By Sadiya Hamza
UNITED NATIONS – UN Special Representative for Somalia, Nickolas Kay, says he is concerned about security in Somalia and about the threat posed by Al-Shabaab to the wider sub-region.
Briefing members of the Security Council via video conference from Addis Ababa on Tuesday in New York, Kay said Al-Shabaab’s threat was demonstrated by the heinous attack on Kenya’s Garissa University in April.
He said “we need to monitor closely and be able to respond to any sign that Al Shabaab is benefitting from their links to extremist groups in Yemen.
“Counter-terrorism requires effort on many fronts.
“I hope that the coming weeks will see even closer cooperation among member states to address this threat at a sub-regional level, including measures to prevent and counter violent extremism.
“With so much at stake between now and 2016, we can expect Al-Shabaab to do everything it can to derail the political process.’’
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Renewing the joint Somali and African Union offensive against Al Shabaab , he said it was an urgent priority.
The AU and UN, he said, recently completed a joint mission to Somalia to assess the benchmarks for a UN peacekeeping mission.
He said the AU and UN also assessed the impact of the ‘surge’ of AMISOM troops, and to provide recommendations on the next steps in the military campaign.
The security of UN staff in Somalia, he said, remained a priority.
Tragically, he added, a terrorist attack in Garowe on April 20 claimed the lives of four UNICEF staff and three Somali guards.
Kay said Al-Shabaab targeted individuals who were working hard to improve the lives of Somali children and families.
”We honour our fallen colleagues by continuing their work.
”We have to ensure a balance between our duty of care to staff and the delivery of our mandate to support the Somalis.
”Overall, the UN agencies, funds and programmes and mission combined, have on average 1,400 people deployed through Somalia.
”We must ensure adequate protection for these teams,” he said.
In this regard, he thanked the council for its support to the expansion of the United Nations Guard Unit, new offices in Mogadishu city.
He said this was the first time a Security Council mandated mission had operated from outside the airport zone since 1995.
Kay said President Hassan Mohamoud of Somalia, the Prime Minister, Speaker and the leaders of Puntland, Jubba and South West administrations had reiterated their determinations to deliver Somalia’s Vision 2016 Plan.
This, he said would be done without any extension of the term of the Federal Parliament or President in August and September 2016 respectively.
He said that there were several important targets the government had set for the coming months, including the completion of the formation of Interim Regional administrations.
Kay said others were advancing the constitutional review; establishing the National Independent Electoral Commission, Boundaries and Federation Commission; and finalising priority legislation on political parties, citizenship and elections.
He said once parliament had approved the nomination of commissioners for the National Independent Electoral Commission, the NIEC had faced a compressed timeline to discharge its duties.
The United Nations, he said, would deploy an Electoral Assessment Mission to advise and determine, in close collaboration with stakeholders, the nature and extent of UN electoral support in Somalia.
The UN together with the AU, IGAD, and the EU and member states would continue to support the formation of the Interim Regional Administrations, he said.
Kay said that many challenges still remained, more needed to be achieved in terms of local reconciliation.
He said women, minorities and youth must be well represented as part of that inclusivity.
According to him, progress on federalism has not been matched by similar progress on the constitutional review process.
Kay said the UN was supporting the commissioners and other relevant institutions to start the constitutional review process in earnest without further delay.
He, however said that he was concerned about the timetable for elections in “Somaliland” which were due next month.
”The recent decision by the House of Elders to postpone elections for 22 months until March 2017 is a disappointment.
”The UN has joined other international partners in urging a reconciliation of this timetable based on a political consensus among all Somaliland stakeholders,” he said. (NAN)
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