23 August, 2008

Puntland Diaspora Conference

We, the members of Puntland Diaspora, invited by the Puntland Development Research Center (PDRC) to the Conference entitled "The Future of Puntland: A Diaspora/Civil society Consultative Conference", originally scheduled to be held in Garowe, Puntland State of Somalia from the 13th to the 20th of August 2008, would like to take this opportunity to thank PDRC, Interpeace and the European Commission for their excellent idea, professional organization and generous funding of the Project.  The preparation of this conference took a lot of efforts, time and resources to bring the members of the Diaspora from all over the world.   We greatly appreciate this timely and valuable cooperation.

Furthermore, we want to express our appreciation for the PDRC's acceptance of, and patience over the unexpected postponement of the conference by the government of Puntland. We strongly believe that PDRC's conduct is consistent with their long lasting commitment and dedication to the peace, stability, and long term development of Puntland.

We also wish to recognize PDRC's hospitality including but certainly not limited to the free use of their facilities, staff, and resources during our stay in Puntland, despite the postponement of the conference. 

During our brief stay, we had the opportunity to meet and interact ourselves, outline networking arrangements to actively participate in the Puntland development programs.  Discussions with PDRC on future collaboration were very useful.    

In addition to our meetings with PDRC officials we also had productive discussions and contacts with the President of Puntland State and members of his cabinet, civil society organizations, notable personalities and the general public.

Despite our deep regrets over the hasty postponement of the Conference, we also wish to thank the Government led by the President, Vice President, and the Speaker of the Parliament for their warm welcome and their expression of regret over the postponement of the Conference.  We take note of the government's official grounds for the postponement of the Conference and welcome the President's reassurance of his government cooperation with Diaspora and the re-convening of the conference at a future date. We would like to propose that the conference is re-convened here in Garowe next summer some time between mid July and mid August.

In the event the conference was to be held, our objectives would have been to the following:

To discuss the current and future political issues facing Puntland with fresh perspectives and make recommendations to stakeholders i.e.: to the Government, the public and development partners, 

To contribute to the creation of a friendly environment and harmonious relationship between the Diaspora, Puntland administration, the local NGOs, as well as all the segments of the civil society. 

In view of the above, we appeal to Puntland government, PDRC and the larger Puntland Community including the Diaspora community, as well as the local media to remain focused on Puntland's public interest, and refrain from anything that can contribute to the rise of unnecessary sense of instability and/or social polarization.

MEMBERS OF PUNTLAND DIASPORA DELEGATION
GAROWE, PUNTLAND STATE, SOMALIA
CONTACT: puntlanddiaspora@gmail.com