- While this year’s United Nations General Assembly convened
under the theme, “Galvanizing multilateral efforts for poverty
eradication, quality education, climate action and inclusion,” the forum
will be unable to achieve a true international effort to tackle these
challenges — not due to a lack of commitment, but rather to a failure of
inclusion.
My nation, the Republic of Somaliland, will not be
attending, despite having achieved independence with many other African
nations in 1960.
Today, we are among the few democratic, secure and
economically stable countries on the continent. Having joined an
ill-fated union with the former Italian Somalia, and then surviving and
separating from an oppressive regime in 1991, the people of Somaliland
built a nation that today meets all the requirements for international
recognition. Yet we remain sidelined as U.N. member states address key
issues of the day that we too face more acutely than many others.
Somaliland’s exclusion from the General Assembly is
particularly unfortunate, given our embodiment of the core values on
which the U.N. was founded. The fundamental values of democracy, human
rights, and the rule of law enshrined in the charter of the U.N., are
also the cornerstones of Somaliland’s political culture.
Our elections are vibrant, with power changing hands and
parties through elections that international observers have declared
free and fair. Our leaders are accountable. And our civil society is
active, enjoying lively public discourse on both domestic and global
issues.
In sharp contrast, the government of Somalia, our former
partner and now neighbor, displays none of these values. It is instead,
fraught with corruption and unable to ensure the security of its own
officials, let alone its citizens. Yet its president, selected by a
parliament hand-picked by Somali elders in a fraudulent, undemocratic
process, will share the dais with others at this year’s premier
diplomatic forum.
When Somaliland has an opportunity to engage with the
international community, we welcome it. In July, President Musa Bihi
Abdi welcomed U.N. Special Representative James Swan to our capital,
where he met with cabinet ministers, women leaders and beneficiaries of
U.N.-sponsored programs.
President Bihi has also strengthened
Somaliland’s bilateral relations through regular consultations with his
counterparts and other representatives from Saudi Arabia, Guinea, the
United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom, the European Union
and elsewhere.
These engagements have spurred wide-ranging partnerships,
including a major renovation of our Port of Berbera, to capitalize on
our nation’s strategic location and increase trade and economic
opportunities for the entire Horn of Africa.
Meanwhile, Somalia has shunned U.N. Special Representatives
and alienated neighbors. Its leadership refuses to partake in
good-faith negotiations with our government, defying appeals by many who
recognize that impediments imposed by Mogadishu are grossly unfair. It
even blocks U.N. observer status for Somaliland, stifling our voice
while hoarding international assistance.
With regard to the U.N.’s mission to advance peace and
security, Somaliland serves as a model for the region. Strategically
positioned where the Red Sea meets the Gulf of Aden, Somaliland has
deterred piracy that was once the dread of commercial ships and coastal
communities in our region.
We have prevented al-Shabab and other
terrorist groups from reaching our shores or penetrating our borders.
And we welcome security partnerships with other nations that share our
values and also seek stability in this otherwise volatile region. This
offer is particularly important today as the conflict in Yemen endures,
and tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran reach alarming levels, both
of which are among the top issues U.N. member states will discuss in New
York.
Somalia, on the other hand, continues to suffer from piracy
and remains overrun by terrorists, to the extent that legislators
rarely leave Mogadishu to travel to the regions they allegedly
represent.
Given Somaliland’s alignment with the values espoused by
U.N., it is hardly surprising that the common challenges member states
gather to confront this month mirror those that our government has
designated as top priorities. As we take tangible steps to combat
cross-border threats, increase educational achievement, reduce poverty
and contend with climate change, we are also working to attract foreign
investment that will drive sustainable development, growth and
prosperity for the entire region.
Somaliland remains steadfastly committed to advancing this
work alongside other like-minded nations and the U.N. system. What
better way to solidify this partnership than by welcoming Somaliland to
the 2019 U.N. General Assembly with open arms?
Yasin Hagi Mohamoud is Foreign Minister of the Republic of Somaliland.
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