Somali Piracy (Funding Regional Maritime Capacity-Building Projects)

Wednesday 12th October 2011 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr Henry Bellingham)]

I would like to inform the House that the Government have decided to fund a package of counter-piracy projects, building on support provided in 2010-11. This support provides concrete evidence of this Government’s determination to deliver a comprehensive range of action in response to the threat from piracy, complementing the robust action being taken by the Royal Navy at sea.

The projects support court and prison capacity building in Mauritius, the Seychelles, Tanzania and Somalia delivered through the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (£2.25 million); a maritime security sector needs assessment planning mission in Somalia, delivered through the UN Development Programme (£200,000); maritime security co-ordination offices in Somalia, delivered through the UN Political Office for Somalia, and including the Somali regions (£120,000); and projects supporting community engagement and economic development in coastal areas of Somalia, developed with UN partners in Somalia, including UNODC and UNDP (£2 million).