International Partners Welcome Conclusion of Somalia’s Upper House Elections

Mogadishu – Somalia’s international partners* welcome the conclusion of the Upper House elections following the 11 November National Consultative Council meeting and leaders’ commitment to conclude the House of the People elections by the end of December 2021.

International partners, however, remain deeply concerned about the extremely delayed election timeline and strongly urge the Somali leadership, at all levels of government, to swiftly re-commence and complete the electoral process for the House of the People seats. We note that sufficient funds are already available, including from international partners, to complete a significant portion of the House of the People elections.

We continue to call for timely, inclusive and credible elections that maintain the integrity of the electoral process. We also strongly urge Somali leaders and the State Election Implementation Teams, in line with the 17 September 2020 and 27 May 2021 agreements, to ensure that a minimum 30 per cent quota is reserved for women members of Parliament through a clear mechanism.

International partners reiterate their deep concern that, the longer the elections are delayed, the more attention and resources will be diverted from important national priorities, such as responding to the humanitarian consequences of drought, state-building and ensuring security, which are critical to the overall stability of Somalia and the welfare of its people.

*African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia, European Union (EU), Finland, Germany, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, League of Arab States (LAS), Netherlands, Norway, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, and United Nations.