A delegation led by the United Nations’ Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Ms. Valerie Amos, visited Puntland State of Somalia on Wednesday, February 2, 2011.
The 10-member delegation included the U.N. Resident Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Mr. Mark Bowden, and other U.N. officers based in Garowe and New York.
H.E. Abdirahman Mohamed Mohamud (Farole), the President of Puntland, accompanied by Cabinet Ministers received the delegation at the State House in Garowe, the capital city of Puntland State of Somalia.
The President made a brief presentation to the visiting delegation and addressed a number of key issues, including: security; drought; the situation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Puntland; and relations between Puntland and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia and expressed Puntland’s views on the Somali national reconciliation process.
A number of Puntland Government ministers who are also members of the Government Drought Task Force spoke during the meeting, including: Interior Minister Gen. Abdullahi Ahmed (Ilkajir); Finance Minister Farah Ali Jama; and Women and Family Affairs Minister Ms. Asha Ghelle.
After the meeting, the Puntland President and the U.N. Under-Secretary-General jointly held a press conference outside of the conference room at the Puntland State House.
The President thanked the U.N. delegation for visiting Puntland and remarked that the delegation visited Kenya and Puntland State of Somalia to assess humanitarian conditions.
For her part, Ms. Valerie Amos noted that she is happy to visit Puntland and declared that the U.N. plans to provide drought relief funds for Somalia in the sum of $4.5million USD to assist IDPs and families affected by the drought.
Afterwards, the delegation accompanied by foreign journalists toured IDP camps in the outskirts of Garowe and spoke with families affected by the drought.
Souces- Ministry of information Press releases
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