Wednesday December 14, 2022
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (right) meet with Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh, Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum during the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit 2022 in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/AP
Washington (HOL) - Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud met with the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on the sideline of President Biden's U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington.
The Tuesday meeting, also attended by Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh and Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum, focused on regional stability and humanitarian aid coordination.
The leaders emphasized the impact of terrorism on the continent's development and stability while applauding the significant achievements of Somali forces in liberating the Middle Shabelle and Hiraan regions.
President Mohamud discussed the severe impact of the drought on the Somali people's lives and how climate change is a significant factor.
A new report released Tuesday by United Nations and other experts says more than 8 million people are food insecure as Somalia faces "an unprecedented level of need" after five consecutive failed rainy seasons and exceptionally high food prices.
Thousands of people have died.
Somalia has not yet fallen into famine, but several parts of the country are dangerously close, according to a new food security report on the Horn of Africa's worst drought in decades.
Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday opened the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington by spotlighting Africa's youthful population — making the case that the continent's demographics will inevitably lead it to become a key global player in the decades to come.
President Joe Biden, who is set to meet leaders on Wednesday, signed an executive order establishing the President's Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement. The African diaspora includes nearly 2 million African immigrants and many African American descendants of enslaved people who have close connections to the continent.