News about a letter requesting the departure of the 360-member United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) when its mandate expires in October has been circulating through social media for about a day. The news also temporarily appeared on the website of the Somali National News Agency before the content was removed.
Government officials who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media confirmed the existence of the request to VOA.
Ahmed Isse Awad, Somalia's former foreign minister and former ambassador to the U.S., said the mission is still vital to Somalia and the decision to terminate is untimely.
“The U.N. political mission has advised and supported Somalia on governance, peacebuilding, security reforms and democracy for over a decade, and I think it is still vital for strengthening the capacity of the government institutions. I think it is not the time to terminate it,” he said.
The government’s request to end the mission comes at a time a U.N.-mandated African Union safekeeping mission, currently comprising at least 10,000 soldiers known as ATMIS, is due to withdraw and hand the country’s security over to the Somali state by the end of this year.
VOA’s calls to Somalia’s foreign and information ministries went unanswered.
According to the United Nations, UNSOM was established in 2013 by U.N. Security Council Resolution 2102 to advise the federal government of Somalia and the African Union Mission in Somalia on policy and peacebuilding.
The UNSOM mandate was subsequently renewed by Security Council resolutions more than 15 times. The current Resolution 2710, approved in 2023, expires in October.
