UN Special Representative for Somalia: Transition must end in August

United Nations Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS)
For more information, please contact: Susannah Price / Donna Cusumano, Public Information
Officers
UN Political Office for Somalia (Nairobi, Kenya)
Tel: +254 20 762 6805 / 6869 or +254 733902020 / 737400133
Please visit: www.unpos.unmissions.org
For Immediate Release
PRESS RELEASE 03/2011
UN Special Representative for Somalia: Transition must end
in August
Nairobi, 26 January 2011 – Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, Dr. Augustine P. Mahiga, announced that a Special High Level Meeting on Somalia will take place in Addis Ababa on the side lines of the African Union Summit which opened today. The meeting, jointly convened by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Jean Ping, Chairman of the African Union Commission, will review the current status of the peace process in Somalia. The meeting comes at a very crucial juncture in the Somali peace process, Dr. Mahiga said.
“We have less than seven months before the end of the transition, and yet a lot still has to be done.”
Dr. Mahiga announced that the Transitional Federal Government has come up with a Roadmap, outlining priority tasks which it will have to accomplish towardsthe end of the transition.
“There was unanimous agreement, both inside and outside Somalia, that the transitional period has to end in August as envisaged under the Djibouti Peace Agreement. In the meantime, consultations are underway to develop a consensus on how to end the transition and on the nature of post-transition political arrangements,” Dr. Mahiga said.
What should follow the end of the transition, Dr. Mahiga emphasized, should begin with internal consultations among the Somalis themselves in an all inclusive process that encompasses all stakeholders in order to build consensus on the way forward.
United Nations Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS)
For more information, please contact: Susannah Price / Donna Cusumano, Public Information
Officers
UN Political Office for Somalia (Nairobi, Kenya)
Tel: +254 20 762 6805 / 6869 or +254 733902020 / 737400133
Please visit: www.unpos.unmissions.org
Dr. Mahiga said that the consensus-building process has already started within the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFI), with ongoing consultations between the TFIs led by the President, the Speaker and the Prime Minister. Following a progress report to the Security Council earlier this month, Dr. Mahiga has begun consulting with other stakeholders in the region and the wider international community.
“It is critical that the consensus-building process ensures that the gains made so far are sustained and entrenched beyond the end of the transition,” Dr. Mahiga said. Dr. Mahiga expressed his confidence that the Somalis working in partnership with the international community would achieve their long-cherished aspirations for lasting peace and stability in their country.
“After two decades of suffering, the time has come for Somalia to return to a nation in which its citizens are allowed the opportunity to live a fruitful life in peace and security.”