Somalilandsun: As of 25th October 2020 all UN agencies ceased their diverse engagements be it Humanitarian, Development etc undertaken in Somaliland.
This is per a directive issued by the Somaliland minster of planning and national Coordination Hasan Mohamed Ali from the ministry’s headquarters in Hargeisa.
The directive which was not shared with the media but submitted directly to the relevant United Nations Agencies operating in Somaliland read in part
“The Ministry of Planning is hereby sharing with all UN Agencies that discussions and consultations regarding the UN country programmes and work plans are suspended until further notice,”
The ministry did not say why it was suspending UN co-operation, but it coincided with the recent signing of an agreement between the federal government and the United Nations that the Somali federal government would go through all UN programs. Somalia, including Somaliland.
Though yet to recognized as a sovereign nation Somaliland which withdrew from its 1960 voluntary later turned union with Somalia three decades has never ceased to oppose the manner in which donor aid is apportioned through Somalia.
While the planning ministers’ directive suspending cooperation with the UN did not give reasons , the decision is related to a recent signing of a Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNCF) agreement between the UN and the Federal Government of Somalia.
The new Cooperation agreement sets out how the country and the world body will work together over the next five years to achieve peace, stability and prosperity for all Somalis including those in Somaliland.
“In accordance with the UN’s global commitment to leave no one behind, the cooperation framework aims to ensure that all Somalis particularly the most marginalized and vulnerable, also participate in and benefit from Somalia’s progress,” said the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Adam Abdelmoula, who also serves as the UN Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Somalia
In reaction a council of ministers meeting concurred that the framework “infringes upon Somaliland’s sovereign integrity and violates its internal affairs” while asserting that Somaliland was not part and parcel of the Somalia administrative regions, was never part of it and will never be.
While warning that no amount of intimidation would sway the Somaliland off its course of its aspirations and cause, the cabinet meeting chaired by President Muse Bihi directed the line ministries, presumably the planning, foreign and interior ones to give a detailed circular surrounding the circumstances.
Below the Somaliland planning ministers’ directive suspending cooperation with United Nations Agencies
