Release - SW/AAJ 27/99, 1 Sept 1999
the SOMALI ISSUE and the World Body
To:
members of the Security Council of the UN
the Secretary-General of the United Nations
Reference is made to the General-Secretary's Report
S/1999/882 dated 16 Aug 1999, to which Somalia Watch would like to
give input on some aspects for the deliberations of the World Body on the Somali
Issue.
Somalia Watch firmly believes that
success of any effort to solve Somali Crises hinges on 2 main things:
1. Building the
Capacities of Local Institutions
As described or alluded to by the General-Secretary in
Para 8 - Peace Dividend Approach, danger of Parallel Initiatives; Para 10 -
Djibouti Plan,, Para 17 ..with Puntland joining hands with Somaliland the
first step could be taken towards the resuscitation of Somalia, Para 39 - supportive
of the IGAD "building Block" approach as the way forward in Somalia,
Para 40 - ..days of the Warlords were over and Para 67 - ..approximately
half of the Somali territory is peaceful, there are large areas that have
established local administrations that are functioning. Puntland and Somaliland together
make up more than half of the Somali territories, and both have established
small scale administrative capacities. The World Body should use Puntland and Somaliland
as a model to lead others by example, by reinforcing their fledgling capacities -
the so-called "peace dividend" approach. It has been predicted that there will
be 4-6 blocks (states) forming any future Somali State, of which 2 are functioning now.
The World Body will have to develop the necessary
mechanism to achieve the capacity building goals. Some important actions that can be
considered, among other things, are:
- Relocation of UN activities to the peaceful areas of
Somalia,
- Stopping the many parallel initiatives and establishing a
single focal point for coordination/handling of Somali Issues.
2. Sovereignty
The General-Secretary of the UN suggested in Para 71
of his report - Report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations
on the situation in Somalia- dated 16 Aug 1999 - that;
quote, " ....action could be taken by
the international community to assist Somalia to recover its sovereignty in certain
limited fields, for example the protection of offshore natural resources. Efforts could
also be made to limit the introduction of illegal arms and weapons into the
country...." , unquote
The lack of Sovereignty is turning Somalia into a haven for all
kinds of illegal activities with local, regional and international repercussions. Drugs,
terrorism, environmental degradation due to nuclear and toxic waste dumping are some of
the issues of Somalia today. Somalia Watch Organization covered in the releases
SW/AAJ 25/99 and SW/AAJ 26/99 dated 29 and 30 Aug 99 respectively the issue of
Sovereignty and can be read in our home page www.somaliawatch.org.
Practical arrangements for the custody of
the Sovereignty of the nation will have to be designed by the World Body,
but it appears logic that initial Custodian of the Sovereignty could
be areas where peace and administration have been established.
This arrangement is again in line with the " peace dividend"
approach advocated by many players .
SW hopes that the security council and the
international community will seriously address the SOMALI ISSUE this time.
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