Support for Somali peace accord focus of meeting hosted by UN envoy

The top United Nations envoy for Somalia met today with the country’s international partners to discuss how best to support the war-torn nation in carrying out the peace deal reached last week in neighbouring Djibouti.

Under the Djibouti Agreement, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia agreed to end their conflict and called on the UN to deploy an international stabilization force to the troubled Horn of Africa country, which has not had a functioning government since 1991.

The deal was reached following 10 days of UN-facilitated talks in Djibouti, led by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah.

Somalia’s Prime Minister and the leadership of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia attended today’s meeting in Nairobi, which included representatives of the African Union, European Union, the United States, Norway and the League of Arab States.

“I am overwhelmed by this new, widespread demonstration of goodwill, generosity and support for the Agreement and for Somalia as a whole,” said Mr. Ould-Abdallah.

The meeting addressed the budget resources required to implement the Agreement, as well as the establishment of a joint security committee and a high-level committee – chaired by the UN – to follow up on outstanding issues, as called for in the accord.

Mr. Ould-Abdallah added that the participants are counting on the Security Council, which recently met with the TFG and the Alliance during a visit to Djibouti, to come up with a “credible, prompt and effective” response to the call made in the Agreement for the UN to deploy a force to Somalia within 120 days.

“Today what is at stake is not only peace and stability in Somalia but the credibility of the international community in the country and in the region,” he stated.