UAE Appeals to the International Community for Support for Somalia

The UAE, during its presidency of the UN Security Council session in June, launched a call for assistance to Somalia on humanitarian and environmental fronts. State Minister Sheikh Shakhboot Al Nahyan, in the presence of Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, urged the international community to elevate its response to the humanitarian conditions and climate change in Somalia. He called for aid to address the situation faced by the Somali people affected by drought, which has led to families being displaced in search of safe refuge, stating, "Addressing the humanitarian and climate crisis requires coordinating and expanding aid." He also highlighted the UAE's commitment to supporting Somalia in these areas, having provided assistance amounting to $194.6 million between 2018 and 2023. In this context, he affirmed that terrorist acts, particularly those carried out by Al-Shabaab, represent the greatest challenge to achieving Somalia's political, social, and economic aspirations, mentioning, "In the first quarter of this year, the number of terrorism-related incidents surpassed the average of incidents recorded since 2016."