Oxfam on London Somalia Conference: Strong on rhetoric, but same policies will not work

Barbara Stocking, Chief Executive Oxfam said:

"While we recognize the huge efforts of the UK Government to make the conference a success, what we had hoped for was a recognition that 20 years of internationally imposed solutions have failed. However, what we’ve seen once again are externally driven solutions that haven't worked, aren't working and will not work.

"We anticipated the conference would offer hope to the millions of people hit by drought and conflict, and support to build a peace process that included a wide section of Somali society. What we got was the rhetoric of Somali inclusion but you cannot go forward with a new constitution and elections in such a troubled country without a wide and inclusive political engagement within Somali society.

Within Somalia, of the millions of dollars the have been pledged today, donors need to ensure that funds for political and security objectives are divorced, and seen to be divorced, from humanitarian and recovery work. This is essential for humanitarian work to be able to continue. Humanitarian funding must be guided by principles of impartiality and meet the needs of Somalis whenever and wherever there it exists."

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