AU, UN develop roadmap to guide anti-terror activities

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the UN have met in Mogadishu to develop a comprehensive roadmap to guide the AU mission’s activities and operations from 2019 to 2021.

The five-day high-level conference between the AMISOM and the UN Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) aims at aligning the activities and operations of the AU mission to its revised Concept of Operations (CONOPs)  and the Somali Transition Plan, the mission said in a statement.

Francisco Madeira, AMISOM’s head of mission, said the conference came at a time when the AU mission was conducting key priority tasks such as sustained military operations against al-Shabab, securing Main Supply Routes and population centers.

“All these things cannot happen without adequate planning and logistical support,” Madeira told the senior AU and UN missions in the Horn of African nation.

He added that the vast nature of AMISOM’s responsibilities, coupled with a complex and unpredictable operating environment, made effective planning and delivery of logistics critical to the success of the mission.

Participants are discussing the existing frameworks between the AU, UN, and the troop and police contributing countries. Participants will also review accountability and reporting mechanisms in the mission.

The CONOPs outlines the main activities under the Somali Transition Plan, when AMISOM is expected to exit and hand over the security responsibilities of the country to Somali Security Forces by 2021.

Lisa Filipetto, head of UNSOS lauded the role the AMISOM has so far played in the stabilization of Somalia and reiterated the commitment of UNSOS to ensuring timely and adequate logistical support to the mission.

“The key message that I have today is please be assured of the commitment of UNSOS to fulfilling its mandate to deliver efficient, effective and agile logistics so that in turn AMISOM can do its job of delivering on its mandate,” Filipetto said.

The conference brought together officials from the African Union Commission headquarters in Addis Ababa, representatives of all troop and police contributing countries and senior AMISOM officials from the military, police and civilian components.

Source: GNA