Hiiraan Online
Friday April 27, 2018
Mogadishu (HOL) - The UN Special Envoy to Somalia has called on the international community to throw its support behind the Comprehensive Approach to Security (CAS) - Somalia’s plan to transfer security responsibility from the African Union to the Somali National Army.
Speaking at a high-level meeting of Somali authorities and international partners in the country’s capital on Friday, Michael Keating, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Somalia said that the success of the transition plan depended on its endorsement by three constituencies – the Somalis, AMISOM and international partners.
“The most important of those three constituencies is the Somali one,” Mr. Keating added.
The CAS executive group meeting was attended by representatives of the Federal Government of Somalia, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and international partners, and chaired by Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire.
Prime Minister Khaire emphasized that the military aspect is just one component of the CAS.
“The transition plan focuses on a number of key elements. First, it stresses local delivery as a key component for success. Second, the plan outlines the necessary supporting activities in recognizing that there is no purely military solution to our problems,” said Mr. Khaire. “And, finally, the plan places great emphasis on institutional capacity building.”
“They are a necessary path we need to take to rebuild our nation and attain our vision of a stable and prosperous Somalia,” he added.
Participants at Friday’s meeting worked on adopting transition plan for security responsibility ahead of a high-level conference on Somalia’s security in Brussels next week.