Security Council Press Statement on Somalia

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta (Egypt):

The members of the Security Council welcomed the opportunity to engage in dialogue with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the federal Government of Somalia, regional leaders, Somali civil society and women’s groups during their visit to Mogadishu on 19 May 2016.

The members of the Security Council welcomed the political and security progress in Somalia since “the transition” ended in 2012 and underscored the need to accelerate Somalia’s peacebuilding and State-building process.  They underlined that holding a peaceful, transparent electoral process in 2016 will mark a historic step forward for all Somalis, and will be fundamental for the country’s continued progress towards democracy and stability.  The members of the Security Council recalled Security Council resolution 2232 (2015), which set out their expectation that there shall be no extension of the electoral process timelines in Somalia.

In this context the members of the Security Council welcomed the electoral process set out in the decree issued by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on 22 May 2016, which they noted should enable necessary technical preparation and implementation without further delay.  The members of the Security Council noted that Somali leaders have worked hard to achieve agreement on the modalities of the electoral model and commended President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and the federal Government of Somalia for their actions to ensure the timelines for the electoral process are upheld.

The members of the Security Council emphasized that the challenge now is to prepare and implement the elections and renewed their call on all Somali stakeholders to work constructively to that end, without delay.

The members of the Security Council noted that this is a historic opportunity to deliver more representative governance to the people of Somalia.  In this respect they commended the federal Government’s commitment to reserve 30 per cent of seats in the upper and lower houses for women.  The members of the Security Council also emphasised the importance of adhering to the political road map between now and 2020, in particular in order to reach one-person, one-vote elections by 2020.

The members of the Security Council further underlined their determination to play a constructive and active role in the months ahead.