Anti-piracy conference calls for another anti-piracy conference

ONE of few new proposals to emerge from the Dubai anti-piracy conference last week, other than to recommend what has been long recommended, is to hold another anti-piracy conference - this time under the auspices of the United Nations.

"Participants to this conference call upon relevant United Nations Offices to hold a conference to address this concern, including through identifying specific programmes to alleviate the suffering of victims of piracy," said the end-of conference communique.


In the "Final Declaration of the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs high-level Counter-Piracy Conference 2011, co-organised with global ports operator DP World", the statement called for funding for a UN programme to prosecute pirates, more money for the Somalian transitional government to develop stability, and greater compliance for best practice in the shipping community.


"No durable eradication of maritime piracy is possible without a long-term regional and global solution to counter state failure, instability, and other underlying causes of piracy in Somalia," the declaration said.


Astonishingly, it also said: "The military response to maritime piracy has reduced the success rate of pirate attacks". Astonishing because the statement comes only days after the International Maritime Bureau said that world shipping had suffered its worst period of piracy in the first three months of this year.


Said the declaration: "The international community must expand . . . provision of coordinated training as well as material and financial resources to improve land-based security capacity and livelihoods in Somalia, to deter and prevent piracy.


"In this context, the pledging of over US$5 million to the [$2.4 billion] UN Trust Fund to Support the Initiatives of States to Counter Piracy off the Coast of Somalia and to other industry-led on-shore development projects is recognised as a transformative moment in ensuring a fully resourced, comprehensive public-private counter-piracy approach."


The UN fund was established with a mandate by the 46 member states (African Union, Arab states and the EU) to defray expenses of prosecuting pirates, "as well as other activities related to combating piracy in all its aspects", according to the UN website.


The declaration also said: "The international community must pursue a comprehensive strategy of support to Somalia, which prioritises assisting the Federal Authority, the regional authorities of Galmudug, Puntland, and Somaliland, in improving security conditions and establishing a system of governance and rule of law."