AU peace and security of African Union has Reiterated its call to the UN Security Council to consider lifting the arms embargo imposed on Somalia as contained in UN Security Council resolution 2244 (2015), as a critical aspect of building capable Somalia security institutions, and to ensure that the criteria for the provision of arms is commensurate with the prevailing state of bureaucracy in Somalia.
Consequently, Council stresses the need for the FGS to ensure the highest degree of responsibility in the management, storage and security of stockpiles.
On the other hand, AU peace and security has condemned the latest Al Shabaab attacks in Somalia.
AU Condemned in the strongest possible terms, recent attacks by the terrorist group, Al Shabaab against civilians in some public places in Mogadishu and across the interim regional administrations and expresses its deepest condolence to the affected families of these recent attacks.
Council re-affirms AU’s solidarity with the people and Government of Somalia and support the country towards the elimination of Al Shabaab, as well as the promotion of peace, stability and reconciliation in Somalia.
AU Welcomed efforts by the AU Commission and AMISOM in supporting the conduct of elections in Somalia. Council notes the conduct of an AU pre-electoral assessment to Mogadishu in July 2016, which focused on identifying the best form of technical assistance to support the elections in Somalia.
On the basis of this assessment, Council requests the AU Commission to expedite the deployment of technical experts, as well as provide other relevant forms of support to AMISOM in order to assist and reinforce the mission’s capacity ahead of the elections.
Re-iterates the importance of an AMISOM exit strategy based on the indicative timelines set in the 2016 revised CONOPs and stresses the need for the AU Commission to commence a stocktaking exercise in light of the upcoming ten-year anniversary of the deployment of AMISOM.
In this regard, Council requests the AU Commission to conduct a comprehensive lessons learned exercise, which will identify progress made, challenges encountered and more importantly recommend options on the way forward in the future of AMISOM, including the Mission Exit Strategy. Furthermore, Council requests that a report on this lessons learned exercise be submitted to Council for its consideration not later than December 2016.