S/PV.5842 Security Council

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. Members of the Council have before them document S/2008/113, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is my understanding that the Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. Unless I hear any objection, I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now. There being no objection, it is so decided.

There were 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 1801 (2008). I now open the floor to members of the Council that would like to make statements after the vote.

We voted in favour of this draft resolution even though we would have preferred that the Council defer taking a decision on this matter until we have received the Secretary-General’s report, as requested in resolution 1772 (2007) and once again in a presidential statement later that same year, adopted on 19 December 2007. Instead, we have accepted a compromise through which this Council commits itself to consider the Secretary-General’s report as soon as it becomes available in early March 2008. It will be important for the Council to do so, because we have to demonstrate that the Security Council’s mandate for maintaining international peace and security applies to Somalia as well. We expect that the Secretary-General’s report in March will provide us with alternative approaches to addressing the situation in Somalia, including the best way to proceed, with the eventual deployment of a United Nations mission in that country. Meanwhile, we all know that the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has been doing a great job in maintaining peace in Somalia despite its capacity challenges. The problem for AMISOM is not just lack of resources, but also that it was deployed as a stopgap measure until the United Nations takes over. The African Union Peace and Security Council, in its communiqué of 18 January 2008, has, among other things, stressed the urgent need for the deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping operation and reiterated that the United Nations also must provide support to AMISOM. That call was endorsed by the African Union summit, and the Group of African States reiterated the request in a letter dated 12 February 2008 addressed to the president of the Security Council. The same urgency of the situation in Somalia was also conveyed by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in December 2007, when he appealed to this Council to assume its responsibility towards Somalia if the country is not to further deteriorate, causing it to become an even greater threat to international peace and security. Somalia is in need not only of a peacekeeping presence, but the international community also has an obligation to support the political process that can bring about lasting peace to this country. My delegation remains committed to do whatever we can to make sure that the people of Somalia are not allowed to suffer any more than they have.

I see no further requests for the floor. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Council will remain seized of the matter.