S/PV.6854 Security Council

As this is the first meeting of the Securitiy Council for the month of November 2012, I should like to take this opportunity to pay tribute, on behalf of the Council, to His Excellency Ambassador Gert Rosenthal, Permanent Representative of Guatemala, for his service as President of the Council for the month of October. I am sure that I speak for all members of the Council in expressing deep appreciation to Ambassador Rosenthal and his delegation for the great diplomatic skill with which they conducted the Council’s business last month. Adoption of the agenda

In accordance with rule 37 of the provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representative of Somalia to participate in this meeting. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members have before them document S/2012/812, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by France and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2012/764, which contains a letter dated 12 October 2012 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the Security Council. It is my understanding that the Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now.

The draft resolution received 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 2073 (2012). I shall now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements following the voting. Sir Mark Lyall Grant (United Kingdom): I should first like to take this opportunity to congratulate you, Sir, on India’s assumption of the presidency of the Security Council for the month of November, as well as to echo your appreciation of Guatemala’s stewardship of the Council during the month of October under the able leadership of Ambassador Rosenthal. The United Kingdom welcomes the adoption of resolution 2073 (2012), which achieves two important objectives. First, it provides the necessary support and stability to an important Mission that the Council highly values. Secondly, it enables the Council to respond promptly once the African Union and and United Nations reviews have made recommendations on a range of important issues that have an impact upon on the mission of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Over the past year, working alongside Somali forces, AMISOM has achieved significant security gains. The Security Council is united in its admiration for the achievements and sacrifices of AMISOM and its troop-contributing countries, specifically Uganda, Kenya, Djibouti and Burundi. The additional civilian staff that the Council has authorized through resolution 2073 (2012) will ensure the delivery of urgent stabilization efforts in areas freed from the dark shadow of Al-Shabaab. That increased effort will also help to restore the Somali people’s faith in local Government structures, which have been sorely lacking in recent times. The situation in Somalia is changing rapidly. We have a more legitimate political leadership than ever before. A new Council of Ministers, which includes two women, awaits parliamentary approval. But as today’s deplorable attack on the Somali Parliament shows, the situation remains perilous. I offer my Government’s condolences to those affected and their families. But the message from the Council to those who seek to deny the Somali people a better future is clear: you will not succeed. The Security Council must examine its approach to Somalia in the context of that changing environment. As we know, the African Union has asked the Council to review the arms embargo. The charcoal situation in Kismayo requires urgent attention. At the Secretary- General’s high-level event on Somalia in September, we all committed to supporting a Somali-led next phase of State-building. That means consulting fully on key issues that have an impact on Somali sovereignty. We must allow the new Government the space to set policies and priorities. It is in that context that my Government will continue to work urgently with the President and the Government of Somalia and with Council colleagues over the next few months to find a Somali-led solution to those important issues. The African Union and the United Nations reviews are of vital importance in enabling the Security Council to decide on the future of both organizations in Somalia. Equally important, they will allow the Council to set a clear division of responsibility between the two. After two decades of despair, Somalia’s people at last have hope. The Security Council must continue to do all that it can to turn that hope into reality.

South Africa welcomes the adoption of resolution 2073 (2012), which comes at a time when progress continues to be registered in the consolidation of Somalia’s post-transition phase, as witnessed by the appointment of the 10-member Cabinet on 4 November. The political progress is a tribute to the political will and determination of ordinary Somalis and their political leadership to bring an end to two decades of violence and instability. South Africa applauds those efforts. At the same time, we pay tribute to the leadership of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and the African Union (AU), which are heavily invested in supporting Somalia to advance peace and security in the country. The success registered in Somalia is the result of the joint efforts by the international community and the United Nations in the context of resolution 2033 (2012), working in close cooperation with regional and subregional organizations to find lasting solutions to the challenges of peace and security. We pay particular tribute to Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Sierra Leone for supporting the Somali National Security Forces in liberating the country from the militant Al-Shabaab and in creating the enabling security environment necessary for facilitating political progress in the country. While significant political and military gains have been registered since the adoption of resolution 2036 (2012) in February, the international community must jealaously guard the gains registered in Somalia, so that what has been achieved at great cost to troop- contributing countries to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and with the substantive investment by the international community is not lost. In that regard, we welcome the increase, pursuant to paragraph 2 of resolution 2073 (2012), of an additional 50 civilian personnel under the United Nations logistical support package to AMISOM. That increase is in line with the request of the AU contained in the letter from the Chair of the AU Commission of 18 October. My delegation regrets, however, that owing to disagreements among Council members, the AU’s request for the logistical support package to be extended to the AMISOM maritime component was not accepted. As explained by the Chair of the AU Commission in his letter dated 18 October, the maritime component was to play a key role in the operation to dislodge Al-Shabaab from its coastal stronghold and in subsequent efforts to deny the group its ability to resupply, infiltrate and ferry fighters. South Africa, the AU and neighbouring States strongly maintain that the United Nations should support the AMISOM maritime component. We urge the international community to remain vigilant and not to allow complacency to rob us of the gains that we have achieved at high human and material cost. My delegation deeply regrets the fact that Council members could not agree on the Secretary- General’s submitting to the Council, in the context of the upcoming United Nations review, options and recommendations for improving the predictability and sustainability of AMISOM’s funding, in view of the uncertain financial situation confronting the Mission next year. Also regrettable is the fact that the AU’s request for the lifting of the arms embargo on the Somali National Security Forces is not addressed in the current resolution. In the context of the upcoming reviews of the AU and the United Nations, we trust that the four-month extension will provide the Council with an opportunity to further engage the AU and the Somali authorities as we seek to drive greater synergy and coordination in aligning the efforts of the United Nations with those of the AU. Doing so will be in the best interests of achieving sustainable peace in Somalia.

Let me in turn congratulate you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the Council. I join in the thanks that have been expressed to Ambassador Rosenthal and his team for their presidency last month. Germany voted in favour of resolution 2073 (2012). My country continues to strongly support the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). AMISOM carries out its task in very difficult circumstances. It has been instrumental in securing the progress that we have seen recently on the ground, and it will be indispensable for many months to come. We commend the efforts of the United Kingdom that guided the Council through very dynamic negotiations aimed at achieving consensus. We deplore the fact that it was impossible to achieve such consensus on the first proposed draft, which contained many positive and necessary elements. During negotiations, my delegation supported a provision that clearly addressed the need for sustainable funding for AMISOM, as requested by the African Union (AU) in its latest report. We believe that, politically, AMISOM is a joint undertaking between the African Union and the United Nations, and that the Council shares the responsibility to secure the sustainabality of the Mission. The success of AMISOM is in our common interest, and the Council should not limit itself to calling for new donors when it comes to the funding of the Mission. We think that an informed and thorough discussion of the issue, in close cooperation with the African Union, is overdue. Furthermore, we should have liked the Council to repeat and stress its request with regard to a guard force to be provided by AMISOM for United Nations and other international personnel. Such protection is key to enabling the United Nations and others to engage with the Somalis in Mogadishu and elsewhere in the country. United Nations assistance to the Somali authories and direct interaction with them on the ground are crucial in order to stabilize the country and to create a peace dividend for the Somali people. We hope that it will be possible to include this element in the next resolution on AMISOM that will be adopted against the background of the United Nations and AU assessment of AMISOM and the future United Nations role in the country.

Allow me at the outset to congratulate you, Sir, on India’s assumption of the presidency of the Council. I wish you every success in your work. Our delegation voted in favour of resolution 2073 (2012) because we consider it essential for the Security Council to maintain its unanimous support for Somalia, a country that has undergone historic changes in recent months. We should, however, have preferred a resolution that had addressed all the pertinent facts affecting the mandate of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), rather than provide a temporary extension that selectively addresses certain themes and postpones the consideration of others. We regret, for instance, the fact that the resolution does not include the AMISOM maritime component. We believe that the Security Council should continue to lend its firm support to the African Union Mission in Somalia and are pleased that the United Nations logistical support package has been extended. We look forward with interest to the assessment of United Nations and AMISOM activities in Somalia, which is of utmost importance in resolving the variety of issues that have arisen.

I shall now make a statement in my capacity as representative of India. The important role played by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in the remarkable progress that Somalia has achieved this year in political and security stabilization can hardly be overemphasized. Thanks to AMISOM, Mogadishu is today firmly under the control of the Somali authorities. Over the past few months, AMISOM and the Somali National Security Forces have also made steady gains in other areas of Somalia and have secured the strategic coastal town of Kismayo from Al-Shabaab. We commend all troop-contributing countries, in particular Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti and Kenya, for their commitment to the Mission and for the sacrifices their troops have made. We also note the significant contribution of the Ethiopian troops operating under the AMISOM Strategic Concept. The support of the international community to AMISOM has been instrumental in these successes. It is therefore necessary for the international community to remain steadfast in its support and, in fact, to enhance it in order to ensure that the new Government of Somalia is fully supported in military and civilian matters in its efforts to stabilize the areas liberated from Al-Shabaab, establish administrative structures, and launch socioeconomic development programmes. We voted in favour of resolution 2073 (2012), extending the mandate of AMISOM for four months, as requested by the African Union. While the resolution extends the United Nations logistical support package to cover an additional 50 civilian personnel, as requested by the African Union, we are disappointed that it could not respond to other critical requests made by the AU, such as those concerning the maritime component and the review of the arms embargo. We hope that the Council will address these issues when it next considers AMISOM’s mandate after strategic reviews by the AU and the United Nations. I now resume my functions as President of the Council. I give the floor to the representative of Somalia.

First and foremost, let me congratulate you, Sir, on assuming the presidency of the Security Council for this month. At the same time, I wish through you to extend our thanks and appreciation to your predecessor. Those members of the Council who have spoken at this meeting have had much to say in particular about the recent historic achievements in Somalia, including the nomination of 10 Cabinet ministers. Among these are two women, one of whom is my boss, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs. Furthermore, the 10 members of the Cabinet were selected without regard to the 4.5 power-sharing issue. The members represent the five groups of Somali society, with two ministers for each, without discrimination or regard for the part of the country or clan that the minister comes from. Moreover, we hope that, as the Speaker of Parliament has promised, the Cabinet will be approved as soon as it is presented to the Parliament. All that remarkable progress was achieved with the unfailing, sincere and brotherly support of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the Ethiopian forces, with the support, of course, of the Security Council, the United Nations and the international community. It is now a matter of nation-building and establishing a Government in a country that for 21 years had practically no effective central Government, or even regional Governments that really functioned — instead there were militias governing every area. Rebuilding must be the major objective of everyone in Somalia. We therefore welcome the fact that AMISOM will be strengthened and given the support it needs, as requested especially by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and as accepted by the Somali Government. I hope that the Security Council will not limit itself to this three-month extension. We hope to see a future extension of at least one year, with all the support required for AMISOM and the Somali National Security Forces so that they can in due course take over responsibility for the country’s security and stabilization.

There are no more names inscribed on the list of speakers. 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.