Ahmed Abdisamad of Hiiraan Online and Kenya/Somalia UNDP Country Director Mr. Alvaro Rodriguez
Hiiraan Online
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Nairobi, Kenya (HOL) - The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) conducted a two-day workshop on the role of Somali Diaspora in peace building and relief operation in Somalia. Ahmed Abdisamad of Hiiraan Online interviewed Kenya/Somalia UNDP Country Director Mr. Alvaro Rodriguez. The excerpt:
HOL: What is the aim of bringing together Somali Diaspora in this Nairobi workshop?
Rodriguez: Our objectives is to engage dialogue with the members of Somali Diaspora in order to discover their potential in bringing back peace and stability to the country and also to identify their great contribution to the development of Somalia as a country.
HOL: Why do you think that the Diaspora community can play a pivotal role to peace building in Somalia?
Rodriguez: We know that Somali Diaspora has so far played a positive role as far as the situation of the country is concerned. But we need a more proactive engagement with the Somali community in foreign countries because they have untapped potential to contribute more and more into the country’s development now and in future.
HOL: We know that the Diaspora community had previously contributed well into the development of the country, but then there has been widespread fear that the community is allegedly fueling the flames of the two decades long conflict. What is your response to this?
Rodriguez: Our focus is on development matters, since the primary role of UNDP is to initiate development projects around the world especially developing countries and others in conflict like Somalia. And so we view the Diaspora community as our development partners but not otherwise.
HOL: You hope to achieve some form of resolution and recommendations, how do you hope to implement your action plans after the end of this workshop?
Rodriguez: First and foremost we will take into action some serious resolutions and recommendations that will come out of this workshop, and we believe this recommendations will have the highest impact towards the Somali public. We also hope to table some of our priority recommendations to our donor partners who will hopefully finance our actions and turn them into realties.
HOL: There are some concerns especially from the Islamist group Al-Shabaab that UN’s involvement in Somalia issues are biased and bent on serving the interest of some powerful western countries like the US, given this in mind how can you win the hearts and minds of the Somali populations?
Rodriguez: I think we can win the trust of the Somali public and since UN operates with great accountability and transparency we hope that at the end of the day, Somalis will be able to understand that everything we do is in partnership with them.