UN Ends Somalian Political Mission After 30 Years.
UNSOM was established by the UN Security Council in 2013 to support Somali authorities in the transition to democracy and the rule of law after more than two decades of conflict involving militias, Islamist groups and criminal gangs.
It started as the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS) in 1995.
In May 2024, Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud asked the UN to end the mission ahead of the expiry of its mandate in October that year.
He later revised the request, proposing a two-year transition period. During the transition, UNSOM was renamed the UN Transitional Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNTMIS). “Today is not an end to the partnership between the United Nations and Somalia—rather, it marks the conclusion of one chapter and the beginning of another,” said Raisedon Zenenga, UNTMIS officer-in-charge and the UN secretary-general’s deputy special representative for Somalia in a statement. “While significant challenges remain, the closure of UNTMIS comes after considerable progress by Somalia since the early years of international efforts to support the country’s recovery,” he added.
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