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Imagine an entire state whose people know no security. There are no state schools or hospitals, no roads, no electrical transmission towers. More than 90 per cent of its youth do not know how to read or write. Yet, when I travelled to the failed state of Somalia recently, I saw much promise. Against all odds, a new transitional federal government, assembled after three years of difficult negotiation in Nairobi , has moved to the city of Jowhar , some 90 kilometres northwest of Mogadishu . Led by President Abdullahi Yusuf and Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi, this 275-member parliament has returned from exile in Kenya to lead Somalia back from anarchy. Proportionately representative, it includes traditional elders, warlords, businessmen and a contingent of 13 Somali Canadians. Political tensions remain high, however, and any progress will only be realized with international assistance and aid. Since the displacement of dictator Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991, Somalis have known only false promises, starvation and abandonment. This new government represents Somalia 's first chance for hope. As the first foreign parliamentarian to visit the working government of Somalia , I could not travel to Mogadishu , as my safety could not be guaranteed. Five cabinet ministers and warlords who oppose Mr. Yusuf's government (he's seen as a threat to their financial and political interests) have located themselves in Mogadishu . There, they deliberately threaten the potential for peace and reconciliation, and scare away international donors and organizations. Although 60 per cent to 70 per cent of the country is stabilized, Mogadishu still plays host to the drug-trafficking, arms-smuggling and counterfeiting that undermines this nation's very future. Radical fundamentalist Islamic groups such as al-Itihaad and al-Islaah, meanwhile, have declared jihad on the transitional government, further challenging peace, order and good government. They have opened schools and organized paramilitaries and assassination squads, using the anarchic capitol as their base. Their membership recruitment is greatly facilitated by the oppressive poverty and urban culture of warlordism and criminal violence. Neither group wants to see the realization of a democratic federal republic. But neither group should be allowed to hijack the future of 10 million Somalis. Nothing could have prepared me for my arrival in Jowhar. Our group's small plane landed on a rock-strewn dirt landing strip where four SUVs stood waiting. Two transitional cabinet ministers (both from Ottawa ) and their various aides served as our official greeting party. For half an hour, we drove along a bumpy dirt road beside the remnants of a colonial Italian highway built decades ago, passing two villages of semi-nomadic herders, with their stick-and-mud spherical huts and skin-and-bone cattle. Finally, we arrived in Jowhar, a city-turned-shantytown reported to have had a population of more than half a million people. Now it's home to 80,000 destitutes -- and a working government. Jowhar's main street is dominated by several rudimentary brick structures recently renovated for the arrival of the government. Down the road from the modest, heavily guarded executive compound where the President and Prime Minister work and live, more than 140 cabinet ministers and parliamentarians live in an unused school, eight or nine to a room, on makeshift beds with mosquito netting. The school will reopen soon, displacing the politicians. None has been paid in months, though many left lucrative careers in the developed world. During the two days I spent in Jowhar and the Shabeellaha region, I met dozens of cabinet ministers and parliamentarians, the local governor, the mayor of Mogadishu , and local elders and leaders. I also spoke by telephone with Sharif Hassan Adan -- who, as a leader in opposition to the transitional government, lives in Mogadishu . Almost without exception, they struck me as capable and determined. My first night, I met the Prime Minister, the minister of planning and international development, and the President (whose profile uncannily resembles Pierre Trudeau's). Mr. Yusuf spoke of his years in the Somali army, his 12 years as a political prisoner in an Ethiopian jail, and his determination to create a working democratic federal republic. Somalis quietly believe that this is possible. Exhausted by war, the majority pray the government will find its feet. Yet, without immediate international assistance, there's little hope. But the world can prevent Mogadishu 's hell from once again engulfing the rest of Somalia . Pledges mean nothing unless honoured, but the international community (including Canada ) is failing Somalia . It is simply unjust to promise to assist Somalis and the transitional government -- and then abandon them. Canada already plays a critical role in the building of this failed state, through its 200,000-strong Somali-Canadian diaspora. The President's wife, Hawa Ahdi Samantar, their four children and four grandchildren called Kitchener-Waterloo their home for 12 years. All carry Canadian passports. So do two cabinet ministers and two deputy ministers. Everywhere I went, I met Somali Canadians who had returned to help rebuild the country. During our late-night conversation, Mr. Yusuf recalled that, during the drought of 1974-75, Canada donated 15,000 tonnes of grain to the Somali people. During the years of anarchy, Canada accepted thousands of Somalis who sought refuge. He hopes we can come to the table once more. The world has recently witnessed several historic triumphs of emancipation -- in Ukraine and Georgia , for example -- as citizens have peacefully and democratically made their voices heard and redefined their states' governance. In these cases, aid from the international community has been essential. The transitional government has the capacity to succeed to bring peace to Somalia . Yet Somalia is not on the international radar screen. If we do not act, Somalia will once again fracture into civil war and famine. Simply put, we can invest today in real resolution, or pay tenfold down the road to save any survivors. I call on Canada and the international community to support Somalia and the transitional government. Let's honour our promises to ensure Somalia 's future. Borys Wrzesnewskyj is the Federal MP for Etobicoke-Centre. Source:Globe and Mail
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