The need for the International Community to act and act decisively in Somalia

The need for the International Community to act and act decisively in Somalia

IGAD in its recent meetings, of the Council of Ministers in June and the Heads of State and Government in July, underlined the need for concerted efforts from all its member states and from the international community to assist the TFG in its endeavours to ensure peace and stability in Somalia. Commendably, its efforts have produced some tangible results, one of which has been broadening the peace process to bring on board others who are prepared for peace and stability in Somalia.

The IGAD Summit, in the final communiqué from its Addis Ababa meeting, instructed the IGAD Chiefs of Defence Staff to draw up an action plan, to cover an increase in the level of forces required to enable AMISOM to carry out its mandated peacekeeping activities and to restructure the TFG’s security institutions to make them more effective and manageable with proper command control structures. The Chiefs of Defence Staff, who met the week before the AU’s Kampala summit, responded rapidly. Their plans are now being implemented with the member states preparing for the deployment of the required experts and drawing up the necessary logistics.

IGAD’s efforts have also begun to receive the needed attention from the international community. The US-moderated meeting on Somalia, chaired by Ambassador Carson, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, and held on the sidelines of the AU Summit in Kampala has been instrumental in creating a framework for coordinating international support to the TFG and AMISOM. It is a framework which can certainly be expected to provide tangible results in relation to the efforts of the TFG and AMISOM to fight the scourge of terrorism. The understandings reached at the sideline meeting have already led to encouraging follow-up steps, and a substantial joint demarche is being planned involving the African Union and a number of European and African countries and the United States. The demarche will call for specific backing for Somalia and to AMISOM, and can be hoped to bring about considerable and immediate financial and logistical support to the TFG and AMISOM in concrete terms, as well as further pledges of troop contributions for AMISOM.

The widely-condemned bombings by Al-Shabaab in Kampala clearly demonstrate the capacity and determination of terrorist groups to inflict damage anywhere in the sub-region and show a potential ability to extend their activity to any corner of the globe. Assisting the TFG and AMISOM will ensure the defeat of these groups on the ground and also help stabilize Somalia permanently. It will also go a long way to limiting terrorist activities in the region. It underlines the critical need to provide the financial and logistical support to enable AMISOM to reach its authorized level of 8,100 troops.

Another important point raised during the sideline meeting on Somalia in Kampala was reiteration of the need to re-formulate AMISOM as a UN peacekeeping force. This is something that needs immediate attention from the international community and particularly by the UN Security Council. Certainly, the recent announcement by the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Ambassador Augustine Mahiga, of plans to increase the presence of the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS) inside Somalia will help advance the peace process in the country. The move, which will involve the relocation of some UN staff and offices to Mogadishu and other places, is certainly long overdue. It will enable much greater coordination between the TFG, IGAD, AMISOM and all other stakeholders. AMISOM’s civilian component should also relocate to Mogadishu as soon as possible as well. This would reinforce the growing appreciation of TFG and AMISOM requirements for effective and concrete assistance.

Last weekend, the TFG’s Joint Security Committee met under the co-chairmanship of Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke and Ambassador Mahiga (UNSGSR) in Nairobi. Discussions were aimed at achieving an action-oriented framework to cover, inter alia, support for the security forces, police and the relevant ministries. The committee urged the government to move forward on development of the security sector, including the provision of financial accountability, and to build on the present momentum for international support. As a priority, it should adopt the National Security and Stabilization Plan and the Security Sector Assessment and put the recommendations into practice. The committee commended the efforts of the IGAD Council of Ministers and the IGAD Summit, as endorsed by the AU Assembly, to strengthen the TFG’s security sector and AMISOM; and the new initiative of the US in mobilizing resources in support of the TFG and AMISOM.  It expressed its appreciation to all current donors and encouraged other partners to extend similar support. It welcomed AMISOM’s renewed commitment to take additional measures to ensure the protection of civilians, commended the Mission for continuing to extend essential basic services, such as medical assistance, to the civilian population, and expressed its appreciation of AMISOM’s efforts to establish a safe zone to encourage the gradual return of international community offices back to Mogadishu. The Committee also reaffirmed the need to provide protection to civilians against insurgent atrocities, to maintain law and order, and to avoid civilian casualties through the provision of appropriate training for security forces, information gathering, appropriate operational equipment and application of the relevant rules of engagement under international law.

These developments may be encouraging but they also underline how important it is that the TFG leadership demonstrates its commitment and readiness to continue to work together, to maintain its cohesion and implement the agreements concluded with Ahlu Suna wal Jama’a at all levels. The positive developments in democratisation witnessed in Somaliland should be supported and encouraged. The recent fighting between Puntland security forces and the extremists led by the so-called Sheikh ‘Atom’ is a clear indication that the threat posed by Al-Shabaab is not confined to the southern areas of Somalia but extends into those areas that have established relative peace and stability. And these regions need concrete support to build up their capacity to fight terrorism. The efforts by the international community to support the TFG and AMISOM should include a comprehensive approach to all the areas of the former Somali state with the aim of maintaining whatever peace and stability has been created in their respective areas.