A/HRC/12/44
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up in Puntland. Similar activities could be considered for training teachers and nurses.
Indeed, any activity that would create an impression in the minds of the people that the
Government is concerned about their welfare would be useful.
93. The Government, with the assistance of the international community, should develop
and implement formal, concrete, time-bound plans of action to halt the recruitment and
use of children. It should also facilitate the release of all children recruited or used
unlawfully by its armed forces and secure their access to protection and reintegration
programmes.
B. For the international community
94. It is of utmost importance that the international community recognize that Somalia is
not only facing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world today, but also a very
serious security challenge linked to global terrorism which, if not handled urgently, could
worsen. Outside help that is reportedly constantly arriving in support of the opposition
appears to have accelerated in recent months. Not only is more money being injected, but
more foreign fighters are also being introduced. This must be checked with a greater sense
of urgency than has been the case to date.
95. Nearly two decades of almost incessant warfare has shattered the lives of the ordinary
people of Somalia, who have somehow managed to survive. They live in a fragile State in
which many national institutions have more or less been destroyed or severely damaged
and require rebuilding, in terms of both infrastructure and capacity. The police and
security forces in the entire south-central region are in a very poor state and must be
revived, revamped and reconstructed. In Somaliland and Puntland, where institutions
exist, there are gaps that must be filled and additional capacity built. Access to justice in all
parts of the country is very limited, especially for women. Turning the situation around
will require the wholehearted support of the international community.
96. The international community must therefore ensure that financial and other
resources required by the Government are fully provided. The pledges made at the
international conference held in Brussels on 23 April 2009 were a good beginning, but not
enough for actual needs.
97. Fortunately, the attention of the international community has recently turned to
Somalia, albeit mainly in relation to the growing menace of piracy along the Somali coast.
It is also fortunate that there is growing international recognition that the problem of
piracy cannot be dealt with without addressing the root cause linked to the chaos and
deprivations in Somalia. In a country with hardly any source of livelihood for youth, where
the fish resources in the surrounding waters are plundered by foreign fishing trawlers and
where nuclear and other wastes are dumped by foreign ships on the coasts unchallenged by
any Somali naval force, piracy is a lucrative - albeit dangerous - alternative source of
income for many. Unless this reality is taken into account, piracy cannot be eliminated. The
independent expert strongly recommends that, among other things, the programmes
implemented by the Government of Puntland in this regard be supported by the
international community.
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