UN Official pledges support for Somalia, as it faces challenges including elections

During a Security Council meeting on Thursday, the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia vowed that the UN would stand by Somalia on Thursday, as the country faces challenges including upcoming elections.

“The United Nations is committed to supporting Somalia as it addresses technical, logistical and other challenges and mobilizes financial support from donors in order to deliver timely and credible elections,” said James Swan, Acting Special Representative for Somalia and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia.

The announcement was welcomed by Somalia's Foreign Affairs Minister, Ahmed Moallim Fiqi Ahmed, who said, '“We look forward to working together on a new mission for the next two years, on gradual transition to UN country team and achieving the priorities articulated in Somalia's letter to the Council in August 2024.”

Among these priorities is tackling violent extremism. “The growing risk of infiltration and collaboration between Al-Shabaab and the Houthi is a considerable security challenge, threatening regional stability in the Horn of Africa, as well as maritime navigation and the shipping routes in the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean and the channel of Mozambique,” Mohammed El-Amine Souef, Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission for Somalia and Head of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia, pointed out.

The country is waging an offensive against the jihadist group Al-Shabaab, which has carried out a string of bombings across Somalia in the past 17 years. In July, the group launched a car bomb attack in the capital, killing several people.

Somalia is also locked in a dispute with Ethiopia over a Somaliland port.