In the centre of Brussels on Thursday ministers from more than forty countries together with representatives of international organisations discussed the many problems of Somalia - a country that has been consumed by violence and anarchy for the past eighteen years, and that is in bad need of pretty much everything.
Across town, at Nato headquarters, meetings were being held to discuss measures to fight the rampant Somali piracy that is posing an increasing threat to commercial shipping in the Gulf of Aden.
It may not be the most positive publicity, but the pirates have put Somalia on the map of international politics again.
"This is the best opportunity Somalia has had in a long time," says Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the special UN envoy to Somalia, at the eve of the Somalia donor conference in Brussels. It is the first ever Somalia donor conference, and it had been planned for a long time. But because of the Somali pirates, and the media attention they have been getting, everyone is paying attention.
Window of opportunity
Ould-Abdallah, who is from Mauritania, compares the Somalia conference to the 2001 Afghanistan conference in Bonn - right after the fall of the Taliban regime. Suddenly the world understands how important stability in Somalia is, says Ould-Abdallah.
And there is a window of opportunity: for the first time in years, observers say, Somalia has a government that stands a chance at ending the fighting. In January a broad coalition of the main clans and political groups was formed under the leadership of president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
Ahmed is knows as a "moderate fundamentalist". He is the former leader of the Islamic Courts, the radical Islamic movement that was briefly took control of Somalia in 2006. The Islamic Courts were removed by troops from neighbouring Ethiopia with the support of the US. After a two-year occupation, which only contributed to the chaos, Ethiopian troops withdrew at the end of last year. Ould-Abdallah was the driving force behind the new government coalition, which has the support of the internalional community. The expectation is that the new government will succeed in isolating the more radical Islamic groups.
"It is a matter of supporting the government in its attempts to gain legitimacy among the population - politically, diplomatically and financially," says Ould-Abdallah. The European Union pledged almost 80 million dollars on Thursday; the UN says 165 million dollars are needed. It is a pittance compared to the billions spent on countries like Iraq and Afghanistan. The money will go to the African Union's peacekeeping force, which currently has 4,300 soldiers in part of the Somali capital, and towards training for 10,000 police offers and 6,000 other security personnel.
A little help from the weather
The UN is not keen on sending its own peacekeeping force to Somalia. The debacle of the UN intervention in Somalia in the 1990s has not been forgotten. In any case, Somalis don't care for foreign interventions, says Ould-Abdallah. Any foreign intervention, however well-intentioned, risks upsetting the delicate political balance in the country. "Somalia needs to solve its own problems. An independent security apparatus is of the upmost importance now. And it can also be useful in fighting piracy."
Nato and EU warships have been patrolling off the coast of Somalia for months now with little effect. This is how the international community should go about it according to Ould-Abdallah: stem the piracy as much as possible, while gently promoting the dialogue in Somalia at the same time. If some kind of order is restored in Somalia, it will also make piracy a less attractive career to umemployed Somalis.
The weather might help too. According to officials in Brussels, the recent wave of ship hijackings was due in part to very favorable weather conditions. When the south-west monsoon begins towards the end of May until about August, the seas will be too rough for the Somali pirates.
