Mogadishu, 16 August 2017 - As part of the long-standing commitment from the European Union to financially support the Somali security sector, some 6,800 men and women of the Somali Police Force are receiving a stipend (salary top up) payment of 300 USD this week. These correspond to three months' worth of stipend, for a total disbursement of over 2 million dollars.

The EU Head of Delegation and Ambassador to Somalia Veronique Lorenzo said "salary top-up payments to the Somali Police have been a major engagement from the European Union since 2014 in order to ensure that police officers are adequately compensated for providing increased security, law and order. Regular payments are critical to ensure loyalty, commitment, morale, performance and retention of skilled police officers and the EU recognizes the improvement by the Somali government in ensuring that salaries to the security forces are paid on time".

The EU stipends are paid from the Central Bank of Somalia directly to the bank accounts of the individual police officers, making the delivery of the stipends faster, more transparent and more accountable. This initiative supports progress made on the security sector reform agenda, which the Federal Government of Somalia has committed to and which aims to build effective and transparent administrative systems within the security sector.

The payment system reduces loopholes for misappropriation and enables the funds to be efficiently used and accounted for. Monitoring and technical capacity building and advice is provided by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), thus ensuring that robust fiduciary controls are in place.