Somalia attends World Humanitarian Summit
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- Posted On 23-05-2016, 11:00PM
ISTANBUL, Turkey-Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud Sunday jetted off to the Turkish city of Istanbul to attend World’s First Humanitarian Summit amidst refugee crisis worldwide, Garowe Online reports.
Mohamud will deliver a speech at UN conference on the future of Humanitarianism, where delegations from 125 member States are discussing reform for the traditional humanitarian system under the co-chairmanship of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UN Chief Ban Ki-moon.
Besides, nearly 5,000 participants including government leaders, business figures, and representatives from aid organizations have confirmed their attendance at the Summit. Many Somalis displaced by the country’s bloodiest internal strife live in Europe and the U.S., with latest tragedy in the Mediterranean shedding light on the plight of fresh waves of Somali refugees.
Despite a steady recovery in various fronts in the war-ravaged East African country, close to 200 Somali migrants were reported dead in Mediterranean tragedy last month. Turkey that is playing a host to 50 Heads of States and Governments stepped up its involvement in Somalia in 2011.
The Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) and the Turkish Red Crescent remain Mogadishu-centric, providing humanitarian and emergency aid in central and southern Somalia.
Erdogan said in his opening remarks at Istanbul Summit that Turkey conducts humanitarian and development aid in more than 140 countries of the world and realized thousands of projects.
“I call on humanitarian organizations to work more closely together based on shared priorities to meet [the needs] of millions of people in crisis.
We declare we are one humanity with shared responsibilities. Let us resolve, ourselves, here and now, not only to keep people alive but to [give] people a chance at life in dignity,” said UN Chief Ban.
The first day of the summit is expected to close with a performance by the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra according to Turkey’s Daily Sabah.
GAROWEONLINE
