Britain’s Secretary of State for International Development, the Rt Hon Priti Patel travelled to Mogadishu on 28 January 2017 where she re-affirmed the importance of the UK’s partnership with Somalia. The Minister met the Speaker and Interim Head of State, Professor Mohamed Jawari, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Somalia, Peter de Clercq, AMISOM leadership, humanitarian partners and civil society, to discuss how to drive forward progress on building a stable Somalia and address the pressing humanitarian challenges currently facing the country.

During her visit, the Minister announced that the UK government will provide £10 million additional humanitarian funding to address immediate needs following deteriorating drought conditions in Somalia. This support will be delivered through three UN agencies (WFP, UNICEF and FAO) and will go into providing food security, supporting nutrition and basic health services. This is expected to provide a significant boost for those affected by the drought.

UK Secretary of State for International Development Ms Priti Patel said:

"Millions of people in Somalia are currently living in desperate conditions as drought threatens lives and instability, which is why Globally Britain is stepping up support to save lives and provide basic food, clean water and nutrition.

"The UK is playing a leading role in the international response to the ongoing drought in Africa, where 60 million people are already in need of support globally.

"Where UK aid is saving lives in Somalia, it is also bringing much needed stability, which firmly in the UK's interests."

The UK is one of the largest and longstanding humanitarian donors to Somalia with an existing £179 million four year humanitarian and resilience-building programme (2013 – 2017). The current support will be delivered through three UN agencies (WFP, UNICEF, FAO) and will provide about 25% uplift to DFID’s regular humanitarian and resilience programming for 2017.