Somalia

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Catriona Laing of the United Kingdom as his new Special Representative for Somalia and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM). 

UN chief António Guterres on Wednesday reaffirmed the world body’s commitment to supporting the Horn of Africa country as it continues on its path to establishing lasting peace and stability.

Noting the anniversary at a press conference at mission headquarters in Mogadishu Ambassador Mohamed El-Amine Souef, Special Representative for the Chair of the AU Commission (SRCC), said the mission remained committed to long term peace in the East African country. This commitment will see stronger co-operation with the Somali federal government and creation of new partnership to speed up stabilisation.

The U.S. ambassador to Somalia said the Somali government's military operations against al-Shabab have cost the militants one third of their territory. … Since January, the United States donated weapons to the Somali national forces to support operations against al-Shabab.

The UN political affairs chief has underlined the critical need to ensure funding for the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), warning that a shortfall could threaten plans to transfer security to the national forces by the end of next year. Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo was speaking on Wednesday at a meeting at UN Headquarters to draw attention to the widening financing gap at the year-old operation.

After a protracted, hotly contested and sometimes violent electoral transition process, in mid-May 2022, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud assumed the presidency of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) for the second time. He arrived at a time when al-Shabaab remained a potent military force across significant parts of Somalia.

Fighters from Somalia's Al-Shabaab group on Tuesday overran a military base in the southern Jubaland region that they had lost to the army in January, a Somali officer and a local resident said.

The United States has donated more than 60 tons of weapons and ammunition to the Somali National Army, or SNA, to boost ongoing operations against the militant group al-Shabab and for future training of an elite infantry unit, according to the U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu.

The Federal Government of Somalia has made significant progress since the Council last took up the situation in September 2022 — including on such national priorities as the fight against the Al-Shabaab terrorist group — senior officials told the Security Council today, as members warned that an ongoing drought is expected to render half the population food insecure by mid-2023 and place the country at increased risk of famine. 

The leaders of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia met Wednesday in the Somali capital to discuss the ongoing fight against al-Shabab militants. The security summit took place amid an offensive by Somalia and its allies against the Islamist militants.