Mogadishu- The Special Envoys on Funding Consultations for the African Union Mission in Somalia Amisom, made a day’s visit to Mogadishu today, to discuss sustainable funding to peace operations in the Horn of Africa country.
Ramtane Lamamra and Jean-Marie Guehenno, the Special Envoys from the African Union and the United Nations respectively, emphasized a gradual shift of security responsibilities from Amisom to the Somali security forces, without retrogressing the progress already made in securing the country.
“It is very important that gradual shift from Amisom to the Somali authorities happens in a way that doesn’t jeopardize all the efforts that have been made so far,” said UN Envoy Guehenno.
Mr. Guéhenno acknowledged the presence of a multiplicity of actors who are supporting security and peacebuilding programmes in Somalia and highlighted their importance towards the achievement of sustainable peace.
“In the coming phase, the coordination between all these actors is more important than ever and it is of course a very sensitive issue,” he remarked.
The two Special Envoys met with the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia H.E Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, the Prime Minister H.E Hassan Ali Khaire, the AU and UN Special Representatives for Somalia, Francisco Caetano Madeira and Michael Keating respectively, ambassadors from the Troop Contributing Countries to Amisom, who are accredited to Somalia, and European Union officials.
Discussions with these teams focused on achieving a smooth transition of the security responsibility from Amisom to the Somali security forces.