The Joint Shipping Initiative, will give $1.5 million additional funds to the UNDP to boost security in Somalia and improve the lives of locals
Thursday, September 25, 2014
A shipping initiative made up of Shell, BP, Maersk, Stena, NYK, MOL and "K" Line have agreed to give $1.5 million to a United Nations' Development Programme for an anti-piracy project in Somalia.
The Joint Shipping Initiative will help fund the UNDP’s Alternative Livelihoods to Piracy in Puntland and Central Regions of Somalia, a project which seeks to improve the lives of Somalis and security for seafarers traversing the area.
"Development projects that provide an alternative livelihood to would-be pirates are a vital element of the long-term solution to piracy," Dr Grahaeme Henderson, Vice President of Shell Shipping & Maritime, said. "We have been very encouraged by progress so far and look forward to positive results from this new phase of work."
Figures suggest that Somalia has one of the highest rates of youth employment, with nearly 67 percent of young people unemployed.
The Joint Shipping Initiative was created by Shell in 2013, with the first donation of $1 million going to help expand a market building in the Somali town of Adado. The move helped to create hundreds of jobs for locals, along with better infrastructure including building a road to link the isolated Hafun peninsula with the rest of the country.
This new funding means the Joint Shipping Initiative has met its pledge to donate $2.5 million to UNDP’s development efforts in Somalia.
"Piracy is a global problem that takes root in limited economic opportunities, high youth unemployment rates and poor infrastructure," Jens Munch Lund-Nielsen, Head of Emerging Markets Projects in Group Sustainability, Maersk, said. "The problem requires a land-based solution."