Somali Counter-piracy Cash from UK Government

UK Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt sets out funding, commits to continuing the fight against piracy & maritime insecurity.

Mr Burt said that the new package of support for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, with whom the Foreign and Commonwealth (FCO) are working in close partnership to deliver capacity building assistance, is worth £2.25m and includes:

• $1.135m of additional funding to the UNODC’s Post Trial Transfer Programme, to complete the construction of a new prison in Garowe, Puntland, to hold convicted pirates in facilities that meet international standards.
• A $100,000 project to tackle corruption in the Somali penal system. As UNODC continue the process of transferring pirates back to Somalia, we face the risk that convicted pirates may seek to secure early release by the paying bribes to prison staff. The project will extend existing anti-corruption awareness training from Garowe prison to all the prisons in Somalia holding piracy prisoners.
• A $240,000 project to develop the Somali coast guard. Supporting UNODC work with the maritime authorities in Mogadishu, Puntland and Somaliland to begin the process of securing Somalia's coastline.