NAIROBI (AlertNet) - Somalia's long-running conflict between Islamist rebels and the transitional federal government has wreaked havoc on the country, and more so this year than before.
On Thursday, a bomb killed three government ministers at a university graduation ceremony, in one of the worst attacks by the country's insurgent groups, which are linked to Al Qaeda.
The fighting has killed at least 1,900 people since 2007 and forced 1.5 million from their homes. At least 3.6 million Somalis - or half the population - depend on humanitarian aid and the rebel groups Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam control much of the country.
AlertNet interviewed three experts on Somalia, asking them what they thought the international community, the Somali government and the aid community - three key players in the crisis - should do to ease the suffering or solve the long-running conflict.
The experts were: Rashid Abdi, a Somalia analyst for the International Crisis Group, Hugo Van Den Eertwegh, deputy head of mission for the International Committee of the Red Cross and John Wanjohi, a programme manager for the Africa Rescue Committee, a Somali NGO based in Kismayo in southern Somalia since 1992.
What should the international community do?
Rashid Abdi: For the situation to improve, the government needs massive resources. They have just passed a budget of $210 million and they expect almost half of that to be funded by the international community. The French have trained hundreds of Somali soldiers and this kind of training is critical. The international community should help the government fend off the challenge from Al Shabaab through such help and this is possible.
John Wanjohi: External interests have and continue to mess up the situation in Somalia. Because there are so many interests, the situation gets more and more confusing every day. The solution should be to leave Somalis to deal with their own problems. Somalia's neighbours should not lock Somalis out. They should open their borders and deal with the Somalia conflict head on.
Hugo Van Den Eertwegh: The world should give Somalis a chance to sort out the problems they have had for the last thirty years. With all the interventions we have had over the last two decades, this has become impossible.
People have to come up with creative ways to give the peace process back to the Somalis while the international community can step away and allow that process to take its natural course. That will have to be accepted by all those who are looking for peace in Somalia.
What should the Somali government do?
Rashid Abdi: Right now, there is a violent struggle between Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam and this is an opportune time for the government to draw up a reconciliation strategy. It should begin to engage some of the moderate leaders within the insurgency and that could be a viable option compared to the military one, which is failing.
The government has just completed one year without delivering peace. They have one more year to deliver peace and be functional. It's also critical for the government to step up its visibility. The president has to be visible. He has to be seen addressing his people and their problems. That will undermine the appeal of the radical elements.
John Wanjohi: The government needs to know that winning this war militarily is difficult. They need to use traditional measures for solving conflict. They should all know that their commitment and survival is dependent on their own efforts. The government should take a lead role in ending this conflict peacefully because more fighting will only kill more people and cause worse suffering.
Hugo Van Den Eertwegh: The government is party to the conflict in Somalia and they have to start talking with everybody. That is not easy but they have to find ways. This will also need creative thinking to open up a whole box of ideas to get the talking started.
What should the aid community do?
Rashid Abdi: The humanitarian situation is very dire and the humanitarian aid community should draw up an intervention strategy which is not affected by political considerations. Aid should be able to reach all those who need it.
John Wanjohi: Other than these one-off and short, emergency interventions, we need to come up with longer- or medium-term programs. Aid agencies should not make people's survival dependent on them. It should be an integrated effort, emergency programs must only be used when they are absolutely necessary and even then, they should have an element of sustainability, so that the beneficiaries find them useful even when the aid agencies have pulled out.
Hugo Van Den Eertwegh: We need much better access. Some of the aid being given now could possibly be distributed better or even better forms of sustainable aid could be provided. More sustainable projects require regular and more presence of expert staff; engineers, medical staff and others. We stay in that cycle of emergency assistance and that helps people a bit but we could do much better things. For that to work, we need much better security on the ground in order for us to make a substantial contribution.
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