In the current context of leadership change in Somalia, what is the biggest concern for ECHO?
AS: What is important for us is to access vulnerable communities more easily and without the fear of anyone, whether expatriate or national, being abducted and held for ransom or targeted for assassination based on ideological or any other grounds. There are still twenty-one people being held hostage in Somalia and two key international NGOs have been threatened with having to leave the country. The new President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed has publicly stated that his government will ‘strive to safeguard the staff and local partners of humanitarian agencies.’ It is a position that ECHO welcomes; however, we need to see this effectively implemented and realised on the ground. However, to access communities effectively, aid agencies local authorities also need to provide coherent administrative support, understanding and facilitation.
