Madame Chairperson,
Mr. President,
Distinguished Governors,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, it is my privilege and pleasure to address the 34th session of the IFAD Governing Council.

Somalia has been unable to actively participate in the Governing Council for more than a decade, because of the political and institutional crisis that has afflicted our country.

However, since the 33rd session of the Governing Council last year, Somalia has re-established its participation in the Governing Council; and renewed its collaboration with IFAD.

We have initiated, with the support of IFAD and in partnership with the University of Padova, a new approach of involving Somali intellectuals in the Diaspora in studying options and opportunities for rural development in Somalia with a focus on assisting the rural poor.

This new approach engages representatives of Somali Diaspora – coming from different locations, with different disciplines, and originating from different parts of Somalia – in a Forum moderated by the University of Padova and the Somalia Permanent Representation to the UN agencies in Rome.

This Forum aims at producing concrete strategies and plans that can start a new wave of development activities in rural Somalia. We look forward to presenting these ideas soon to our partners for field implementation.

Madame Chairperson
Distinguished governors and guests,

I would like to brief you of the alarming situation in Somalia, which has been devastated in the last 6 months by a very severe drought after rains failed for several consecutive seasons, and especially due to the failure of the country's short rainy period (the Deyr) from October through December. The country is facing increasingly severe shortages of water, food, and pasture. The widespread death of livestock has also deprived many rural Somalis of access to such basic staples as milk and meat.  

Unfortunately this drought, which affects the whole of Somalia, is the latest in a long line of problems.

As the Permanent Representative of the Government of Somalia to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, and on behalf of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, I take this opportunity to appeal to the international community and to aid agencies to respond urgently to the crisis in Somalia - where a worsening drought could lead to a catastrophe of huge proportions.

Thank you very much for your attention.

19 February 2011