Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary–General (SRSG) Nicholas Kay arrived in Hargeisa, Somaliland yesterday (13 June), to meet with His Excellency President Ahmed Mahamed Mohamud (Silaanyo) and officials of the Somaliland government.
This is SRSG Kay’s first visit to Somaliland since he assumed his duties as head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) on June 3.
He was received by Dr. Mohamed Abdillahi Omar, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations.
The SRSG then paid a visit to the museum of mass graves in Hargeisa, in commemoration of the worst human rights violations of the Siyad Barre regime, which occurred between 1984 and 1988.
On his arrival in Hargeisa, SRSG Nicholas Kay said “I came to listen and it’s been a great opportunity and experience.
I have heard from civil society, I have heard from the elected representatives of the Somaliland people. I shall be hearing from the Government very shortly. So am here listening and very clearly receiving the message”.
The mandate of UNSOM is to support the building of national capacity, peace building with a focus on good governance, security sector reform, rule of law, human rights, providing “good offices” for mediation and political reconciliation and the coordination of international assistance.
Speaking of his interactions with officials and civil society in Somaliland, the UN envoy said: “They don’t think that one size of UN will fit all.
The programmes will need to be tailored, crafted for the specific needs in Somaliland, and I have reassured them that is absolutely what the UN is doing and UNSOM is doing.
We shall be making sure our interventions, our capacity building, our support for civil society, for democracy building, is absolutely tailored and crafted to suit the individual requirements of this complex place.”
UNSOM stands ready to support constructive engagement between Somalia and Somaliland. The UN envoy further said “this is only my first visit to Somaliland of many and I intend to have a close and fruitful relationship with its people and authorities.
Our office in Hargeisa will be proactively engaging the administration and civil society to explore areas of further cooperation.”
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