Mogadishu (PP Editorial) — Yesterday (11/4/2023) António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, paid a visit to Somalia as a part of his Ramadan solidarity visits. In Baidoa he met families whose livelihoods were drastically affected by conflicts and droughts due to five consecutive years of low rainfall.
Thirty years ago today Baidoa was recovering from a devastating man-made famine. The US-led humanitarian intervention of 1992-1995 saved millions of Somalis from the jaws of famine. The visit of the the Secretary-General of the United Nations to Baidoa highlighted the impact of climate change on food security in Somalia. This is a both a development and political challenge. No side of the equation can be solved without properly accounting for its properties. Without politics based on restorative justice and the rule of law, the defining development challenge of the twenty-first century — climate change — cannot be met. Equally, without a global commitment to helping societies cope with impact of climate change, internal displacement and civil wars will be hard to prevent.
Guterres had an opportunity to call for an end to the civil war in Northern Somalia where the secessionist administration of Somaliland is waging a war under the pretext that it “is preserving colonial borders”. Laascaanood, a city of 350000 people is now forlorn and deserted due to shelling by Somaliland forces. The longest, post-1992 civil war is raging in Northern Somalia.
Looking at the Somali political problems holistically is what one expected to hear when Guterres was briefing the media on his visit to Somalia. The only message that this diplomatic oversight sends is that political impunity pays off in Somalia. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on his part once again fell short of citizens’ expectations. Political insularity got the better of him.
António Guterres will not be remembered for missing the opportunity to call for peace respect for the sovereignty of Somalia in the Northerm in line with UN Security Council resolutions. He will be remembered for his generous spirit and his solidarity with Somali people who are grateful to the International Community for commuting resources to help Somalis cope with the long term impact of state collapse despite the immaturity of the national political class.
© Puntland Post, 2023
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