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Statement to the UN Security Council
Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah
23 July 2008
Mr President
1. This is my third presentation to the Security Council since taking office more than nine months ago.
2. During my first presentation on 17 December, I proposed three options to the Council to address the Somali crisis. The first option was to continue “business as usual” with massive assistance including humanitarian aid as we have done for the past 18 years. During the last ten years, the official amount of assistance given to Somalia is in the vicinity of 6 – 8 billion dollars. This approach has helped save millions of lives and should be commended and pursued. However its side effects can not be ignored and it can not be expected to bring lasting peace. Today more than three million Somalis live in exile, more than 800,000 are displaced and the violence continues. A second option was to withdraw from a country where we have yet to make a significant difference. I advanced a third approach to try something different: simultaneous political and security action.
3. The Transitional Federal Government, the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia and civil society organizations agreed at the UN’s invitation to attend the Djibouti talks which were designed to bring Somalis together to end almost two decades of violence. On 9 June 2008 the internationally recognised TFG and the ARS, which was considered extremist while in power in Mogadishu in 2006, signed the Djibouti Agreement. Members of both groups are now before you in this room as representatives of a future, stable Somalia. The Djibouti Agreement was witnessed by a number of observer states and international organizations including France, the United Kingdom, the United States, the African Union, the League of Arab States, the Organization of Islamic Conference and European Union as well as the host countries and representatives of Governments accredited to Somalia.
Mr President.
4. The working visit of the Security Council to Djibouti at the opening of the discussions was one of the most important contributions to the successful conclusion of the Djibouti Agreement. The Council delegation, led by the Permanent Representatives of the United Kingdom and South Africa, made a decisive impact on the negotiations and on participants and observers during the two day long exchange with Somali representatives. I am grateful to the Security Council and so are the Somalis. Everyone called on the Somalis to come up with a peace agreement and they successfully delivered on this. They deserve the full support of the international community.
5. In all peace processes some individuals or groups always set out by rejecting agreements. An effective implementation of the Agreement should be an incentive to bring more Somalis on board and give them a chance to contribute to the rebirth of their country. In that context I would like to propose that the Council make a strong public expression of their support the Djibouti Agreement and calls on member states to give it a chance to be implemented rapidly. For their part, the Somalis have started working together and today the ball is in the court of the international community. We need to act quickly.
6. The Agreement will not bring peace overnight - no agreement has ever done so. Especially if spoilers and freelance mediators, as mentioned to you in my presentation in December, continue meddling. For a long time violence has been pervasive in Somalia and will continue for a while. However the Agreement provides an opportunity to marginalize and eventually stop such violence. At the same time a review of those on the UNSC sanctions list should help recognize the role of those individuals who have decided to change their behaviour and to support peace.
7. Our priority should be to stay the course and follow through on the implementation of the Djibouti Agreement. That development should provide security for humanitarian programs – in particular naval escorts for the World Food Program which brings 80% of its food aid to Somalia by sea. Unfortunately these vital escorts have recently ceased. I sympathise with Somali nationals who constitute more than 95% of aid workers in south and central Somalia. They risk their lives daily and all too often have been the innocent victims of targeted killings. With international determination, as shown in Kosovo and elsewhere, the individuals carrying out these terrible deeds should not be given a chance to prevail.
8. The international community must unite and show solidarity to the Somali people. It would be a terrible mistake to allow certain individuals to gamble with the future of Somalia and the entire Horn of Africa. Violence can easily spread across international borders. The continued neglect of Somalia poses a threat to international peace
9. Today our choices for bringing peace to Somalia are limited but the time has come to make a final decision. AMISOM has been doing an excellent job under extremely difficult conditions. The Council could consider re-hatting this force if that could provide the needed capabilities. Another option would be an international stabilization force as indicated in the Secretary General’s letter of 20 September 2007 to the Chairman of the Security Council. A third credible possibility for the Security Council would be the establishment of a UN peacekeeping force. Given that Somalis have suffered for so long, and the current favourable political context following the Djibouti Agreement, it is time for the Security Council to take bold, decisive and fast action.
Thank you for your attention