Kazakhstan, AU agree to provide humanitarian aid to Somalia

ASTANA - The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Kazakhstan to Ethiopia - Permanent Representative to the African Union H.E. Mr. Yerlik Ali the nd African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security H.E. Mr. Smail Chergui signed the Agreement on providing humanitarian assistance to Somalia, the MFA press service reports.

Within the context of the Agreement, Kazakhstan allocated $215 thousand to the Commission of the African Union for providing humanitarian assistance to Somalia. The objectives of the Agreement relating to allocating finances for the implementation of two clean water projects in the Southwest of the country - in regions controlled by the African Union AMISOM peacekeepers.

In accordance with the Agreement, the Kazakh side will undertake the inspection visit to Somalia during the second half of 2018 - in order to verify the implementation of the mentioned projects.

The decision to provide humanitarian assistance to Somalia through the relevant African Union structures is based on the assumption that social and economic situation in the country is extremely difficult - due to the civil war and the destructive activity of the Al-Shabab terrorist group.

The agreement was signed in the framework of policy on providing voluntary contributions by Kazakhstan to international organizations.

In addition, the decision to provide humanitarian assistance to Somalia corresponds with the Kazakhstani priorities as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, which were formulated in the Address of the President of Kazakhstan N.A. Nazarbayev, and submitted on January 10, 2017, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs K.Abdrakhmanov at the debate The UN Security Council (to promote the peaceful and stable development of Africa).

In addition, the situation in Somalia is part of the responsibility of the Republic of Kazakhstan in its capacity of the chairman of the Security Council's sanctions committee for Somalia and Eritrea (Committee 751/1907).

Besides, these projects on providing water to the affected population correspond to the four priorities of Kazakhstan in the UN Security Council: nuclear, water, food and energy security.

Kazakhstan since November 2014 is an observer of the African Union, which unites 55 states of the continent with a population of over 1 billion people.