Issue No: 16/2021

COVID-19 Conflict & Resilience Monitor – 2 June 2021

The Conflict and Resilience Monitor offers monthly blog-size commentary and analysis on the latest conflict-related trends in Africa.

Photo by AFP via Getty Images
Photo by AFP via Getty Images

In this week’s Monitor we focus on the 27 May election and state-building agreement in Somalia. The agreement has the potential to bring months of tension and confrontations in Somalia to an end, provided it is implemented by all the stakeholders.

Ambassador Mohamed Ali Guyo, the IGAD Special Envoy for Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Somalia and James Swan, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), who have both closely followed and supported the process, each offer their reflections on the importance of the agreement and its implications for Somalia. ACCORD has also invited the African Union and the European Union to contribute to this special edition, but it was unfortunately not possible for them in the time available.

Two Somali analysts and commentators, Yusuf Mussa and Abdi Aynte, provide the back story and analysis on the developments that led to the impasse, the dynamics that have led to the breakthrough, and key challenges for the months ahead.

Chief Editor: Conflict & Resilience Monitor​
Managing Editor: Conflict & Resilience Monitor
AMISOM Photo/Mokhtar Mohamed
AMISOM Photo/Mokhtar Mohamed
COVID-19, Trust between Citizens & Institutions

Somalia: Breakthrough in Dialogue is a Fundamental Step Towards Peaceful Elections

  • Mohamed Ali Guyo

Thursday, 27 May 2021 marked a watershed moment for Somalia. It was the day Somali leaders met under the auspices of the National Consultative Council and announced a breakthrough in dialogue to resolve the impasse over the holding of federal elections. The deal provided an important implementation framework for the famous 17th September Agreement on parliamentary and presidential elections. 

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AMISOM Photo/Mokhtar Mohamed
AMISOM Photo/Mokhtar Mohamed
COVID-19, Trust between Citizens & Institutions

A Way Forward with National Elections and State-building in Somalia

  • James Swan

Following months of political impasse and rising tensions over the holding of elections in Somalia, the leaders of the Federal Government of Somalia and of the country’s Federal Member States signed a key agreement on 27 May that paves the way for elections. This was the culmination of several weeks of consensus-building efforts led by Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble. 

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Photo by Sadak Mohammed/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Photo by Sadak Mohammed/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
COVID-19, Trust between Citizens & Institutions

Somalia’s Arduous Election Journey

  • Yusuf Mussa

Since February, a series of rash political decisions took place that threw the country into chaos. Although the election deadlock has now been resolved and a new agreement reached on 27 May, the repercussions of the recent political drama are wide reaching. 

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AMISOM Photo/Mokhtar Mohamed
AMISOM Photo/Mokhtar Mohamed
COVID-19, Trust between Citizens & Institutions

How Somalia Averted a Civil War

  • Abdi Aynte

On 27 May 2021, the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and Federal Member States (FMS) signed a major agreement that would put the country back on an electoral pathway after months of intense political standoff over the type and process of elections. In late April, armed clashes broke out in the capital after the lower house of the bicameral parliament passed a controversial resolution extending its own mandate and that of President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo by two years. The decision was rejected by almost all domestic political stakeholders in the country, as well as the overwhelming majority of the international community. 

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ACCORD recognizes its longstanding partnerships with the European Union, and the Governments of Canada, Finland, Ireland, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, UK, and USA.

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