AU mission seeks to improve humanitarian aid delivery in Somalia
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E-mail Xinhua, October 20, 2016
The Africa Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on Thursday wrapped up a two-day training aimed at improving relationship between the military, civilians and humanitarian actors to help improve delivery of aid in the country.
The training, which brought together civilians, Somali police force and AMISOM's security officers, civil affairs and gender unit also discussed how humanitarian challenges can be tackled in Somalia.
"The workshop was mainly focused on facilitation of humanitarian assistance, and how we can address access challenges in Somalia, that is, the military and civilians. How we can coordinate and what guidelines are in place to effectively facilitate humanitarian access to people in need," said AMISOM Major Fasil Yigzaw in a statement issued after the meeting.
AMISOM Humanitarian Liaison Unit Officer Jackson Robert Basoronga said the objective of the workshop was to create awareness and understanding among military and police on the basic concepts and principles of humanitarian civil-military coordination as well as understanding the roles and responsibilities of federal states, humanitarian organization and the military.
The participants also discussed AMISOM's civil-military guidelines and the mission's involvement in provision of armed escorts to humanitarian convoys.
Mohamed Ibrahim Abdi, a member of the Somali National Army, said the country's military had a crucial role in facilitating humanitarian access.
"We attended a training on how we can facilitate humanitarian access to people in need, and the role of the Somali National Army in facilitating access in order to provide assistance when there are natural disasters or complex emergencies," Abdi added.
Humanitarian actors work in difficult conditions in Somalia since they have to access and deliver assistance to communities in government-controlled areas as well as those under armed groups.
Experts say humanitarian challenges in Somalia call for increased coordination and dialogue between AMISOM and humanitarian actors operating in the country. Endit
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