Somalia Contact Group
The Somalia Contact Group ( International Contact Group on Somalia , ICG) is an international body that was founded in June 2006 and advises on the civil war situation in Somalia . It is based at the United Nations in New York and has been subordinate to the UN special envoy for Somalia since 2008 . The group focuses on supporting the transitional government of Somalia , coordinating humanitarian aid and counter- piracy measures .
Members
The Somalia Contact Group was created as an informal union of a group of UN ambassadors in response to the seizure of the Union of Islamic Courts in mid 2006. The founding members included the United States , the United Kingdom , Italy , Norway (which took over the first chair), Sweden , Tanzania as well as the European Union . The UN and the African Union were granted observer status. The neighboring country of Kenya , the Arab League, was not invited(of which Somalia is a member) and the Somali government itself, which has led to criticism. In response to this, the contact group was significantly expanded and officially affiliated to the United Nations through the United Nations Political Office on Somalia (UNPOS) . In addition to the states and organizations mentioned above, the East African Community and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development are now also members of the contact group.