The United Nations envoy for Somalia today urged all of the country’s leaders to participate in an upcoming conference on the transition process, following reports that members of the interim Government have decided to boycott the event.

“I urge all Somali leaders to demonstrate their commitment to advancing the peace process by taking part in this meeting,” Augustine P. Mahiga, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, said in a news release.

“The main objective of the meeting is to reinvigorate dialogue among Somali authorities to establish a common vision for moving forward. This is a consultative meeting, no decisions will be taken,” he stated.

Among the issues to be discussed at the High-Level Consultative Meeting, to be held in Nairobi on 12 and 13 April, are the tasks of the respective Somali institutions on how to end the transition, based on the Transitional Federal Charter and the Djibouti Agreement.

Under the Transitional Federal Charter, the mandate of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) was due to expire in August. However, in February, the interim parliament voted to extend its mandate by three years beyond the August deadline by which it was to enact a new constitution ahead of general elections.

That move drew criticism from Mr. Mahiga, who said the decision was made in haste and without the required consultation on how to end the transition and on next steps. Other tasks which need to be completed during the transition period include political reconciliation and building civilian and security institutions.

Next week’s meeting is an opportunity for the Somali leaders to share information on how regional partners and the international community can support the transitional activities, according to the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS), which is headed by Mr. Mahiga.

Somalia – which has not had a functioning central government since 1991 – has been torn apart by decades of conflict and factional strife, more recently with al-Shabaab Islamic militants. The country is also facing a dire humanitarian crisis in which 2.4 million people are in need of assistance.

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