Madam President,
I join others in thanking the briefers for their insightful overviews and welcoming the Prime Minister of Somalia at today meeting. The coming months will be crucial for Somalia, and allow me to reiterate Estonia’s support for the country and its people.
Estonia welcomes that an agreement was achieved on the modalities of the elections, which was accepted by all key Somali stakeholders. Moving forward, we emphasize the importance of timely, secure, inclusive, and transparent elections. Estonia urges the implementation of the 30% female quota and ensuring that marginalized groups are included. Additionally, as Somalia prepares for parliamentary and presidential elections, now more than ever, freedom of expression and the press must be protected.
While we welcome the progress that has been made, Estonia regrets that the upcoming elections could not be a one-person-one-vote model, as was previously envisioned by Somali authorities and international community alike. In order to ensure that Somalia is making progress in its democratization process, we strongly support the development of an agreed pathway to one-person-one-vote elections in 2024/25. Furthermore, for the democratization process to proceed, we would highly support institutionalization of the consultations between the Federal Government and Federal Member States, as to make sure we would avoid the previous impasse.
In addition, Estonia underlines the need to put in place measures and institutions to protect human rights. In this regard, we reiterate the importance of establishing the Independent National Human Rights Commission, which has a key role to play in promoting and protecting human rights. We also remain deeply concerned about the “Sexual Intercourse Related Crimes Bill” and reiterate our call on Somalia to respect its international human rights obligations, and discuss the original Sexual Offences Bill in parliament.
The security situation remains a major challenge, and I condemn in the strongest possible terms the continuing attacks by Al-Shabaab. The impact of conflict on civilians, including women and children, is devastating, and a cause of grave concern. The coming months will be crucial for agreeing the way forward for the end goal of Somalia taking full responsibility for its security. In this regard, we welcome the progress the Federal Government of Somalia has made in updating the Transition Plan, and we are looking forward to the final product, which should be realistic in its timelines, tasks and goals. We are also looking forward to the independent assessment, and urge all key stakeholders to engage with the independent panel. Estonia emphasizes that a comprehensive approach to security is important – Al Shabaab cannot be defeated only through military means, therefore institution-building and supporting activities alongside military operations remain the key.
Estonia is deeply concerned about the dire humanitarian situation. Following the serious humanitarian situation resulting from the triple threat of COVID-19, locust infestation and floods, Somalia is again bracing for potential drought conditions in 2021. Routine spikes in humanitarian needs call for a more strategic approach. Strengthening the resilience of Somali people must remain a priority.
I would like to conclude by expressing Estonia’s gratitude and support to the UN personnel in Somalia, AMISOM and Somali security forces for their efforts, commitment and sacrifices to bring peace and stability to Somalia.
Thank you!
