A/HRC/12/44 page 5 II. PLACES VISITED, PEOPLE MET AND ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN A. Meetings in Nairobi 6. The independent expert’s first visit was to Nairobi, the hub of international activities relating to Somalia and where all 16 United Nations agencies comprising the United Nations system in Somalia are based, coordinated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) representative for Somalia, who is also the Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator. The United Nations Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS), headed by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, is also based in Nairobi. Collectively, the United Nations system for Somalia covers the whole spectrum of humanitarian and human rights, recovery and development work relating to Somalia from Nairobi. 7. The major embassies accredited to Somalia are also based in Nairobi, as are other humanitarian agencies and regional organizations serving Somalia, such as the African Union and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Nairobi is also the hub of a large number of national and international non-governmental organizations covering Somalia. The first half of the mission was thus spent in discussions with people working for and with these agencies. A great deal of information and ideas on Somalia was obtained from these meetings, for which the independent expert is grateful. 8. The independent expert would like to thank some of the key persons met in Nairobi. Foremost among them, the UNDP Resident Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden. As in the past, a meeting with him as well as the debriefing meeting with members of the United Nations country team under his leadership enriched the independent expert’s understanding of the situation in Somalia and of the need to prioritize immediate over long-term issues. The immediate issues that require prompt action from the international community are the security concerns, the protection of civilians, the recruitment and use of children by different parties to the conflict, combating impunity, and the provision of basic social services and economic and social rights, including access to food, education, health care, water and sanitation, among others. The long-term strategy should include institutional and capacity-building as well as recovery and core development needs. 9. Although the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, was absent from Nairobi during the visit, the independent expert benefited a great deal from talking with his staff about the latest developments relating to the Djibouti peace process and their prognosis for the future. 10. During his visit to Nairobi, the independent expert met the new Prime Minister of Somalia and the Minister for Constitutional Affairs, who were visiting Nairobi, as well as with a number of Somali parliamentarians. Together they provided the independent expert with the only opportunity to discuss matters relating to his mandate with the federal authorities. 11. The meeting with the Prime Minister of Somalia gave the independent expert the opportunity to convey his concerns and those of the international community about the renewed human rights violations in the country. The independent expert also reminded the Prime Minister of the help that the United Nations could provide in the field of technical assistance and capacity-building of Government and non-government personnel for the promotion and