S/PV.6259 Security Council

In accordance with the understanding reached in the Council’s prior consultations, I shall take it that the Security Council agrees to extend an invitation under rule 39 of its provisional rules of procedure to Mr. Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, Special Representative of the Secretary- General and head of the United Nations Political Office for Somalia. It is so decided. I invite Mr. Ould Abdallah to take a seat at the Council table. I should like to inform the Council that I have received a letter dated 8 January 2010 from the Permanent Representative of Uganda to the United Nations, in which he requests that the Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union Commission, His Excellency Mr. Ramtane Lamamra, be invited to participate in the consideration of the item in accordance with rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure. If I hear no objection, I shall take it that the Council agrees to extend an invitation under rule 39 to Mr. Lamamra. There being no objection, it is so decided. I invite Mr. Lamamra to take a seat at the Council table. I should like to inform the Council that I have received a letter dated 6 January 2010 from the Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations, in which he requests that the Permanent Observer of the League of Arab States to the United Nations, His Excellency Mr. Yahya Mahmassani, be invited to participate in the consideration of the item in accordance with rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure. If I hear no objection, I shall take it that the Council agrees to extend an invitation under rule 39 to Mr. Mahmassani. There being no objection, it is so decided. I invite Mr. Mahmassani to take a seat at the Council table. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Security Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. I wish to draw the attention of the members of the Council to document S/2009/684, which contains the report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Somalia. At this meeting, the Security Council will hear briefings by Mr. Ould Abdallah, Mr. Lamamra and Mr. Mahmassani. I now give the floor to Mr. Ould Abdallah. Mr. Ould Abdallah: I would like to begin by offering my sincere condolences to all the victims of the terrible earthquake in Haiti. I thank you, Mr. President, for giving me this opportunity. Concerning Somalia, recent well-publicized international and regional developments have shone a new, stronger spotlight on the country. The crisis, which has become a tougher challenge than ever, can no longer be ignored. Indeed, the conflict is no longer local or even regional. It is global. Since my last briefing to the Council (see S/PV.6173), the Government of Somalia has made significant progress, despite repeated armed assaults to overthrow it by externally funded extremists. The Government’s accomplishments include establishing itself in the capital, drawing up a budget for the first time in years, presenting its priorities and plans to the international community, recruiting and training security forces, and keeping its political legitimacy over violent and extremist groups. At the same time, the Government has remained open to all Somalis who are ready for dialogue and reconciliation. The United Nations fully backs this peaceful approach, which is already making progress on the ground with some patriotic Somali groups. After years of conflict, the situation in Somalia will not change overnight. However, the country is moving from being a failed State to being a fragile State. That represents progress. To prevent the situation from deteriorating further and spilling over into the region and further afield, we should join the dots. In Somalia, the international community still has some good cards; it should play them right. That will allow it to overcome two main challenges. The first is the absence of a concrete commitment and a determined international policy towards Somalia and its present leadership. Continued hesitation and the absence of effective action have encouraged the extremists and, at the same time, weakened the Government, which is frequently attacked by well- supported extremist groups. These groups have made it clear that their agenda is global and that Somalia is an easy and convenient entry point. Here, it should be understood that the extremists responsible for the violence include many foreigners who seek not only to overthrow the Government by force, but also to oppose the establishment of any authority. Their ultimate objective is either to maintain a permanent state of anarchy or to establish a militant State. Their ambitions go well beyond Mogadishu and Somalia. Neither of these objectives — anarchy or a militant regime — represents the desire of the Somali people, whose basic wish, like that of all people the world over, is to have peace and a Government that protects them and delivers services. Moreover, the objectives of the extremists pose a real threat to the neighbouring countries, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) region and countries afar. In fact, a closer evaluation of the situation demonstrates what we already know — that Somalia has long been a threat not only to itself, but also to the wider world, with piracy being only the latest costly reminder. Even more worrying is the extremists’ deep conviction that the crisis in Somalia is not important to the larger international community. This perceived lack of engagement provides them with a strong incentive to keep fighting. As a consequence, a line has been crossed in relation to security threats to many countries inside and outside Africa, including members of this Council, exposing their vulnerabilities. The second challenge is that, despite a massive consensus of support for the Government from the international community, that backing has yet to be translated into the necessary material assistance. For example, at the Brussels donors conference on Somalia in April 2009, chaired by the Secretary-General, $213 million were pledged. However, what has been disbursed is too small to have had the desired impact. In fact, since its formation, the Government has been operating with limited external resource disbursements. The only direct financial contributions were made by a small group of committed countries through a mechanism managed by a well-known international auditing firm. Another donor Government has innovated with payment directly through the Central Bank of Somalia. Over the past 10 to 15 years, the international community has spent more than $8 billion in various forms of assistance for Somalia. Although this is a vast amount, it addressed primarily the symptoms of the crisis and may have exacerbated the overall situation. At the same time, the Government lacks the resources to fund even some of the most basic requirements needed to function, such as regularly paying salaries, including those of parliamentarians and the security forces. By contrast, the opponents of the Government and allied extremists receive unlimited and unchecked financial support. The crisis in Somalia has persisted for almost 20 years. Conditions will never be totally perfect for intervening in an optimum way. Therefore, we cannot afford to keep managing the status quo while waiting for the perfect conditions. We should start somewhere. The Djibouti Agreement provides the international community with a practical entry point, and the Government is the body through which to channel resources provided by the international community. As a contribution to the Council’s debate, I would like to propose the following recommendations as crucial measures towards improving the situation. The first is for the international community to depart from the past practice of undertaking uncoordinated efforts and individual diplomatic initiatives, including the convening of reconciliation conferences and meetings one after another. A common policy objective must be supported. In that context, the Djibouti Agreement should remain the means through which the combined efforts of the Somalis and their international partners achieve progress. The second recommendation is to fully support the Government. The Security Council should send a strong and clear message to the extremists by strengthening the Government in a practical manner. The Government needs to be helped to gradually become more effective in delivering services to the population and a more able partner to the international community. Specifically, the international community should provide more vigorous moral, diplomatic and financial assistance. Assistance delayed is assistance denied. In the face of the mounting danger, sitting on the fence is no longer an option. Thirdly, working more closely with the subregional organization IGAD and the African Union, along with the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Conference, has become imperative. The African Union Mission in Somalia deserves, as a matter of emergency, support through an increase of troop allowances to the international level, their timely disbursement and payment for critical equipment. This is not only fair and a boost to the morale of the troops on the ground, but it will send the right message of interest from the international community to potential troop-contributing countries. The fourth recommendation is that the Council should address vigorously the role of spoilers. It should encourage or pressure spoilers, both internal and external, to cease supporting violence. A clear and effective message, backed by concrete action, would demonstrate that those who fund extremists — creating misery for innocent civilians and violating international law in ways that include the widespread recruitment of child soldiers and threatening peace and stability in the whole region — will no longer enjoy impunity. The protection of civilians is an obligation long ignored in Somalia. The last recommendation I would like to make is that these recommendations will be more effectively implemented once the United Nations bodies working on Somalia operate, as in other United Nations political and peacekeeping missions, in an integrated and harmonized manner. Security Council resolution 1863 (2009) has addressed this question. I believe the leadership at the Secretariat will ensure that this is put into action in the next few weeks. At the same time, the move by the United Nations and the international community from Nairobi to Mogadishu should be accelerated. To help the Somalis, especially the victims, we have to be with them on the ground. I realize that the Security Council has numerous critical issues to address. Somalia is only one of them. However, failure to actively intervene to restore stability to that country is already threatening the effectiveness of the international community in addition to costing vast amounts in resources. Failure to act now in a decisive manner can only increase that cost dramatically.

I thank Mr. Ould Abdallah for his briefing. I now give the floor to His Excellency Mr. Ramtane Lamamra.

Now that the effects of the earthquake that hit Haiti so hard are beginning to be seen in all their tragic scope and it is confirmed that there has been considerable loss of human life, I would like once again to express on behalf of the African Union our heartfelt condolences to the people and the Government of Haiti and to the families and loved ones of the deceased, to whom we extend all our sympathies. We are thinking of our colleagues — leaders, members, partners and even visitors who are there with the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, including Mr. Hédi Annabi, Special Representative of the Secretary- General, whose whereabouts are still unknown. We assure their families of our full solidarity. On behalf of the African Union (AU), I would like to thank you, Mr. President, and the other members of the Council for so opportunely scheduling this meeting on Somalia so early in the year. I would also like to thank the Secretary-General for his report (S/2009/684), as well as his Special Representative, Mr. Ahmadou Ould Abdallah, for his extremely clear and useful introductory comments and for his praiseworthy perseverance in carrying out his mission. I would also like to express my appreciation to the representative of Somalia and the Permanent Observer of the League of Arab States and to assure them of our continued cooperation, while thanking them in advance for the useful information on developments in Somalia that they will be giving the Council. The year 2009 was a particularly difficult one for Somalia. However, it was also different from many of the preceding years inasmuch as the cruel tribulations and complex problems have begun to be addressed as major challenges that are also harbingers of opportunity. The enemies of peace and reconciliation, inside and outside the country, have redoubled their aggression and cruelty, blindly determined to wreck the results of the Djibouti process and beyond that to make Somalia a regional focal point and base of operations for maritime piracy and international terrorism. The affiliation of Somali armed groups, particularly the Al-Shabaab movement, with international jihadist terrorists has been confirmed and reconfirmed through public declarations of allegiance to Al-Qaida, an influx of foreign fighters into Somalia, and the introduction of typical modi operandi previously unknown there. There has been a detectable quantitative growth in the capacity of insurgent groups to do harm, which in turn has led to increases in deadly terrorist acts and a territorial expansion that has yet to be sufficiently contained. One of the effects of the insurgent groups’ spectacular acts that magnifies their propaganda and their impact is the perception that the situation in Somalia is structurally volatile, precarious and uncertain. In fact, the past year in Somalia has set in motion a tenuous but nonetheless genuine momentum toward a rebirth of the Somali State, led by the pluralistic and inclusive Transitional Institutions, the expansion of the bases of President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed’s Government, and the functioning of Government structures that are working to bring about good governance, while vital public services such as national police and security forces are gradually and effectively being put in place. The legitimacy and credibility of the present Transitional Federal Institutions, with clear aims, objectives and expectations, have made sure that a broad consensus of the international community is united behind them. The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which in 2009 witnessed twice as much loss of life as in the rest of its existence, has increased in terms of numbers, capacity and experience; it is motivated by a heightened sense of its responsibilities and the desire to accomplish an undertaking for peace which Africa is pursuing on behalf of the entire international community — and with its support. Here I would like to once again pay tribute to Burundi and Uganda for their decisive contribution to this mission. On 8 January, the Peace and Security Council of the African Union renewed AMISOM’s mandate for another 12 months and is counting on the Security Council’s support for its decision. It expressed its appreciation for the considerable logistical support that the United Nations has provided to AMISOM, as well as for the encouraging results of the pledging conference held in Brussels. The AU Peace and Security Council also welcomed the United Nations Security Council’s adoption of resolution 1907 (2009) and called for its genuine implementation, while urging the Security Council to respond positively to its request to impose a no-fly zone and port controls in order to deprive Somali insurgents and their allies of the use of the country’s air and maritime spaces. The Peace and Security Council also expressed its concern over the ongoing piracy and the phenomenon of the payment of ransoms that fuel crime, terrorism and extremism. Based on all of these considerations, the Peace and Security Council “reiterated its appeal to the United Nations Security Council to take the necessary steps for the United Nations to play a role commensurate with the gravity and complexity of the situation on the ground, including through the transformation of AMISOM into a United Nations peacekeeping operation and by putting in place all other legal, budgetary, logistical and operational arrangements that could decisively enhance the effectiveness of the action of the international community in Somalia”. Clearly, Somalia and the international community have made considerable gains on which it would be desirable and possible to base a bold strategic vision for ending the crisis in Somalia by the end of the transitional period in October 2011, which is not a long time from now. With the necessary political will, decisive progress can be made in an ongoing effort of effective Somalization of the country’s national security and by the Somali State’s assumption of its other sovereign functions. At the same time, humanitarian assistance, quick impact projects and the launch of development activities that create jobs should all be part of a comprehensive, consistent and multidimensional effort to mobilize collective energies to ensure that Somalia is no longer a threat to its own people, to its region, to Africa and to the world. Somalia must no longer be seen through the lens of the trauma of its past experiences. Rather, Somalia must be vigorously supported in creating the leverage for a recovery that will be healthy both for Somalia itself and for the entire international community.

I thank Mr. Lamamra for his briefing. I now give the floor to Mr. Mahmassani.

Allow me to reiterate the condolences of the League of Arab States to the families of the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. We also thank the President for this opportunity to take part in this important meeting. I also thank Mr. Ould Abdullah, Special Representative of the Secretary- General, and Mr. Ramtane Lamamra for their briefings. We reaffirm our solidarity with them. Allow me also to take this opportunity to welcome the new members of the Council. We wish them every success. The question of Somalia has become the main challenge to peace and security in the Horn of Africa. The deteriorating security and humanitarian crisis in Somalia is one of the worst Africa has ever known. That has been affirmed by the Secretary-General in a number of reports. The ongoing conflict among the various parties in Somalia and the international community’s failure to end it will further exacerbate the situation in Somalia, with serious repercussions for the countries of the region and for international peace and security. Seventeen years of international and regional experience have shown us that the long-awaited political solution to the Somali crisis must be based on national consensus. That is at the heart of the solution. The framework for these efforts has been determined by the Djibouti process. The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) can safeguard that framework, but it needs all the support it can get. Dialogue among the various parties to the conflict, none of which should be marginalized or rejected, must be pursued on the basis of the agreements reached over the past few years with the support of international and regional organizations, with the exception of those that have chosen the path of violence. The League of Arab States supports AMISOM and firmly condemns any military operation against it. The League of Arab States will continue to call on Member States and all regional groups to take part in AMISOM and contribute to its full deployment. We will continue to appeal to Member States to provide financial and logistical support for that deployment. The Security Council must renew its mandate in order to protect the legitimate institutions of Somalia, while taking all necessary measures to ensure support for the Mission and its deployment. The disastrous humanitarian situation is deteriorating on a daily basis. A true humanitarian disaster is unfolding in Somalia. We must meet this challenge and provide international and regional assistance immediately through closer cooperation among the various international and regional humanitarian agencies. These agencies must coordinate the delivery of humanitarian assistance and ensure that it arrives safely. The worsening security situation on the ground in Somalia is the cause of real disorder along the coastline. Piracy along the Somali coastline has increased, becoming a genuine threat to maritime security and safety in that strategic zone. While international efforts are under way to end piracy along the coastline of Somalia, the situation in that country requires the international community, and the Security Council in particular, to take the steps necessary to deal with the Somali crisis by addressing its most profound causes and reasons. That means strengthening Somali State institutions and helping the various parties to set aside their differences in the interests of peace and stability in that country.

I thank Mr. Mahmassani for his briefing. I now give the floor to the representative of Somalia.

I take this opportunity to thank you, Mr. President, for enabling me to participate in this discussion on Somalia today. At the same time, I would like to congratulate you on your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council for this month. I also take this opportunity to thank the Secretary- General and all Governments, organizations and individuals that have supported Somalia’s efforts to advance the cause of peace, stability, reconciliation, humanitarian assistance, human rights, unity, political independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. In that connection, I wish personally to thank Special Representative of the Secretary-General Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, who in his briefing to the Council has presented Somali issues better than I could ever do. That is because he is on the ground. We hope that the United Nations will now allow him to set up his office in Somalia, and not outside it. I hope that the same will happen when it comes to all United Nations country offices that are now located in Nairobi. I also wish to thank Mr. Lamamra, Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union (AU), for his support and his briefing. Through him, I also thank the AU, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and the countries contributing troops to Somalia, which, as he has said, has suffered a lot. I also wish to thank the Permanent Observer of the League of Arab States for his briefing and support. I now wish to proceed to touch on a number of issues raised in the Secretary-General’s report (S/2009/684) that were also highlighted by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in his briefing. Clearly, our first priority is security. Without adequate security for all, it is hard to see how any meaningful progress can be achieved in the areas of economic development, employment, peace and stability, among others. Furthermore, we believe that this could be achieved through the following steps, which were also mentioned by the Special Representative. The first is to sufficiently rebuild the Somali national security force, including the army, police, coast guard and justice and correction units. The second is to adequately strengthen the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in all respects to be part of a larger United Nations effort. The third is the deployment of an adequate United Nations peacekeeping force, of which AMISOM will become an integral part at an appropriate time — which we hope will happen sooner rather than later. In that connection, we wish to go further and say that we believe that the only way to improve security and stability in Somalia is to empower Somali security forces to subdue the most virulent insurgents and to enable the Government to extend its areas of authority as far as possible if negotiations for peace fail. This is clearly necessitated by the fact that, in the past two decades, the political scene in Somalia has been characterized by a state of anarchy and stalemate in which none of the competing forces has been able to overwhelm the others decisively, credibly and definitively. In that scenario, we believe that it is still possible to end the agony of the Somali people by establishing a strong, well-trained and well-equipped national force. Secondly, with regard to the mobilization of resources, the Council will no doubt have noted that there are several references in the latest report to inadequate progress having been made in several areas, including security, due to the lack of or delays in receiving resources. The Council will also note that, to date, the Government has received only a very small portion of the confirmed pledges made in Brussels in April 2009. We therefore appeal to Member States to urgently release their pledged contributions to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). In that connection, we thank the Secretary- General and the United Nations organizations concerned for their efforts to mobilize resources for Somalia. When it comes to accountability and transparency with regard to the funds disbursed directly to the Transitional Federal Government, it should now be noted that the accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers has been hired by the Government to oversee all expenditures of resources received from outside the country. Humanitarian assistance is very essential and important. We fully share the deep concern of the Secretary-General over the significant decline in humanitarian funding in 2009 and the delays in the delivery of badly needed supplies. For its part, the Transitional Federal Government is committed to doing all it can to protect and speed up deliveries and access. Again, we must point out that there is a genuine connection between humanitarian assistance and security. We believe that improving the security situation is the way to proceed with regard to improving the delivery of humanitarian assistance to needy populations. On the issue of piracy, we are on the record in our support for the report of the Secretary-General (S/2009/590). We again reiterate that piracy is only a symptom of the security situation in Somalia. Therefore, the way to tackle piracy is to tackle the overall security situation on land. To that end, the Government has already trained 1,000 coast guard staff, but they lack the basic necessities to be deployed to the areas affected and where they are most needed to combat piracy on land. As we noted in the case of humanitarian assistance, the key to improvements in the human rights situation is to improve the security situation. Unfortunately, wherever there is conflict in the world there will be some violence and violations of human rights. The Transitional Federal Government is committed to the observance of human rights. We uphold the value of human life and dignity. As reported in the Secretary-General’s report, the Somali Cabinet has endorsed the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In fact, the former Permanent Representative of Somalia to the United Nations signed the Convention on behalf of the Government in 2004. We now expect Parliament to fully ratify it soon. With regard to reconciliation and peacemaking, the Transitional Federal Government is fully committed to the process of reconciliation and the fulfilment of the Djibouti process. Some progress has already been made, but more definitely needs to be done. Unfortunately, there are elements in the violent opposition who neither will have anything to do with reconciliation nor desire any peaceful settlement of issues. They are only interested in armed struggle to remove or wipe out all who disagree with their interpretation of Islam, national goals, interests and values. Nevertheless, the Transitional Federal Government will continue to reach out to all elements in the interest of bringing about peace. However, it must be noted the TFG is also obliged to do its utmost to repel and resist armed violence while condemning all terrorist acts and the use of violence for political ends. It must be noted further that the TFG, at a meeting of the International Contact Group on Somalia hosted by the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on 17 December 2009, presented its strategy for 2010 on the following areas: first, reconciliation and outreach; secondly, security; thirdly, holding an international conference on recovery and reconstruction; and fourthly, effective coordination and cooperation mechanisms between the Transitional Federal Government, its neighbours and the international community. I would like to end my intervention with a few remarks about the three-phase incremental approach by the United Nations, as outlined in the Secretary- General’s April 2009 report (S/2009/210). It is possible that this approach, had it implemented much earlier, could have been useful. However, at this moment, and given the dire Somali situation, especially the humanitarian situation, of the past two decades, we consider that this approach might prove to be inadequate to say the least. The proposed piecemeal solution does not seem to be commensurate with the gravity of the situation. What is really needed is not a light footprint. We believe the reality and gravity of the current situation would in our view dictate a much heavier footprint. When one is afflicted with a serious disease that has persisted for so long, maybe a massive dose of medicine — or at least a significant one — is what is needed. Excuse me: I am a doctor by profession, so this is the example I know best. Finally, we support the Secretary-General’s request to the Security Council to renew the mandate of the United Nations Political Office for Somalia for the biennium 2010-2011, as we also support the renewal of the mandate of AMISOM for a further term of 12 months. I am now duty-bound to express on behalf of my Government our appreciation and thanks to His Excellency the Special Representative of the Secretary- General and the United Nations country team for Somalia for their untiring efforts. We wish them all a happy and successful year. Allow me also to join previous speakers in conveying our most sincere sympathy, condolences and solidarity to the Government and the people of Haiti, especially the families who suffered most. I also wish, finally, to thank the Security Council for remaining seized of the case of Somalia and to urge the Council to take express action.

There are no further speakers inscribed on my list. In accordance with the understanding reached in the Council’s prior consultations, I now invite Council members to informal consultations to continue our discussion of the subject.