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A holistic, humanitarian approach to Somalia
Dr Hany El Banna recently spent sixteen days with key actors from Somalia, to discuss the humanitarian crisis in the region and to determine how to build a safe space for internally displaced people. The meetings took place in Nairobi and Somaliland, where Dr El Banna met with local and international NGOs, government representatives, local businessmen and UN and multilateral actors to begin the search for a lasting and sustainable solution. 
During the visit, Dr El Banna travelled to Somaliland to meet with local humanitarian actors and take part in training sessions on information exchange.
He said, ‘at the moment, politics and conflict are making it almost impossible to reach those people in dire need at the centre of the crisis. We will be planning a series of meetings to bring together interested parties on all sides to search for a solution to the terrible humanitarian crisis in Somalia.'
The Humanitarian Forum first became involved in Somalia last year, when we held our A HOPE for Somalia conference in October 2009. This is the first set of follow up meetings, and we are continuing our strictly apolitical agenda, seeking to bring together different actors in partnership rather than taking sides in political dialogue. Dr El Banna stressed: ‘We were carrying a purely humanitarian message, to everyone, including governments, organisations, businesses, groups and the international community. We don't want to be misunderstood or misread.'
We plan to continue working with Somalia's actors in the coming months, and hope that these meetings will be the first step to a lasting and sustainable solution to the country's current crisis.
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