The Bundeswehr is to go on training and advising Somali soldiers and will therefore continue participating in the EU-led training mission (EUTM) in Somalia. This decision, adopted by the Cabinet, still needs to be approved by the German Bundestag.
Bundeswehr soldiers are to continue participating in the EU-led training mission EUTM in Somalia
Photo: Bundeswehr/Marc Tessensohn
The mission mandate is to be extended to 31 March 2017. It provides that up to 20 soldiers are to continue to be deployed around the Horn of Africa.
The EU-led mission is tasked with building viable security structures in Somalia. An integrated approach to foreign, security and development policy instruments will be needed to provide the country with the required assistance. Training Somalia’s military forces will make an important contribution to that.
Already successfully trained
Some 5,000 Somali soldiers have already been trained since the mission began, around 1,500 of them since early 2014 in Mogadishu alone. The forces being trained as part of the EU mission are regarded as exceptionally reliable and effective. They have already been deployed alongside the African Union in the fight against the radical Islamist terrorist organisation al-Shabaab.
EUTM Somalia was launched in February 2010. The mission is essentially based on three pillars: training, training assistance and strategic advice.
Somalia still an insecure state
Over the past few years Somalia has shown fundamentally positive developments and both political and structural progress has been made. However, the security situation in the country, especially its capital Mogadishu, will remain very fragile in the foreseeable future. This is, in part, due to the activities of the radical Islamist terrorist group al-Shabaab.
Since capacity building of the Somali armed forces began, al-Shabaab has been fighting an increasingly asymmetrical campaign and is primarily focusing on highly symbolic targets, including government facilities, the parliament and public officials. The group has also targeted journalists as well as international organisations and nations that are supporting the Somali authorities in the fight against terrorism.
That is why the training mission is providing assistance in establishing the country’s security structures. Specialists and leaders in the Somali armed forces are being provided with mentoring and training. In addition, the strategic advice being provided to the Ministry of Defence aims to create effective structures that are essential for capacity building in the Somali armed forces. Establishing administrative structures will likewise support the country on the road to a stable future.
The mission is based on a request by the Somali Government of 27 November 2012 and of 11 January 2013, as well as EU resolutions in conjunction with UN Resolutions 1872 (2009) and 2158 (2014).
Strengthening ownership
And, not least, the people of Somalia need reliable prospects for a secure future. That means developing the country in economic and social terms too. Work on the capacity building of state structures, that has already begun, will continue to serve as the basis for developing all relevant areas. That way Somali ownership can be strengthened in the long term.
Extending the mission, which the Somali Government expressly welcomes, is an important step in that direction and therefore makes both military and political sense.
Integrated EU approach
In November 2011 the EU adopted its Strategic Framework for the Horn of Africa. It aims to increase security in Somalia and to strengthen its judicial system. The Strategic Framework includes economic development and poverty reduction as its objectives.
The EU is therefore operating in close cooperation with the Somali Government, as well as with international partners such as the United Nations, the African Union, the East African Community(EAC) and die lntergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Their common goal is to establish viable state structures in Somalia.
As well as participating in EUTM Somalia Germany is also involved in fighting piracy. The EU’s Operation Atalanta is a counter-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia. The German corvetteFGS Erfurt is currently taking part in the operation.
German development cooperation
German development cooperation is an important element of Germany’s security and foreign policy commitment in Somalia. It is based on a structural and long-term approach that is aimed at stabilising the country and making a key contribution to peace and positive changes in Somalia. In the period since 2012 the Federal Government has pledged an additional 20 million euros in bilateral development cooperation funding. It has also made previous funding from commitments made in the 1980s amounting to just under 95 million euros available to new projects.
The GIZ, a governmental implementing organisation, will be opening new offices in Somalia in February 2016. The first projects in the fields of urban water supply and food security will begin soon after that.
Source: bundesregierung.de