Somaliland Government Receives High Level UN Delegation
Hargeisa – On 20 November 2012, the government of the Republic of
Somaliland had the honour of welcoming to Hargeisa a high-level
delegation from the United Nations that is conducting a system-wide
strategic review of its presence in the country. This delegation
included representatives from the UN’s offices in the region as well
as from the UN’s head quarters in New York.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Dr.
Mohamed Abdillahi Omar, brie fed the delegation on Somaliland’s views
regarding the objectives, priorities and structure of a UN presence
in the country.
He called for a UN to acknowledge Somaliland’s 20-year history of
peace and stability, and its independent and unique status. He also
requested that the UN deal with Somaliland dir ectly and not through
its offices in the region. The Minister highlighted the constructive
role that Somaliland plays on issues such as counter-piracy,
anti-terrorism, regional peace and security as well as its
democratic credentials as proof of the Somaliland government’s
credibility as a cooperative and independent international actor.
Dr. Omar encouraged the UN to play a more active role in
facilitating the dialogue between Somaliland and Somalia based on
the framework previously agreed upon by both countries at the first
round of talks at Chevening House in the UK in June of this year.
Dr. Omar and the UN delegation also discussed areas of future
collaboration and assistanc e based on the priorities of Somaliland,
including security sector reform, improving environ ment, health and
education services, youth employment and the private sector
developm ent. The Minister thanked the various UN agencies for the
invaluable support they had pro vided to Somaliland to-date, and
reminded the UN not to lose sight of the importance of co ntinuing to
support Somaliland, which has reached a different stage of
development than its southern neighbour.
The UN representatives noted the progress Somaliland has made over
the last 21 years, and hoped that the lessons learned from its
peace building and democratisation process could inform similar
processes in Somalia. The UN noted that its review exercise would be
used to align the organisation’s work with the national priorities
of Somaliland.
Press office
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Hargeisa, Republic of Somaliland
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