S/PV.6626 Security Council

There were 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 2010 (2011). I now give the floor to the representative of Somalia.

First and foremost, Mr. President, I have the honour to reiterate to you my Prime Minister’s congratulations, which he expressed in his statement at the Security Council’s meeting on Somalia on Wednesday 14 September (see S/PV.6614). While I thank the Security Council for having unanimously adopted resolution 2010 (2011), I must say a few words, as we still have some concerns. In a recent report on Somalia (S/2011/277), in the letter contained in document S/2011/591 and in his 30 August report (S/2011/549), the Secretary-General expresses concern about the critical gaps that remain in the United Nations support package for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which continue to adversely impact the Mission’s effectiveness. As most members of the Security Council are aware, the Somali security forces are overextended at present and contained to Mogadishu. It is therefore of the utmost urgency to enlarge and improve the capabilities of the Somali armed forces and police. Furthermore, as the Secretary-General has also stated, in order to consolidate and build on recent security gains it is essential to also enlarge AMISOM forces. There is positive reference to that need in resolution 2010 (2011). My Government also fully endorses and supports the request made by the African Union Peace and Security Council in its 13 September communiqué. I very much wish that the Security Council, in the resolution adopted today, had taken due consideration of and positively act on that request. My Prime Minister has already thanked the Security Council for the continued generous support it has given both to the Transitional Federal Government and Institutions and to the AMISOM peace support mission, without whose assistance much of the progress that we have made recently would not have been possible. It is high time that the Security Council looked into this issue once again, and that it not wait another six months or one year. Finally, on behalf of my Government, I wish to pay tribute to the Governments of Burundi and Uganda for their continued sacrifice and steadfast commitment to the cause of peace in Somalia. We also extend our most sincere condolences to the families of those valiant brothers who have lost their lives in the fight for peace, security and stability in Somalia. I hope that the Security Council will act in the near future on our request.

There are no further speakers on my list. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Security Council will remain seized of the matter.