Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, calls for help in fighting poverty and instability in Somalia

"To end piracy in Somalia, we need to find and address the real causes of the problem" have said today Ban Ki-Moon and European Commission President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso during the Donor Conference for Somalia that started today in Brussels.

Both leaders rely on fundraising to go to the roots of piracy: poverty and political instability.

"If we only treat the symptoms but not the root causes, the decline of the state and poverty, we will fail," said Barroso at a press conference with Ban Ki-Moon minutes before starting the Donor Conference for Somalia.

During the opening of the meeting, attended by 43 nations, Barroso stressed that the immediate purpose today is to raise funds for the security sector and the African Union mission in Somalia for the next twelve months.