PSC/Min/Comm.(XXXIV) – (i) Page 1 COMMUNIQUE ON THE SITUATION IN SOMALIA The Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU), at its 34th meeting held on 3rd July 2005, adopted the following Decision on the situation in Somalia: Council, 1. Welcomes the relocation, in mid-June 2005, of the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs) to Somalia and the steps taken for them to function inside the country, as well as the understanding reached by the TFIs to operate from the town of Jowhar, pending the stabilization of the security situation in Mogadishu; 2. Reiterates its appreciation to the Government and people of Kenya for having hosted the Somali National Reconciliation Conference, which successfully concluded last October; 3. Reaffirms its support for the efforts being deployed by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to consolidate the gains of the reconciliation process, including the deployment of Phase 1 of the IGAD Peace Support Mission to Somalia (IGASOM), which will be taken over subsequently by the AU, as stipulated in its decision PSC/PR/Comm.(XXIX), adopted at its 29th meeting, held on 12 May 2005; 4. Calls for the early convening of an International Pledging Conference on postconflict reconstruction in Somalia, and requests the Chairperson of the Commission, in liaison with the United Nations, the World Bank, the European Union, the IGAD Partners' Forum and the Coordination and the .Monitoring Committee (CMC), to take all the necessary steps to this end; 5. Decides to establish, as soon as possible, a Follow-up Mechanism made up of the AU and IGAD with the mandate to mobilize : (i) institutional support for the TFIs to enable them function effectively, as well as the required assistance for the socio-economic reconstruction of the country, (ii) the necessary assistance for the TFIs in their efforts to re-establish national institutions, develop strategies for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration and consolidate peace in the country, (iii) support for the deployment of IGASOM and, thereafter, the envisaged AU Peace Support Mission;