{"id":402739,"date":"2021-02-01T10:30:11","date_gmt":"2021-02-01T07:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/?p=402739"},"modified":"2021-02-01T10:30:11","modified_gmt":"2021-02-01T07:30:11","slug":"un-delegation-discusses-for-jubaland-and-welcomes-elections-developments-in-kismayo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/un-delegation-discusses-for-jubaland-and-welcomes-elections-developments-in-kismayo\/","title":{"rendered":"UN Delegation Discusses for Jubaland and welcomes Elections Developments in Kismayo,"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kismayo (SONNA):<\/b>The United Nations\u2019 support to Jubaland in areas ranging from primary health and wellbeing to economic empowerment and protection of the most vulnerable were among the topics covered today by a high-level delegation to the southern Federal Member State.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very pleased to be in Kismayo today. It is the latest in our visits to the Federal Member States at the beginning of 2021. We have come to discuss with the President and his team the work of the United Nations in support of Jubaland in 2021 and beyond,\u201d the UN Secretary-General\u2019s Special Representative for Somalia, James Swan, said in media remarks in Jubaland\u2019s interim capital, Kismayo.<\/p>\n

The UN envoy was speaking at a joint press encounter with the Federal Member State\u2019s (FMS) President Ahmed Mohamed Islam \u2018Madobe,\u2019 with whom he had met earlier. Prior to that, the UN envoy and representatives from various UN agencies had met with the Jubaland leader and members of his team.<\/p>\n

The other visiting UN officials included the Country Director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), Cesar Arroyo; the Representative to Somalia of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Johann Siffointe; the Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Mamunur Rahman Malik; and from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Fisheries Coordinator for Somalia, Andrew Read.<\/p>\n

Currently, there are 15 UN entities operating in Jubaland. In his remarks, the UN Special Representative spoke about some of their work.<\/p>\n

WFP has been working to strengthen the long-term resilience of local communities against drought, flood and other shocks. This development work includes livelihoods, food systems and safety net programmes, and these efforts build on the food aid agency\u2019s well-established humanitarian portfolio in Jubaland. It supports more than 400,000 food insecure people with urgent food relief, nutrition programmes and school meals, and with a particular focus on the nutrition of mothers and young children.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother example of the World Food Programme\u2019s work here, right here in Kismayo, is the rehabilitation of Kismayo port. The World Food Programme has removed the sunken wrecks of two ships that have long impeded access through the seaway,\u201d Mr. Swan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cClearing those wrecks,\u201d he added, \u201cwill enable humanitarian logistics services through the port, but also offers a significant opportunity to improve port services for Jubaland\u2019s economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

WHO has been working closely with Jubaland\u2019s Ministry of Health, as well as federal-level counterparts, to ensure that the people of Jubaland have better access to health care.<\/p>\n

In addition to supporting the Federal Member State with its response to COVID-19 pandemic, the UN health agency has also helped with mass immunization campaigns in recent months.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese include three polio campaigns to reach around 300,000 children in 11 accessible districts,\u201d Mr. Swan said. \u201cAnd, in October last year, the World Health Organization also conducted a measles immunization campaign here in Kismayo, a hotspot for measles, vaccinating more than 56,000 children against the disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

FAO has supported the development of Jubaland\u2019s fishing industry, both in Kismayo, and further south, stretching from the Bajuni Islands as far as Raskamboni. This includes helping with the design and building of 16 new fishing vessels and the provision of modern fishing gear, along with full training.<\/p>\n

\u201cFAO has further provided renewable energy-powered ice machines and fridge freezers, which have allowed catch quality to be improved, reducing the spoilage of fish, increasing prices, and further contributing to food security in Jubaland,\u201d Mr. Swan said.<\/p>\n

UNHCR supports returnees, internally displaced people and host communities across Jubaland. In 2020, this included construction of more than 1,000 housing units and other infrastructure for returning refugees, as well as support for flood-affected households. The UN refugee agency also supports more than 28,000 students to enhance enrolment and retention, especially for girls.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgain, these are just some examples \u2013 but they give a sense of the scope of UN family support, and that\u2019s what we hope to build on as we listen to what Jubaland\u2019s authorities are seeking for the future and what they expect from the United Nations, and we look forward to that close partnership,\u201d Mr. Swan said.<\/p>\n

During the visit, the officials from WFP, UNHCR, WHO and FAO met separately with various Jubaland ministers and officials to discuss specific aspects of each UN entity\u2019s support.<\/p>\n

\n

Somalia\u2019s political situation in Somalia also figured in the discussions between the UN Special Representative and the President of Jubaland \u2013 particularly the country\u2019s national elections.<\/p>\n

In his media remarks, the UN envoy noted that the world body was one of many of Somalia\u2019s partners which welcomed the announcement late last week by Jubaland \u2013 along with the northern Federal Member State of Puntland \u2013 of the nomination of their State-level Electoral Implementation Teams, and also welcomed an announcement made on Saturday by President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed \u2018Farmaajo\u2019 on a meeting of the National Consultative Forum with FMS leaders in the city of Dhusamareb on 1-3 February.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe commend the President\u2019s initiative in convening this meeting and urge constructive participation by FGS [Federal Government of Somalia] and FMS leaders, in a spirit of compromise, to reach agreement together on rapid implementation of the 17 September electoral model,\u201d Mr. Swan said.<\/p>\n

As part of those discussions, the UN envoy said, it is important to find compromise on administrative and security arrangements in Garbaharrey, the capital of Jubaland\u2019s Gedo region, to ensure the electoral process proceeds under the terms of the agreement reached by FGS and FMS leaders on 17 September last year on an electoral model, and its implementation, for Somalia\u2019s elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope that there can be progress in these discussions and urge that such efforts continue,\u201d Mr. Swan said.<\/p>\n

The UN Special Representative and the Jubaland leader also discussed armed clashes in and around the town of Belet Hawo, in the Gedo region, on 25 January, which reportedly left many civilians, including children, dead and wounded. Mr. Swan expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.<\/p>\n

\u201cI stressed that this a time for restraint and de-escalation of the situation, and that that approach should guide all sides involved in these recent clashes,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The UN delegation\u2019s visit to Jubaland was the fifth one to a Federal Member State this month, with the aim being to consult Federal Member State leaders on the world body\u2019s support. Previous delegations, led by the UN Special Representative, have visited South West State, Galmudug, Puntland and Hirshabelle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kismayo (SONNA):The United Nations\u2019 support to Jubaland in areas ranging from primary health and wellbeing to economic empowerment and protection of the most vulnerable were among the topics covered today by a high-level delegation to the southern Federal Member State. \u201cWe\u2019re very pleased to be in Kismayo today. It is the latest in our visits […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-402739","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-local"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402739"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402739\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":402741,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402739\/revisions\/402741"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}