Security Council Extends Authorization of African Union Transition Mission in Somalia, Unanimously Adopting Resolution 2741 (2024)
The Security Council today extended its authorization of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) until 12 August 2024, also requesting support for the United Nations Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) and providing recommendations for the African Union-led peace support operation that will follow ATMIS.
Unanimously adopting resolution 2741 (2024) (to be issued as document S/RES/2741(2024)), the 15-member organ — acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations — authorized African Union member States to deploy up to 14,626 uniformed personnel to ATMIS until 30 June 2024 and complete the drawdown of 2,000 ATMIS personnel by this date. It further authorized such member States to deploy up to 12,626 uniformed personnel from 1 July 2024 until 12 August 2024. The Council also encouraged the Mission’s traditional donors to support its planned exit by 31 December 2024 and called for the enlargement and diversification of the donor base for ATMIS and the UNSOS administered trust fund in support of Somali security forces.
By the text, the Security Council requested the Secretary-General to continue providing a logistical support package, including up to 85 ATMIS civilians, to support the Mission’s military and police tasks and enhance coordination between the United Nations, African Union and Somalia. It also encouraged Somalia to continue developing and implementing its security sector development plan so that the country can eventually assume full responsibility for and ownership of its security.
Further, the organ recognized the work done by the African Union and Somalia so far to establish an agreed concept of operations for an African Union-led peace support operation to follow ATMIS, to be finalized by 31 July 2024. It encouraged the African Union Commission to include benchmarks in the concept of operations, with clear indicators and milestones, to measure progress and a comprehensive exit strategy. The Council also signalled intention to schedule a meeting by 2 August 2024 to review the concept of operations and next steps.
Following the adoption, the representative of France welcomed renewal of ATMIS and UNSOS mandates, while underscoring the urgency of defining sustainable solutions for the future of international support for Somalia. “We must ensure this in order to avoid a security vacuum”, she said, commending the Somalian authorities and the African Union in this regard as well as the work under way to consolidate the concept of operations by the end of July.
The mission to be established from January 2025 must be assured of the support of all Somalia’s partners in combating Al-Shabaab, she stressed, underscoring the need to identify a clear, sustainable financial model based on diversified contributions. She recalled that the European Union has committed over €4.3 billion to Somalia since 2009. “It is important now to better redistribute the financial effort, which will need contributions from new partners, without whom this mission cannot be successful,” she emphasized.