Kazakhstan to provide humanitarian aid to Somalia

[Deeq A.]

Astana. January 17. KazTAG – Kazakhstan will allocate $215 000 of humanitarian aid to Somalia, reports the Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan.
“On January 15, 2018 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia – Permanent Representative to the African Union H.E. Mr. Yerlik Ali and African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security H.E. Mr. Smail Chergui signed the agreement on humanitarian assistance provision to Somalia,” reads the message.
Within the context of the agreement, Kazakhstan allocated 215 thousand US dollars to the Commission of the African Union for providing humanitarian assistance to Somalia. The objectives of the agreement relate to allocating finances for the implementation of two clean water projects in the Southwest of the country – in regions controlled by the African Union AMISOM peacekeepers.
The Kazakh side will pay an inspection visit to Somalia during the second half of 2018 – in order to verify  implementation of the mentioned projects.
The decision to provide humanitarian assistance to Somalia through the relevant African Union structures is based on the social and economic situation in the country which is extremely difficult due to the civil war and the destructive activity of the Al-Shabab terrorist group.
The agreement was signed within the framework of policy on providing voluntary contributions by Kazakhstan to international organizations.
In addition, the decision to provide humanitarian assistance to Somalia corresponds with the Kazakhstani priorities as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, which were formulated in the Address of the President of Kazakhstan N.A. Nazarbayev, and submitted on January 10, 2017 by the Minister of Foreign Affairs K.Abdrakhmanov at the debate The UN Security Council (to promote the peaceful and stable development of Africa).