While some African countries have made huge strides in terms of peace and security, others are still struggling to find their footing, a U.N. official who monitors development in the region said.
Ayaka Suzuki, 42, deputy director of the Africa I Division of the Department of Political Affairs at the United Nations Secretariat in New York, said of the 26 countries her division monitors, Somalia is drawing extra attention as it emerges from 21 years of anarchy and conflict.
"There is a gleam of hope in Somalia," Suzuki told The Japan Times during her recent trip to Japan to lecture on peace building at Hiroshima Peacebuilders Center.