it had pickedHuawei Technologies Co Ltd, the world’s second largest telecom equipment maker, to roll out a high-speed 4G network across the capital Addis Ababa.

The introduction of the service is part of a $1.6 billion deal signed in July and August between the Ethiopian firm, Huawei and ZTE, China’s second-biggest telecoms equipment maker, to expand mobile phone infrastructure throughout the Horn of Africa country.

“In terms of allocation, Huawei will be responsible for the expansion of 4G in Addis Ababa, including other mobile services – the 2G, 3G, IP and the like,” Abdurahim Ahmed, Ethio Telecom’s head of communications, told Reuters.

Abdurahim said the allocation plan was finalized on Wednesday.

“It is expected to benefit more than 400,000 subscribers. Within an eight-month period, the expansion project of Addis Ababa, including 4G, will be completed.”

The deal, signed by ZTE in August and Huawei a month before, will enable Ethiopia to double subscribers to more than 50 million by 2015 and expand 3G service throughout the country.

Both firms will split their work along 13 expansion areas.

The contract was awarded under a long-term loanpackage to be paid over a 13-year period with aninterest rate of “less than 1 percent”, Abdurahim said.

Africa’s rapidly expanding telecoms industry has come to symbolize its economic growth, with subscribers across the continent totaling almost 650 million last year, up from just 25 million in 2001, according to theWorld Bank.

Ethio Telecom is the only mobile operator in the country of more than 80 million people, among the last remaining countries on the continent to maintain a state monopoly in telecoms.

The government has ruled out liberalizing its telecoms sector, saying the 6 billion birr ($321 million) it generates each year is being spent on railway projects. Ethiopia plans to build 5,000 km of railway lines by 2020.

(Reporting by Aaron Maasho; Editing by James Macharia/Mark Heinrich)

Source: Reuters

LEGAL ANALYSIS: Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement: Intellectual Property Chapter

On 13 November, Wikileaks published a full draft of the IP Chapter of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (‘TPP’), a multilateral trade agreement negotiated largely in secret by 12 countries in the Asia Pacific region. The draft text, which runs to 95 pages, dates from August 2013 and is the most up-to-date version of a document that has only been made available for public scrutiny through a series of leaks.  It gives, for the first time, an insight in the positions of the 12 countries, which are party to the negotiations of the TPP.

In this analysis, ARTICLE 19 reviews specific provisions of the Draft TPP related to copyright for their compliance with international human rights standards.

The leaked text confirms many of the concerns that have been expressed by ARTICLE 19 and other civil society groups, namely that the US-led proposals in the Intellectual Property (IP) Chapter – often supported by Australia and Japan – would severely infringe Internet users’ rights to freedom of expression, privacy and due process online. If adopted, signatory countries would be compelled to adopt far more restrictive copyright enforcement measures than are currently required under international copyright treaties. Several countries, such as Chile or Canada, could be forced to significantly amend their domestic copyright law in the absence of democratic oversight as the TPP negotiations have been held largely in secret.

At the same time, the leaked text reveals that there are profound disagreements between the negotiating parties, notably concerning copyright terms, intermediary liability, criminalisation of non-commercial copyright infringement and digital locks provisions. In contrast to the US aggressive proposals, countries such as Chile, Canada and New Zealand generally seek to promote more balanced intellectual property policies that better protect Internet users’ rights. It is therefore questionable whether the TPP negotiators will achieve their target of concluding the agreement by the end of 2013.

It is clear that secrecy of the TPP negotiations is motivated by attempts to avoid public scrutiny over this document. Hence, as the negotiations draw to a close, ARTICLE 19 calls on the TPP member states to release a complete, up-to-date, draft text of the TPP so as to enable meaningful scrutiny of the agreement by all stakeholders concerned.

We further urge the TPP negotiators to follow our recommendations regarding the protection of fundamental rights in the IP Chapter of the TPP.

Summary of recommendations

1. Given the potential  impact of the TPP on human rights, the negotiations should be transparent: the draft texts of the agreement and state positions on it should be made public on regular basis and should include a process for comments by all stakeholders.
2. Member states must subject the TPP to strict scrutiny as part of the ratification process.
3. The TPP should include a provision dealing with “objectives” following the original proposals made by New Zealand, Chile, Peru, Vietnam, Brunei Malaysia, Singapore, Canada and Mexico;
4. General provisions dealing with “objectives”, “principles” or “implementation” should make express reference to the importance of protecting the rights to freedom of expression, privacy and due process and more generally make reference to users’ “rights”.
5. Temporary copies should be a clear exception to copyright protection;
6. Copyright terms should be no longer than necessary so as not to impair the right to freedom of expression. For works created by individuals, this means that copyright protection should last no longer than life of the author;
7. Proposals to extend retroactive IP protection to subject matter already in the public domain should be firmly rejected.
8. Internet intermediaries should benefit from broad immunity from liability. They should not be encouraged to monitor their networks. Nor should they be encouraged to implement “three-strikes” policies. Disconnection from the Internet on copyright grounds should never be permitted.
9. Non-commercial copyright infringement should not be criminalised;
10.  The circumvention of TPMs should not be criminalised. At a minimum, any criminalisation of circumvention of TPMS should be linked to actual copyright infringement. Any exceptions to provisions criminalising circumvention of TPMs should be broadly drafted.
11.  If statutory damages are available for non-commercial infringement, they should be capped so as not to impose a disproportionate restriction on the right to freedom of expression.
12.  Limitations and exceptions to copyright should be broadly drafted and interpreted;
13.  Arbitration tribunals should not be used to deal with copyright claims. 

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Wada-hadalada Somaliland iyo Somalia Oo Dib Loo Dhigay, Maxaa u Sabab ah

Wasiirka Arrimaha Dibada Somaliland

Dr. Maxamed Biixi Yoonis

Hargeysa - Wado hadaladii labada Wadan ee Somaliland iyo Somalia ayaa la sheegay in dib loo dhigay muddo bil ah. Wad0 hadalada labada dhinac oo lagu waday in ay qabsoomaan bisha fooda inagu soo haysa ee December 2013, ayaa waxa dib loogu riixay bilowga bisha January ee sanadka 2014. Sidaasna waxa shaaca ka qaaday in Wasiirka Arrimaha Dibada Somaliland Dr. Maxamed Biixi Yoonis oo u waramayay BBC-da.

Wasiir Arimo Dibadeedka Somaliland Dr. Maxamed Biixi waxa uu intaasi ku daray in dib u dhigistan wado hadalada ay codsadeen dawlada Federaalka Somalia oo uu sheegay in uu dalkoodu meel khatar badan marayo.

"Wadada hadaladii labada wadan ee Somaliland iyo Somalia oo lagu waday in ay qabsoomaan bisha December, waxa dib loogu dhigay labada todobaad ee ugu horeeya bisha January, waxaana codsigaasi keentay dawlada Somalia oo aynu ognahay xaalada ay ku sugan yihiin" ayuu yidhi Wasiirka Arrimaha Dibada Somaliland.

Dhinaca kale waxa uu intaasi ku daray in Dalka Turkigu ay Xafiis ka furan doonaan Somaliland isagoo arintaa ka hadlayana waxa uu wasiirku yiri "Dalka Turkigu waxa uu xafiis ka furan doonaa Somaliland, arintaasi oo ka mid ahayd waxyaabihii uu waftigii uu hogaaminayay Madaxwaynaha Somaliland ee dhawaan Turkiga tagay kala hadleen Ra'iisal Wasaaraha dalkaasi, si labada dal ay u xoojiyaan dhinacyada xidhiidhka diblamaasiyadeed, dhaqaale, ganacsi iyo taageeroba in Somaliland iyo Turkigu is waydaarsadaan xafiis dublamaasiyadeed" ayuu yidhi.

20th Anniversary of International Human Rights Day 2013 Theme: 20 YEARS: WORKING FOR YOUR RIGHTS

Human Rights Day 2013 has special significance in this 20th anniversary year of the establishment of the mandate of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Human Rights Day continues the celebration of the anniversary with 20 YEARS: WORKING FOR YOUR RIGHTS as its theme but with the emphasis on the future and identifying the challenges that lie ahead.

The UN General Assembly proclaimed 10 December as Human Rights Day in 1950, to bring to the attention ‘of the peoples of the world’ the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the common standard of achievement for all 

Memo to The Hague: Somalia is Not Safe

Leslie Lefkow

Author(s): 

 Leslie Lefkow

Twenty-six-year-old Said Ahmed Said was walking down the street in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, on November 8 when there was an explosion at a nearby hotel. He was hit by flying debris.

Such attacks are not unusual in Mogadishu. As with Iraq, Afghanistan or other places in which there is an armed conflict, it’s easy to become immune to the news that every week civilians in Mogadishu are killed or injured. Many incidents are not even reported in the international news unless the casualties are particularly large—like the April bombing of a Mogadishu courthouse that killed more than 30 people, or aimed at foreign targets—like the June suicide attack on the United Nations compound in Mogadishu.

What makes Said’s case special is that until November 5 he lived in the Netherlands. Said, along with his mother and sisters, fled Somalia’s terrible conflict in the 1990s, when he was 7 years old. Although Said’s mother and sisters eventually received residency in the Netherlands, his application was denied because he had a criminal record. Said got a temporary respite in 2011 when the Dutch government – along with many other European governments – suspended returns to Somalia after judicial rulings that, in general, failed asylum seekers should not be returned to Mogadishu due to the appalling violence in the city.

That position changed in December 2012. Many of Somalia’s international donors and partners wanted to support the new government that took office in August 2012, seeing it as Somalia’s best hope for re-establishing stability and peace after more than 20 years of conflict. European donors have provided millions of Euros in aid for reconstruction and military support to the Somali and African Union forces pushing back the main armed Islamist group al-Shabaab, which continues to control large swathes of territory in south-central Somalia.

But European governments also saw the political developments as an opportunity to resume sending failed asylum seekers back to Somalia, under the wishful-thinking position that the situation had stabilized. “'It's very evident that the general situation in Mogadishu has improved,”said Dutch Secretary of State Fred Teeven on December 19, 2012. He continued: “The indiscriminate violence because of which everyone in the city was at risk, has substantially decreased.” The UK’s Home Office has made similar arguments.

While there has been a reduction in open conflict in Mogadishu, the reality on the ground is that on a daily basis civilians are injured and killed by targeted attacks by gunmen, or attacks by improvised explosive devices and grenades. The Somali government does not even control all of Mogadishu and is failing to provide much of its population with basic security. And large parts of south-central Somalia remain in the throes of ongoing fighting, or even under al-Shabaab control. Al-Shabaab still has the capacity to wreak havoc, and civilians still bear the brunt of its attacks.

People who follow events in Somalia listen to the political rhetoric with disbelief. In 2013, as the Dutch and other European governments began the process of resuming deportations, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Vluchtelingenwerk and other organizations argued that the time was not right to send Somali asylum seekers back to Mogadishu or south-central Somalia.

Sweden is another country eager to send Somalis back, and the European Court of Human Rights gave it a green light in September. The court said the general level of violence in Mogadishu had decreased to the extent that everyone was no longer at a real risk, an assessment based largely on a Norwegian and Danish team that visited Kenya and spent three days in Mogadishu, sleeping in the airport because of the insecurity.

Appeals in Dutch courts held up deportations from the Netherlands for a while. In April I testified in a High Court case in The Hague that would ultimately set a dangerous precedent. I showed maps with large black patches covering most of south-central Somalia: the areas that remained inaccessible to humanitarian agencies because of insecurity.

I had compiled data showing that even though there was less outright fighting in Mogadishu, the toll of injured and dead civilians from grenade attacks and bombings had gone up in 2013. But the judges seemed far more interested in hearing the Dutch government’s arguments about how the situation in Mogadishu had improved, again based on questionable information, given the limited access.

The Somali client lost her appeal and after several months the Dutch government prepared to resume deportations.

The Dutch and other European governments should recognize that facts on the ground, not political “wish lists,” need to determine their policy on Somali returns. The Dutch government should immediately reverse their decision that the time is ripe for returns. Lives depend on it.

After the Netherlands resumed deportations to Somalia, Said was the second Somali to be sent back. He was lucky – he was only lightly wounded in the attack. The next Somali returned might not be so lucky.

Leslie Lefkow is deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch and lives in the Netherlands.

Originally published in Het Parool on November 26, 2013.

SOMALIA: Humanitarian air service seeks urgent funding to maintain support

Nairobi - The United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) operation in Somalia is currently facing a funding shortfall with current funding enabling it to continue the service only until the end of January 2014.

The significant size of the humanitarian aid community in Somalia and staff based in neighbouring Kenya, but travelling to Somalia on regular
missions, combined with a precarious security situation, demands a continued and augmented humanitarian air transport capacity.

UNHAS has regular flights to eight locations of which only two are served by domestic commercial airlines that do not yet meet United Nations standards for staff travel.

The UNHAS operation in Somalia transports about 2,300 passengers and 13 metric tons of cargo every month. About 155 humanitarian organizations, as well as the donors and the diplomatic community operating in Somalia, rely on the operation.