by Lt.Cdr. Manuel VERDINI, Italian Defence General Staff
I want to highlight those that, in my opinion, based on an experience of two Working Group 1 meetings, are the three major merits and strengths of the CGPCS:
- firstly, it has gathered around a table numerous actors of the international scene committed in the Somali theater. This has led to a direct confrontation that not only enabled the sharing of information, but also the development of new ideas aimed at solving the piracy issue in a holistic manner;
- secondly, it has always placed the emphasis on the Somali ownership by directly involving representatives of the Somali regional realities (Transitional Federal Government and then Federal Government, Somaliland, Puntland and Galmudug) to acquire their point of view, to know their needs and, at the same time, to let them to know international community’s intentions;
- at least, it is concretely engaged in deconfliction of the many international initiatives for Capacity Building with the Capacity Building Coordination Group (CBCG).
To conclude, I consider that the model of the CGPCS may be kept in mind in the future to handle new crisis situations not only related to maritime security, but also to a broader spectrum of issues.