Communique of the AU and TCC's Consultative Meeting

The follow up meeting of the African Union, Ministers of Defence of AMISOM Troop Contributing Countries and Partners was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday 14 December 2009, under the Chairmanship of Ambassador Ramtane Lamamra, Commissioner for Peace and Security. The meeting was attended by the Ministers of Defence of the TCCs to AMISOM, namely Burundi and Uganda, and the Minister of National Security of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia. The United Nations, League of Arab States (LAS), European Union, the Chair of IGAD Partners’ Forum, the permanent Members of the UN Security Council, Ethiopia, Libya, and Djibouti also participated in the meeting. The Chairman introduced the newly appointed Special Representative of the Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union for Somalia, Ambassador Diarra Boubacar Gaoussou, to the meeting.

The meeting reviewed developments in Somalia, in particular with regard to the progress made by the TFG towards strengthening its authority, including on efforts in the area of peace and reconciliation process, as well as efforts geared towards stabilising the security situation in the country.

The meeting strongly condemned the recent bombing in Mogadishu, during which three Ministers and several other civilians were killed and wounded. The meeting paid tribute to those who lost their lives, and commiserated with their families.

The meeting discussed the current political, security and military situation in Somalia. It also discussed the forthcoming International Contact Group meeting on Somalia, scheduled for 17 December 2009, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia which will offer an opportunity to the TFG to highlight its proposed activities towards the establishment of peace and stability in the country. The meeting will seek from the international community enhanced support to the TFG.

The meeting noted that the continued inability of AMISOM to reach its authorised strength continues to be a serious challenge and therefore, urged that the recruitment and training programme of Somali Security Forces be further given impetus, in order to be able to cope effectively with the security situation in Somalia.

In this regard, the need to adequately train, equip, sustain and retain Somali Security Forces was emphasized in the current circumstances. It was further proposed that a study of new requirements necessary for AMISOM to fulfil its objectives, including the added aspect of training of Somali Security Forces, be carried out.

The meeting observed that there exist operational limitations to the performance of AMISOM in the areas of maritime and air defence capabilities, and called for assistance in building the Mission’s capabilities in this respect.

On the status of contributions from the Brussels pledging conference, confirmation of pledges by donors has been obtained to the tune of USD 204 million, while USD 80 million has been redeemed so far. The meeting called upon those who are yet to fulfil their pledges to urgently do so.

The EU confirmed payment of Euro 5,4 million for reimbursement to AMISOM troop contributing countries and announced that the next instalment of Euro 30 million will follow shortly.

The meeting was informed that appropriate approval has been given for the payment of reimbursement for Contingent Owned Equipment (COE). At the same time, a Support Implementation Agreement was signed between the UN, AU, and Troop Contributing Countries, while the list of equipment qualified for reimbursement has also been prepared. Other related issues were also discussed and proper arrangements will be actively pursued in that regard.

The meeting seized the opportunity to express appreciation to the Troop Contributing Countries for their commitment to peace in Somalia. It encouraged Djibouti and other African countries to speedily deploy their contingents to AMISOM as already pledged.

The participants agreed to hold their next Consultative Meeting at a date to be decided following appropriate consultations.