On Visit to Somalia, Senior UN Official Encourages Acceleration of the Electoral Process and 30 per cent Women’s Quota

Mogadishu – Wrapping up a five-day visit to Somalia, a senior United Nations official today called on the Somali leadership to accelerate efforts towards the completion of the electoral process as well as acting on commitment of reaching the 30 per cent women’s quota in the upcoming parliament. 

“It is important that we complete this process to enable the peace and stability of Somalia take off in a meaningful way,” the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, said in Mogadishu.

“My visit also coincided with the visit of the African Union Peace and Security Council. And I think it goes to emphasize the importance that the international community is attaching to Somalia's stability and peace and the ongoing developments in the country as regards the elections also,” she added.

The recently appointed UN official, who holds responsibility for the Africa continent at the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Department of Peace Operations (DPPA-DPO) in New York, was in the Horn of Africa country as part of a familiarization visit.

“I'm here to familiarize myself with the UN operations here, also to have discussions with the government, the leadership of Somalia, civil society organizations, especially women and youth who, as you know, the United Nations works closely with on the ground. And, there's a question of the elections. You know, after a bit of a stall, I think that the process has regained momentum and we see great progress on the 27 May electoral agreement. And it was important also that I engage the leadership whose will and also determination to continue the effort has led us this far,” she said.

While in the Somali capital, Ms. Pobee met with a wide range of stakeholders, including government officials, electoral authorities and representatives from civil society groups, with the latter including Somali women leaders and youth. She also visited one of Somalia’s Federal Member States (FMSs), with a stop in the city of Baidoa in South West State.

In Mogadishu, her schedule included meetings included Prime Minister Mohamed G. Roble and other senior officials of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS), including the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mohamed Abdirizak, as well as federal electoral authorities, such as the Chairman of the Federal Electoral Implementation Team, Mohamed Hassan Irro.

With Somalia completing the elections for its Upper House and beginning those for the Lower House – the House of the People – the topic of the country’s elections loomed large in her discussions with the FGS officials on Monday. 

“To underscore the United Nations continued support for a Somali led, Somali owned process, that was a fundamental message that we are with them and we intend to work with them to the very conclusion of whatever processes we need to do to make this country viable, to make this country stable, to ensure peace for its citizens and sustainable development that reaches every member of the community,” she said.

The topic also figured Ms Pobee’s Tuesday visit to Baidoa, where she met with the Acting President of South West State, Ali Said Fiqi, and other senior officials of the FMS’s administration.

“I would like to commend South West State for being one of the first Federal Member States that successfully completed the elections to the Federal Upper House. I would also like to call on the leaders to conduct the House of the People elections without further delays in a peaceful, transparent and inclusive manner,” she said in media remarks there.

Civil society

Ms. Pobee also met with representatives of women’s leadership groups, and highlighted the importance of Somali women’s participation in all spheres of the country’s public life. She particularly emphasized the need to achieve, in the current elections, the minimum 30 per cent quota for their representation in parliament.

“I also urged them to speed up the process of the elections on the issue of representation of women, the commitment to reaching the 30 per cent quota. As you know, we have managed to attain 26 per cent,  but it is important, particularly in the Lower House elections, to ensure that we meet that target,” she said.

In her meeting with Somali youth representatives, she noted that the youth represent the majority of Somalia’s population they have a critical role to play in their country's progress in areas ranging from politics to development, education to human rights and more.

“The youth are 70 per cent, people the age of 30 and below, and they're therefore an important, really important segment of the society, of the country. And as a group, they necessarily have to be included in the development process and in political processes. True participatory democracy cannot advance if these very important segments of the society are left out, ” she said. “I met representation of women and youth, and I got a clear sense that they know exactly what the significance of their participation is. They have very clear ideas on political processes, on what this country needs to go forward. And I think there's also a keenness to participate.”

The UN official also met with the AMISOM leadership led by Ambassador Francisco Caetano Jose Madeira, members of the Council of Presidential Candidates and members of the international community.