Mr. President,

I thank the Secretary-General for his two consecutive reports which focus on the security and piracy situation in Somalia and thank the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, for his detailed briefing. I welcome the participation of H.E. Mr. Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar, Minister for Foreign Affairs os Somalia and thank him for his statement. I also welcome and thank the Delegates from the African Union and the League of Arab States for their participation in this important meeting of the Council.

Mr. President,

The past few months witnessed some significant progress in the political process of Somalia, including the election of a new President, the newly expanded Parliament and the formation of a more inclusive Government. In reaffirming our belief that, as H.E. the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Somalia said, peace and security in Somalia can only be achieved through dialogue, negotiations, the will for compromise and reconciliation, we welcome the efforts of President Sheikh Ahmed to make the process more inclusive by reaching out to different groups in the country.

Mr. President,

With those encouraging political developments strengthened by the determination of the people and leaders of Somalia to promote the implementation of a comprehensive ceasefire, we, however, remain concerned about the volatile security situation as reflected by a series of attacks against AMISOM which led to the deaths and injuries of many peacekeepers. We are also concerned about the humanitarian situation with more than three million Somalis in need of humanitarian assistance and many civilians fleeing their home to escape fighting. We strongly condemn all the attacks against AMISOM, humanitarian personnel and civilians and call for an immediate end to them.

Mr. President,

Taking stock of the current piracy situation off the coast of Somalia and the complexity of the political and security scenes of this war-torn country as the whole, while commending the operational efforts of Member States within the framework of the Contact Group on piracy, we wish to emphasize the need for the implementation of all relevant Security Council resolutions and the Djibouti peace process. We share the Secretary-General’s view that the scourge of piracy and armed robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia will only be resolved through an integrated approach that addresses the conflict, lack of governance and absence of sustainable livelihoods on land in Somalia. We support his call for the international community to provide necessary resources to help bring durable peace and stability to Somalia. We stress the importance of providing assistance to build the capacity of local and regional stakeholders.

Mr. President,

We commend AMISOM for its enduring efforts in Somalia under very difficult circumstances. We are mindful that the resources available to AMISOM still fall far short of the requirements for its full deployment and the sustenance of its operations. My Delegation supports the Secretary-General’s intention to convene an international donor conference to solicit contributions to the Trust Funds for AMISOM.

I thank you, Mr. President!