From: antbh@strix.udac.uu.se (Bernhard Helander)
Subject: What SOMALIA will need
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: UDAC, Uppsala, Sweden
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1992 20:09:44 GMT

Friends of Somalia and Somaliland!

We are probably right now approaching the end of the thorough media coverage
of Somalia. Within the next few days the UN troops can be expected to arrive
in Mogadishu and that will probably be covered too. But after that I am
afraid that the eyes of the media will look elsewhere for their headlines.
I believe we should all appreciate that the arrival of UN troops will not
mean the end of famine and hostilities. On the contrary what we will have
to be prepared for is a very long road towards general cease fire and, beyond 
that, years of comittment before something resembling normality can be
achieved. 

We should plan for this. We must make sure that the current donor attention 
that the Somali crisis receives does not disappear when the journalists do so.
One thing we must work for is to strengthen the support for the international
bodies that have taken up work in the country. This means lobbying, pressuring
and informing national governments about the Somali crisis and the needs of the
Somali people. Money will be a critical issue. And remember that there is 
a lot of prestige involved here...if the government of XX gives 10 million
dollars for Somali aid, other governments are likely to follow. (A case in point are the last weeks IPS messages on the sums provided by the different 
European governments.) 

The continued fund-raising need will have to be tackled in different ways
in different countries. Local Red Cross and Save the Children committes
are often useful but in other cases it may be necessary to form entirely
new groups. It may also prove important to approach NGOs that have worked
in the country before and ask them to continue this work.

We should also remember that, in the end, the only people that can make peace
among the Somalis will be Somalis themselves. However, as foreigners we can
make sure that we provide opporunities for Somalis to meet and talk. If
all the exile Somalis of different clans living in one country were to 
come to terms with one another that would set an incredible example for
Somalis in all other countries, including Somalia. 

We may not ever see something even remotely resembling the Somali state again,
but whatever shape the future Somalia will have is strictly up to the Somalis.
However, already now there are signs that peace will be possible: every day
a caravan of army trucks leave Kaaraan in Mogadishu. There are plenty of 
Ali Mahdi's soldiers sitting on the roofs. Even some of the lorries are 
painted with the words "Baaburka Abgaal" - Abgaal's lorry. They drive
through the centre of Mogadishu controlled by gen. Aydiid's men. They come
to the port, controlled by Murusadde, and start loading food relief. It has
happened many times that these lorries stand side by side with lorries of
Aydiid and lorries marked with other clan's names. This mostly works out
well and the lorries all return to their respective territories. Sometimes, aid
workers have told me, the soldiers of the different factions help loading 
each other's lorries to minimize the waiting time in the port.In other parts 
of the capital inter-clan neighbourhood committes work to
provide at leas rudimentary social services within their block of houses.

All these are signs that peace will be possible. Just remember: it won't
be cheap and it won't be easy. Somalia needs help!


-- 
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