Somalia job for soldier
Dunedin soldier Colonel Anthony Howie will later this month take up a 12-month appointment as a senior military adviser for the United Nations in Somalia.
The position will be in the United Nations Political Office for Somalia (Unpos), based in Nairobi, Kenya, and will require Col Howie to make regular visits to the Somalian capital, Mogadishu, and travel throughout Somalia.
His job will be to provide strategic advice on defence and military issues, including training for the Somalia defence force and police, as well as liaising with those working on developing security and defence in Somalia.
Col Howie said he was "very much" looking forward to what would be a challenging role in what was a particularly difficult United Nations mission.
It would be demanding because the security situation in Somalia fluctuated, and peacekeeping forces struggled with limited resources to create secure conditions for political reform, he said.
The situation was further exacerbated by the ongoing drought.
The Unpos was working to support a temporary government transition to democratically elected government.
It also assisted with the development and delivery of basic services in Somalia.
It was a unique opportunity and important that New Zealand continued to support the UN in its work towards a more stable and secure world, Col Howie said.
A territorial force soldier and the director of the army reserves, he has twice led overseas deployments - in the Sinai in 1993 and in Iraq in 2004.
Col Howie said he had been granted special leave from his employer, the Department of Corrections, which he wished to thank for its continued support of him and other military reserve force members it had supported while they were deployed overseas.
Eighteen New Zealand defence force personnel are serving with the UN - in Sudan, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Timor-Leste and the Middle East.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/182423/somalia-job-soldier
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