International Crisis Group

Security and aid work in militia-controlled Afghanistan | IRIN

After the fall of the Taliban in 2001, international troops began hiring some of the militias - which had helped drive out the Taliban - as temporary security forces. 

The government initiated a disarmament, demobilization and rehabilitation (DDR) programme in early 2003, to disband militia groups and help members reintegrate into society, but progress was slow, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG). 

As the security situation deteriorated, the international forces began to sponsor many of these militias to extend their reach. Such semi-unofficial forces played an important role in providing security for the 2009 elections. 

Things took a more formal turn in 2010 when the ALP was officially recognized as the primary local defence force to help keep remote communities free from Taliban insurgents.

FULL ARTICLE (IRIN)

Photo: MATEUS_27:24&25/Flickr

International financial assistance and technical support can be instrumental in achieving many of the objectives of the ECP’s strategic plan.

From Election Reform in Pakistan, Crisis Group’s latest report

Turkey giving Tunisia $100M to stave off crisis | Business Week

By Paul Schemm and Bouazza Ben Bouazza

Turkey will give Tunisia $100 million in aid to help it overcome its social and economic difficulties, a Tunisian official announced Thursday, even as an international analysis group warned about a brewing crisis in the North African country.

Tunisia’s Economy Minister Ridha Saidi said an accord was signed between the two countries during the World Economic Forum being held in Turkey. The deal also includes a $400 million low interest loan.

Saidi said that a total of $600 million in aid has been pledged by a number of countries, which would help Tunisia meet its financial obligations. Another $100 million aid grant is also expected from the U.S., he added.

The International Crisis Group warned in a report Wednesday that Tunisia’s government has been unable to address the desperate economic situation that helped spark the popular uprising that overthrew its ruler last year and there is a risk of a new social explosion.

In its report, the Brussels-based organization said the government needs to do more to deal with the problems of rising unemployment, regional economic discrepancies and corruption.

“It so far has been unable to address them rapidly enough and is failing to quell the impatience of workers and unemployed youth who expect to reap the fruits of their involvement in past struggles,” said the report. “Economic grievances are churning right below the surface. They could once again reach full boil.”

FULL ARTICLE (Business Week)

Photo: World Economic Forum/Flickr

Foreign Policy | Saving Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia — For the United Nations, the war-torn Somali capital is one of the ultimate “hardship posts.” The U.N.’s few foreign employees based there are entitled to lucrative hazard stipends in exchange for living in one of the world’s most dangerous cities. But for Turkish aid worker Orhan Erdogan, it is his family’s home base.

Erdogan, a 45-year old veteran of crisis zones such as Darfur, moved from Istanbul to Mogadishu last August as the aid group he works for, Kimse Yok Mu, ramped up its efforts in response to the severe famine in the Horn of Africa. His four teenage children are now in school in neighboring Kenya, but Erdogan and his wife live together in Mogadishu. “My family lives here to share the reality with me,” Erdogan said. He doesn’t downplay the risks. “Our lives are always in danger; one can expect to die any time in Somalia. However, the satisfaction of delivering aid to starving people who face death keeps us working, whatever the security situation is.”

Erdogan is far from alone. Turkish Ambassador C. Kani Torun, Ankara’s first Somalia-based envoy since 1991, estimates there are between 150 and 200 Turkish nationals currently based in the country. At least 500 more Turks — many of them with little experience abroad — came to volunteer in the months after the famine was declared, a period that corresponded with the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice.

The influx of Turkish aid workers has corresponded with a fresh interest by the Ankara government in Somali affairs. In 2010, Turkey established itself as a key international player in Somalia by hosting an international conference in Istanbul that focused on security and investment in a country more often thought of for piracy and social chaos. Then last August, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a landmark trip to Mogadishu, traveling with his family and a plane full of ministers and advisors. They only stayed for the day, but the visit — the first by a non-African leader in more than 20 years — made a lasting impression.

FULL ARTICLE (Foreign Policy)