London Somalia Conference

[1] The conference was attended by representatives of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG), as well as the Presidents of the autonomous Puntland, Somaliland and Galmudug regions and Ahlu Sunnah wal Jamaah (ASWJ).

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office indicated that sustained political commitment and tangible action would be necessary and that the involved parties would need to support and build upon the existing work of the Somali civil society groups, the UN, AU and NGOs.

[3] According to the planners of the conference, there were seven specific areas of interest for which they hoped to agree on a series of practical measures:[1] According to Reuters correspondents, the situation in Somalia may not be easy to change as many actors derive benefits from the lack of a strong central authority, including some politicians, power brokers, militants, pirate kingpins, smugglers, traders, financiers and aid contractors.

[2] In addition, Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali stated that while he believed his nation was "moving into an era of peace, stability and normalcy", the comprehensive, Marshall Plan-like reconstruction scheme that he had hoped for was unlikely.

Among the various speakers present during the morning session, only the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's statements, including his insistence that the international community "cannot hold conferences away from Somalia... we have to be there", appeared to strike a chord.

They also pledged support for Somalia's stable regions, agreeing to form a new fund earmarked for local dispute resolution, job creation, basic service delivery and development of government sectors.

[8] UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pressed the conference's participants to build on recent successes, after the capture of the strategic southern town of Baidoa from the Al-Shabaab group of militants and a UN vote to expand the AMISOM peacekeeping force to 17,000 soldiers.