Security Council Committee on Somalia, Eritrea Visits Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia

From 4 to 10 May 2018, the Chair of the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 751 (1992) and 1907 (2009) concerning Somalia and Eritrea, His Excellency, Kairat Umarov, joined by the delegation comprising of Ethiopia, Khazakhstan, Kuwait, Netherlands, Sweden and members of the Secretariat, visited Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.  At various points the delegation was joined by representatives from the local missions of Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, France, Kazakhstan, Poland, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States.

The purpose of the visit was to obtain first-hand information on the situation in the region, including on the implementation of the United Nations sanctions measures in relation to Somalia and Eritrea, and to assess the effectiveness of their implementation in order to promote peace and security in the Horn of Africa.

This trip marked the first occasion since 2010 in which the Committee travelled to the Horn of Africa region.

While regretting that a visit to Eritrea did not materialize, the Committee remains committed to engage with Eritrea.

In the course of the visit, the members of the Committee had an opportunity to meet with a wide range of interlocutors, including (in chronological order) the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Djibouti; the Minister for Justice of Djibouti; President of Djibouti; representatives of the Joint Verification Team; the President, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Somalia; representatives of the diplomatic community in Somalia; the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission/Head of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM); the Deputy Special Representative/Resident Humanitarian Coordinator in Somalia; representatives of the Federal Government of Somalia; the Director of Rule of Law and Security Institutions Group, United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), and Director of the United Nations Mine Action Service in Somalia; the African Union Peace and Security Commissioner; the State Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Defence and the Prime Minister of Ethiopia.

In all meetings, the Chair underlined the need for full implementation of the sanctions measures and the cooperation with the Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group which assists the Committee in monitoring the implementation of the sanctions measures.

The members of the Committee discussed the report of the Chair on the visit on 7 June, and agreed to take follow-up action focusing, inter alia, on enhancing the implementation of the arms embargoes on Somalia and Eritrea, as well as the charcoal ban on Somalia.