| 19 May 2007 04:15 SOMALIA WATCH |
| Editorial | |
Somali Media Association (SOMA) Galkayo, Puntland, Somalia, E-mail: SomaMedia@aol.com
Subject: An Open Letter to Winston A. Tubman, the Designated Head of the United Nations Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS) The International Community can help Somalia if it accepts that Somali Crises have to be solved by the Somalis themselves.
Date: 11 March 2002
Your Excellency, First we would like to congratulate your Excellency for your appointment to head the United Nations Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS). It is our hope, as it is indeed the hope of millions of Somalis everywhere, to get solutions to the Somali Crises. In this context the UNPOS office has a key role to play in the search for the illusive peace in the Horn of Africa. It is also our hope that UNPOS office under your leadership builds on the past good experiences and learns from the past mistakes. In this letter we want to highlight few main points about the Somali Crises and the missed opportunities. But first let me introduce our organization to you. Somali Media Association (SOMA) is a non-profit voluntary association representing some of the major Somali media outlets, with intentions to further the information needs of the Horn of Africa at large and the Somali public in particular. The association is the forefront for the advocacy of fair and free media and the respect for the rights of journalists. The UN was involved in the Somali Crises in the last 12 years. On the humanitarian assistance side, we believe the World Body responds to emergencies and mounts food and medical distributions. We believe many lives have been saved through timely emergency responses. On the political side, the score sheet is not as good. Since the collapse of the Somali State in 1991, there were two major UN attempts to get political solutions to Somali Crises. In 1992/1993 there was a direct UN intervention process, which ended in miserable failure by 1995. In 2000 another process in Arta (Djibouti) with the UN blessing produced the existing Transitional National Government (TNG) in Mogadishu. Before the Arta (Djibouti) process was initiated, the buzzword among the Somali watchers and analysts, including the UN officials, was " Building Blocks" and "Peace Dividend" approach to resurrecting the Somali Nation. A study group commissioned by EU concluded in its study - a study of Decentralized Political Structure for Somalia 1995 - that the country has to be de-centralized one way or the other into, perhaps a federal or confederate or even into decentralized unitary state. The study also concluded that The BOTTOM UP APPROACH, which essentially means the building of political structures in which full participation of the civil society is ensured, was the only viable option to reconstitute Somalia into nationhood again. It also explicitly acknowledged the failure of the big centralized structures, the TOP DOWN APPROACH, which usually revolves around individual personalities. The General-Secretary of the United Nations Mr. Kofi Anan issued a comprehensive 16-page Report ( S/1999/882 ) on 16th of Aug 1999. In the Report, the General secretary described, in detail, the political and the security situations in different parts of the country. He acknowledged that peace and governance is returning, albeit slowly, to many parts of the country (Para 67,"approximately half of the Somali territory is peaceful."). He also acknowledged the significance of some parts of the country as potential constituent elements of any future Somalia (Para 17," ..with Puntland joining hands with Somaliland the first step could be taken towards the resuscitation of Somalia".) The General Secretary went on to acknowledge the fact that the building block approach was the way to reconstitute Somalia (paragraph 39,".... supportive of the IGAD "building Block" approach as the way forward in Somalia".) H.E. the President of the Republic of Djibouti Mr. Ismail Omar Guelle himself, in his speech at the 54th session of UN General Assembly on 22nd Sept 1999 made reference to the "building block" approach and the new reality on the ground in Somalia when he said : "....INDEED IT IS EVOLVING INTO A COUNTRY OF STARK CONTRASTS BETWEEN THE TROUBLED CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN REGIONS AND THE RELATIVELY STABLE AND PEACEFUL NORTH, NAMELY THE SELF-DECLARED "SOMALILAND" AND THE PUNTLAND REGION. THESE TWO REGIONS WERE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO ESCAPE MOST OF THE CONFLICT THAT RAVAGED OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY....." These welcome notes of realism, unfortunately, gave way to impatience and political expediency to create central administrative structures for Somalia during the Arta(Djibouti) process. In this rush to produce a government for Somalia at any cost, the World Body reversed its stated positions as outlined by the General Secretary in his 1999 Report, and by H.E. President Guelle of Djibouti in his 1999 address to the UN General Assembly. The outcome of the Arta (Djibouti) process was the establishment of the TNG. Many Somali Watchers have predicted then, that the TNG would not be able to operate as the process that created it and its modus operandi were seen as out of step with the present reality of Somalia. That is indeed what happened - after about 20 months in office; the TNG is holed up in few hotels in Mogadishu, unable to function even in Mogadishu, let alone in the rest of the country. What came out of Arta(Djibouti) was a throwback to the failed, centralized governance structure that led to the failure of the Somali State in 1991. Many have hoped to see the reinforcement of the "building Block" and Peace Dividend" approach where clearly the Recovery Zones would be the corner blocks on which the rest of the country could be pulled up to reconstitute the nation again. The hope was and still is, to build on governance structures based on grassroots participation that took hold in many parts of the country. Unfortunately, the actions of the international community, as illustrated above, have been directed at stopping or slowing down this evolutionary process by proposing unworkable political solutions to the Somali Crises. The confused actions of the international community are only serving to perpetuate the civil conflict of Somalia. We believe the forthcoming reconciliation meeting in Nairobi will be another "Somali" test the international community will have to take. How successful the UNPOS (UN) and the other players in the Somali field write this test will impact on the security in the Horn of Africa in general and Somalia in particular. This test will present both an opportunity and new challenges for the UNPOS office, and we hope your office takes up this unique opportunity to help direct the Somali issues to the right evolutionary path. The underlying dictum here is that the international community can only help if it will accept that the Somali Crises have to be solved by the Somalis themselves.
We wish you good luck ___________________________________ Ali A. Jama, President (acting), e-mail jama@qatar.net.qa Galkayo, Garoowe, Boosaaso, Muqdishu, Baydhabo, Kismayo – SOMALIA; Qatar; UAE; Boston, MA; Salt Lake City, Utah – USA |
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