S/PV.7030 Security Council

Under rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representative of Somalia to participate in this meeting. Under rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite Mr. Nicholas Kay, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia, to participate in this meeting. On behalf of the Council, I extend a warm welcome to Mr. Kay, who is today giving his first briefing to the Council in his capacity as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General. Under rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedures, I invite Mr. Mahamat Saleh Annadif, Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission for Somalia, to participate in this meeting. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2013/521, which contains the report of the Secretary-General on Somalia. I now give the floor to Mr. Kay. Mr. Kay: I thank you, Mr. President, for this opportunity to brief the Council for the first time since assuming my appointment as Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia, and in fact my first time ever. I am particularly glad to be here today with Ambassador Annadif of the African Union, whose presence represents our close collaboration as we discharge our two mandates from the Council. This is a good time for some stocktaking on Somalia, one year after the new Federal Government was established and 90 days after the establishment of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM). Before going into some detail on political and security issues, let me start by answering the question all Special Representatives of the Secretary-General probably hear the most: “Are you optimistic?” The answer in my case is a resounding “yes”. Behind the twists and turns, the crises and the standoffs, Somalia has the foundations for progress. The international community is united behind a credible, legitimate Federal Government. There are resources available to meet the most immediate needs. There is the political will to compromise and manage disputes without resorting to violence, and the Somali people I have met are tired of war and deprivation and fed up with brinkmanship and predatory politics. The heart of the political challenge is simple to describe, if rather difficult to solve. After 22 years of conflict, power and control of resources and revenue are fragmented. The strong centralist State has ceased to exist. Different regions and different people now hold different bits of power. That is why Somalis have decided that a federal model is the only system that will work in this new reality. The task now is to reconcile and agree among themselves exactly how federalism will work in practice. How will they share power, revenue, resources and responsibilities in a way that benefits all of Somalia? Those are difficult issues, but ones that need political solutions. That is why, in my first three months, I have prioritized the need for progress on the constitutional review and constructive engagement with the regions, travelling to Puntland and Somaliland and engaging closely with stakeholders on the Juba question. If a week is a long time in politics, the 90 days of UNSOM in Somalia is an age. Allow me to brief the Council on a number of important recent developments since the issuance of the report of the Secretary-General (S/2013/521). The situation in the Juba regions was one of the most serious issues to face the Federal Government. In early June, the risks were very high of a collapse in security and political stalemate in Kismaayo, as well as between the Juba parties and Mogadishu. However, an agreement was finally reached on 28 August in Addis Ababa, under the active mediation of Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on behalf of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which set out interim governance, security and economic arrangements. I supported the negotiations in the closing stages and attended the signing ceremony in Addis Ababa. Some outstanding issues still remain, and implementation will require goodwill from all parties and significant support. UNSOM, I am glad to say, has established a presence in Kismaayo to ensure it is able to help as required across all areas of its mandate, working closely with the African Union (AU). We are concerned to hear of the attack today on the convoy of the interim leader of the Juba administration, and I have called for calm and restraint from all sides. To the north, the relationship between Somaliland and Somalia remains sensitive and fragile. Nevertheless, there is progress to report. With the mediation of Turkey, the two parties have had two sessions of talks this year. The agreement on the shared management of airspace could be a model for other areas of mutually beneficial cooperation. We urge both sides to focus on solutions, however modest, rather than problems. The presence of UNSOM in Somaliland is still on hold at the request of the local authorities, who do not accept that UNSOM has a mandate in Somaliland. I remain committed to finding a way to break that impasse. I am also offering my good offices to Puntland for its internal political processes, and to assist in confidence-building between the Puntland administration and the Federal Government. I am again working closely with the Chair of the IGAD Council on this. One of the key tasks facing Somalia is agreement on a final Federal Constitution. The United Nations is supporting a broad process of popular consultations that should clarify several key areas that remain contentious. A long, hard process of consultation and negotiation lies ahead, which we shall support. On 2 September, UNSOM backed the launch of a national political conference entitled “Vision 2016’, at which the President of Somalia restated his commitment to a new Constitution and elections by 2016. In less than a week from today, another key building block of Somalia’s stabilization will be put in place. Some 200 delegates will gather in Brussels on Monday, hosted jointly by the European Union and the Federal Government. The New Deal compact is a Somali-led and Somali-owned set of priorities and milestones for achieving them, and an architecture for international support, coordination and funding. In Brussels, the Somali Government and the international community will endorse the compact to confirm mutual commitment to those priorities. The true test of the compact will be in how it makes a difference in people’s daily lives. The United Nations in Somalia will play its part to the full, especially in helping the Government to coordinate international assistance. I thank the European Union for its key role in the process and will continue to work closely with it in this and other areas of our support to Somalia in general. I hope that we will see real commitment from partners, especially to the new financial and coordination mechanisms being proposed. So there is progress on the political front. Parliament has shown itself to be a key driver. But there is no room for complacency. There is still time to agree on a new Constitution through an inclusive process, vote on it and then hold free and fair elections in Somalia. But it is a big hill to climb and we must all pick up the pace. Other than politics, much of our initial focus has been on security. Our presence in Mogadishu is to a large extent possible only because of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), and I pay tribute to the courage, determination and sacrifice of the troop- and police-contributing countries and the leadership of the African Union Commission. The next phase will require more support. The exact needs for force enablers and multipliers, sufficient and predictable financing and a new concept of operations will emerge from the report of the joint United Nations-AU benchmarking mission in October. As the Council will hear from my friend and colleague Ambassador Annadif, the military and security dimension of defeating Al-Shabaab in Somalia is by no means over. The Somali national army is ready to do its part, and must be properly backed. I call on the Council to ensure that greater priority is given to strengthening the Somali national security forces and their ability to deploy and sustain joint operations with AMISOM. I trust that will be one of the main conclusions of the benchmarking team. Beyond the challenges of politics and security, the United Nations is also actively engaged on other issues of vital importance to Somalia and the region  — addressing humanitarian needs, human rights, gender equality and piracy. Access remains a major impediment and has contributed to the rapid spread of polio. Somalia now has more than 160 confirmed cases, more than half the world’s caseload. Vital national immunization campaigns have taken place with local health-care workers negotiating access to hard-to-reach communities. The pullout of Médecins sans frontières is a severe blow to the health sector and a reminder of the importance for all parties of respect for international humanitarian law and humanitarian principles. While we have seen some improvements, the food-security situation remains precarious. For the first time in five years, the number of people in crisis is below 1 million, but the number of people on the margin of food insecurity has increased to 2.3 million. That may be further exacerbated if the lifeline of Somali diaspora remittances is cut by international banks. Some 1 million refugees are hosted in Somalia’s neighbouring countries. While there has been a push lately for refugees to return to Somalia, it is not yet time for a large-scale repatriation. Spontaneous and voluntary returns in safe areas, however, must be supported with durable solutions. We are pleased to be backing the Government’s human-rights road map, its plan of action to be brought to the Human Rights Council in Geneva later this month. As a critical step in that action plan, I have called on the Somali Government to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Childhood in Somalia can be a frightening experience. We continue to monitor with concern numerous grave violations of children’s rights. In a more positive note for Somalia’s children, a United Nations-supported go-to-school campaign was launched last Sunday, aimed at getting 1 million children into classrooms in the next three years. As a first step, for the first time in a decade, free schooling is being provided by the Government to 100,000 children today. Sexual violence is one of the most serious and urgent human rights challenges facing the Government and people of Somalia. The commitment of both the Somali President and the leadership of AMISOM to a policy of zero-tolerance of sexual abuse is encouraging. It is clear, however, that much more robust systems of investigation and prosecution are needed, which should include the protection of survivors and witnesses. While piracy is on the decline, the onshore networks that profited from it have not been dismantled. Law enforcement and corrections systems on land, as well as job opportunities, must be supported so that we treat the root causes of the problem. At a conference hosted by the United Arab Emirates in Dubai just yesterday, a maritime strategy covering security and sustainable resource management was strongly endorsed. The United Arab Emirates deserves our thanks for that valuable initiative. I want to thank the Council for its vision in establishing UNSOM. We are making good progress in setting up the Mission, with about 50 staff on board so far. Much greater capacity is needed to discharge the mandate, but we will expand only at a pace that allows us to be effective and reflects the Government’s capacity to absorb our help. Our effectiveness depends on our relationships. I have focused in particular on our relationship with the Federal Government, which I believe is strong. Second is the United Nations relationship with AMISOM. Ambassador Annadif and I are determined that our teams should work hand in hand. It is not a coincidence that we have come to brief the Council together today. We also work closely with IGAD. I look forward to the IGAD Partners Forum, to be hosted here in New York on the margins of the General Assembly. Within the United Nations system I have also focused on relationships, which are key to UNSOM’s mandate to provide one United Nations door for the Federal Government. We are on course to be formally integrated as a mission by 1 January, and are already working on the rule of law and security and constitutional review and human rights in joint teams. We are already working as a single United Nations senior management team. Our United Nations family in Somalia experienced a dark hour when our common compound was attacked on 19 June. We lost one staff member of the United Nations Development Programme and seven contractors and guards. That tragedy has only deepened my resolve and commitment to the Mission. We are reviewing security arrangements for our staff, and I remain urgently in need of a fully functioning guard-force capacity, as has been recommended by the Council. The African Union-United Nations benchmark exercise looked at some options, which are currently being considered. I would like to leave the Council with three key messages for its consideration. First, in Somalia the people, Government and international partners are on the brink of achieving great things — truly great things. In terms of rebuilding a shattered State and rescuing millions of people from conflict and poverty, we are standing on the very edge of great success. Secondly, where we stand is also precarious. Success is not guaranteed. In no sense at all is the Somalia crisis over. We cannot afford to lessen our focus or investment, despite the many competing claims for our attention in the rest of the world. If we fail and Somalia slips back and Al-Shabaab prevails, we shall feel the security impact from Bamako to Bangui and beyond Africa. Ideology respects no borders. Thirdly, to get over the threshold and achieve great things, we need more. Much has been given in terms of support — and even more promised — but there are three areas in which we need to boost our effort if we are not to fail. First is support for the Somali National Security Forces — we have not achieved critical mass in terms of building their capacity; second are enhanced capabilities for AMISOM; and third is a well-resourced and coherent United Nations role in the exit strategy for AMISOM, which includes support to UNSOM and the United Nations Support Office for AMISOM, as well as the work of United Nations agencies in Somalia. Working in Somalia is expensive. Keeping our staff safe costs real money. Ensuring success will cost more, but not very much compared to what the international community has spent in Iraq, Afghanistan and more recently Mali. Failure in Somalia is, however, still a risk. It is, I submit, a risk we cannot afford.

I thank Mr. Kay for his briefing. I now give the floor to Mr. Annadif.

At the outset, on behalf of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Ms. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, I would like to thank the Council for giving me the unique opportunity to update members on the situation in Somalia. I agree with my colleague Ambassador Kay that the evolution of the situation calls for optimism. Nonetheless, like all optimism, it should be tempered by the challenges that have to be met. Therefore, rather than dwell on the positive aspects that he so widely and brilliantly presented during his briefing, I would like to focus on the challenges that the Government must address and the challenges that face the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Before continuing with my presentation, I would like to convey the regrets and the apologies of Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra, who is not able to speak to the Council today. As members know, he was just appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs of his country, Algeria. He asks the Council to accept his apologies. With regard to the situation in Somalia, it is thanks to the relevant resolutions adopted by the Security Council that today AMISOM is able to achieve its mission with the support of three components that are in place on the ground. The military component, as the Council knows, is today made up of troops from Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Djibouti and Sierra Leone amounting to approximately 17,000 troops. There is a civilian component, with approximately 100 troops from different African countries. Their work is often complementary to the tasks of our friends in the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia on the ground. There is also a police component, which is made up of two units — one from Nigeria with 140 police officers and the other from Uganda, also with 140 police officers. They patrol on a daily basis and help the Somali police with their mission. We also have instructors and trainers from Ghana, Gambia and other African countries, all of whom help our brothers in Somalia to ensure security. For the time being they are in Mogadishu, but they will soon move into other areas, including Kismayo, Baidoa and Beledweyne. Since its inception, AMISOM has been undertaking its mission through the military, police and civilian components. Indeed, thanks to the Council’s support and the proactive mandate entrusted to AMISOM, today we have achieved significant progress in the security and political arenas. Ambassador Kay has already ready briefed the Council on these, so I will not go into them, but I would just like to say that while we are currently seeing a positive dynamic unfolding in Somalia, there are still a number of challenges to be met. On the political level, we are encouraged by the Government’s determination to implement its policies. In that regard, Ambassador Kay also underscored a number of positive developments, some of which have been under way only since the beginning of the month. Those events were recently crowned by the important agreement of 28 August between the political leaders of Jubaland, in particular Ahmed Madobe, and the Somali Government. However, the entire positive dynamic is undermined by a number of challenges that, as I said, if not resolved, could lead to a reversal that would be regrettable for the entire international community. Indeed, contrary to the previous years of a failed State and anarchy in Somalia, today there is a responsible Government that, while beset by its own problems, is evolving in the right direction. The first challenge is related to security. Despite the рrogress achieved against Al-Shabaab, especially in 2012 and early 2013, AMISOM wishes to stress that Al-Shabaab still has the ability to destabilize the country and to derail our efforts. Since the beginning of the year, Al-Shabaab has deployed increasingly sophisticated harassment tactics that are the outcome of thorough preparation and training and enjoy financial support from sources that we are very close to being able to identify. The report of the Monitoring Group on the issue (S/2013/413) contains a number of leads in that respect. We would draw attention to the suicide attack carried out on 19 June against the United Nations complex. More recently, an attack was perpetrated on 7 September against a very popular village restaurant frequented by civilians. Those are indications that setbacks could occur if we are not vigilant. Indeed, extremist groups move freely throughout some 50 per cent of Somali territory, in particular the rural areas, where they continue to organize and train and where they have access to logistical support as well as to weapons and ammunition. The endeavours of the United Nations, though the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, which complement ours, must be underscored, because numerous efforts are currently under way to identify those sources and, ultimately, to cut them off. The second challenge is within the Somali Government, namely, how to streamline the federal structure as stipulated in the provisional Constitution. Several regions are competing to be autonomous from the central Government, and interpretations often differ from one region to the other. But I think that we can welcome the agreement of 28 August between the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and the authorities of Jubaland, which is reassuring to all of us and offers positive prospects for the relationship between the FGS and the various regions that are making such claims. The third challenge also pertains to the Government and is linked to its insufficient capacity. When AMISOM liberates areas, officials are appointed by the Somali Government who sometimes are not accepted by the local population and have no administrative structures in place to support them. Thus internal coordination among such structures remains a key challenge. That is compounded by the lack of understanding resulting from such contradictions among Government representatives or officials. In addition, the Somali Government continues to face the humanitarian situation of which Ambassador Kay spoke, which includes displaced persons, refugees, unemployed youth and so on. The people are very keen to see their problems solved, and if, despite the hopes in that respect, there are no signs of improvement in the near future, those difficulties, which have become chronic, could lead to conflict. Indeed, the seeds of conflict are already there. As Ambassador Kay has said, we are preparing for Brussels and the New Deal. We must ensure that in the wake of that event, the country enjoys a level of security adequate to ensure progress towards peace as well as the political and, especially, economic stability to which the Somali people aspire. Considerable efforts at the military level remain necessary and must go hand in hand with the political strategy. However, those efforts and objectives require consultation and further support on the part of all of Somalia’s partners, because the challenges involved could have a negative impact on AMISOM’s effectiveness. As the Council is no doubt aware, the situation as concerns military operations must remain a top priority. Unfortunately, the strategic concept currently guiding AMISOM’s operations is out of date. It is important that the Council be able to consider the issue of the number of elements receiving support, as well as the support provided to the Somali National Security forces, which Ambassador Kay spoke about earlier. Two strategic considerations continue to pose real challenges. Despite the Council’s vote for force multipliers, to date AMISOM has not really been able to mobilize the necessary force multipliers. Furthermore, the United Nations support mechanism, symbolized by the United Nations Support Office for the African Union Mission in Somalia (UNSOA), has procedures that often lead to our having problems obtaining the necessary support in a timely manner. It is also extremely important from that standpoint to provide strong support to UNSOA so that it can meet the often difficult challenges on the ground, without which it will be very difficult to achieve the significant military objectives that we are aiming for. Furthermore, UNSOA support mechanisms should, thanks to the Council, be expanded to include training, which is currently provided by AMISOM to Somali forces. We can therefore say that AMISOM and the Somali forces currently have a presence in the principal towns and provide security on key routes. However, the more territory we liberate, the more we become dispersed, so we cannot at this time carry out many expansion operations. High hopes remain for AMISOM to provide greater security. However, AMISOM’s campaign is experiencing difficulties, which it is important to meet so that we can truly take the last few steps, even though it is said that often the last few steps are the most difficult. Recently the Chairperson of the AU Commission sent a letter to the Secretary-General, outlining requirements that remain pertinent. We welcome in advance the recommendations of the joint African Union-United Nations Information Support Team, which has just completed its mission in line with paragraph 19 of resolution 2093 (2013). We are convinced that with support for AMISOM and the Somali National Security Forces that is focused on carefully-thought-out goals, we will be able to achieve the decisive progress that is expected in combating Al-Shabaab and improving the security situation, as well as averting any setbacks in Somalia, which is something that everyone fears. Such support should include, as I said earlier, an increase in the number of troops as well as logistical support for and intensive training of the Somali National Security Forces. Before concluding, I would like to inform the members of the Security Council that the latest allegations of rape, made by a Somali woman against the Somali national forces and AMISOM, proved unfounded following several internal and external investigations. We in AMISOM have adopted a zero- tolerance policy on such issues. We now have at our disposal early-warning mechanisms and permanent investigation structures. We are also carrying out awareness-raising campaigns, both for AMISOM military staff and Somali populations. It that context, we have helped the Somali Government put in place a gender policy that will soon be presented to Parliament for a law to be adopted. Finally, let me once again take this opportunity to convey, on behalf of the Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, the gratitude of the African Union and AMISOM, which represents the AU on the ground, for the Council’s unwavering support and tireless efforts to find solutions to the situation in Somalia. As my colleague has said, we remain optimistic. With a little effort, we can achieve the same thing that was accomplished recently in Mali so that the 2016 elections can take place throughout the whole of Somalia’s territory.

I thank Mr. Annadif for his briefing. There are no more names inscribed on the list of speakers. I now invite Council members to informal consultations to continue our discussion of the subject.