MOGADISHU ( Halbeeg News) – The United Nations has called for collaboration among Somali stakeholders ahead of 2020 upcoming Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
A delegation by Somalia’s international partners including the UN, AU, EU, and IGAD visited Baidoa, in South West State on Tuesday.
The aim of the tour is to start a series of consultations with a range of stakeholders in the country’s Federal Member States.
While in Baidoa, the delegation met with SWS’ President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed ‘Laftagareen,’ local elders and representatives from civil society to help better understand the opportunities and challenges to implementation of the various national process set for 2020.
Speaking on his behalf of his fellow delegation members, the European Union’s (EU) Ambassador to Somalia, Nicolas Berlanga, the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Ambassador Francisco C. J. Madeira, and a Senior Advisor of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Jamal Ahmed Ibrahim, UN envoy, James Swan said 2020 will be a crucial year for Somalia as far as elections, constitution and security is concerned.
“2020 will be a pivotal moment for Somalia, when a number of key national processes should be concluded. These processes will lay the foundations for Somalia’s further progress by agreeing to a Constitution, holding ‘one-person, one-vote,’ elections, continuing the fight against Al-Shabaab, and paving the way for debt relief for Somalia,” the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, James Swan, said on behalf of the delegation.
Ambassador, Swan added that the close collaboration between the leadership of the Federal government and regional members’ states is very significant to address key issues.
“Achieving these will require the active collaboration of all Somali stakeholders, and it will particularly need the leadership of the Federal Government and the Federal Member States,” he added. “In order to address these issues, we encourage all stakeholders to engage in dialogue with one another – this includes federal and state authorities, civil society and the people of Somalia.”
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