Somalia withdraws request to terminate UN mission

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The Federal Government of Somalia has admitted committing an 'error' in the recent letter calling for the exit of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), after it called for withdrawal without insisting on adherence to laid procedures.

In a new letter, Somalia reveals a call between President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in which the former requested initiation of a planning process to “articulate a clear end state toward a transition from a special political mission to a United Nations Country Team,” per statement.

The new letter hints that the previous one did not acknowledge the importance of following a process to transition. The new letter emphasises the initiation of the planning process, and the appointment of a joint technical team to determine modalities and timeline for the transition.

At Gaitanis, the UN Somalia spokesperson had told VOA that indeed there are plans for the exit, but insisted on the process, differing from the content of the letter done by Ahmed Fiqi, Somalia’s minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

“ This latest development is a testament to the valuable work of UNSOM in support of Somali authorities these past years. As I am sure, you know UNSOM is in Somalia on a mandate from the UNSC, and like all special political missions, its mandate ends when its tasks are achieved or this decision that it is no longer required," he said.

Gaitanis suggested the decision by the Somali government was not unexpected, adding that there were discussions on the same subject but no common date for implementation had been reached.

“I should mention also, tied into this, there was a strategic review of UNSOM about two years ago. In that review’s findings, it did say that they recommended that UNSOM begin planning a transition from UNSOM to the UN Country Team taking over the responsibilities. And the Security Council actually endorsed these findings in one of its resolutions.

"So right now we are in discussions with the Federal Government of Somalia, we stand ready to follow the instructions of the Council, and of course, we will remain committed to partnering and supporting the government as we can and as required. This is specifically referring to UNSOM - the UN family, agencies, funds, and programs and UNSOS remain in place and the support of UN for Somalia will continue regardless of what happens to UNSOM or not.”

Asked about criticisms against UNSOM that its engagement in Somalia was seen by some as “intrusive” and compromising the sovereignty of Somalia, Gaitanis said the mission is focused on supporting Somalia to stabilize.

“I will just echo here, the UN is here and has been here, and it remains here. It’s always about supporting Somalis, in a Somali-led process whatever that may be. As far as those criticism go I could not comment except to say, as I said before, we are here to support and help in any which way we can.”

GAROWE ONLINE