THIRD PARTY EVENT: Somalia on the brink – again

With just a few months to run on the mandate of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG), can international policy makers find the right strategy to set the country on the road to recovery after decades of turmoil? 

Is Somalia best characterized as a state held hostage to clan in-fighting, corruption and intransigence? Or is it really the new home of al Qu’ida inspired Islamic extremism?

In the wake of the Ugandan suicide bombings is the international community’s current engagement in Somalia able to stem the growth and spread of extremism from the Horn of Africa and out into the wider East African region or is there a need for a new approach ? 

The Frontline Club plays host to a panel of experts engaged in Somalia on a day-to-day basis, to discuss why Somalia matters, the future of the country, the role of the international community and to consider the de facto realities from the armchair theories.

The discussion will include previously unseen footage of the fight against Al Shabaab inside Mogadishu taken by AMISOM and TFG soldiers.

Chaired by Angus Walker, ITN News

Speakers:

Abdirahman Omar Osman, Minister of Information, Transitional Federal Government of Somalia

Babatunde Taiwo, Senior Analyst, African Union Mission for Somalia (AMISOM)

Simon Haselock, AU/UN Information Support Team Project Director (Albany Associates)