MOGADISHU
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim on Wednesday arrived in Mogadishu, where they met with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud.
In a statement issued following the meeting, Ban reiterated the international community's support for the Horn of Africa nation.
"The U.N., the World Bank Group and, indeed, the international community as a whole are committed to helping the Somali people," Ban said.
"Somalia is on the right track and I am confident that its people will rise to the challenges their country still faces," he added.
"We are here to tell Somalis that they are not alone and that we will redouble our efforts to help them protect the gains made in recent years," the U.N. chief asserted.
Kim, for his part, hailed Somalia's political transition as "a unique opportunity for the nation and the wider Horn of Africa region to improve the livelihoods of the people by engaging them in productive economic activities."
He added: "Political stability and human security are important prerequisites for reducing extreme poverty and increasing shared prosperity for the Somali people."
Ban's visit, his second to Somalia since his appointment in 2007, comes as part of a Horn of Africa tour that will also take him to Kenya.
It is the World Bank president's first visit to the country.
Somalia has remained in the grip of on-again, off-again violence since the outbreak of civil war in 1991.
The country appeared to inch closer to stability after government troops and African Union forces – deployed in the country since 2007 – drove the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab group from most of its strongholds.
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