Mogadishu – Senior Somali security officers and their armoury storekeepers have received training in weapons monitoring and stockpile management over a two-day workshop in the capital, Mogadishu.

The workshop, organized by the Federal Government of Somalia and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), and the UN Development Programme, follows the passage of UN Security Council Resolution 2093 (2013), which partially lifted a 20-year-old arms embargo on Somalia in order to strengthen the FGS’ capacity to combat insurgents and protect the Somali people.

Participants included the Chief of Logistics for the Somali National Army (SNA) - General Abdulkadir, Director of Security for the Ministry of National Security - Abdiaziz Shie, Director of UNSOM’s Rule of Law and Security Institutions Group, Waldemar Vrey, the National Security Advisor Abdirahman Sheikh Issa, and officials from the SNA, the Somali Police Force, the Corrections Corps, the National Intelligence and Security Agency, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the UN and NGOs.

The workshop also inaugurated the first Steering Committee on Arms and Ammunition Management - composed of officials from Somalia’s security forces and international partners – which will guide government policy and action on weapons management and monitoring.

Addressing participants, UNSOM’s Waldemar Vrey said the UN was committed to supporting the strengthening of the Federal Government’s security institutions; UNSOM is mandated to provide policy advice to the Federal Government and AMISOM on peace- and state-building in the areas of governance, security sector reform and rule of law, among other things.

Reforming security institutions is also in line with the security priorities of the Somali Compact.

“The vision of our security forces is to resolve peace and security, and I’m quite sure that the knowledge and skills received on managing and controlling weapons will serve to improve our armed forces,” said Mr. Issa. “Another important element of our vision is to protect human rights, and to achieve this we need to secure weapons under the lawful authority of the land.”

Following the workshop, on 23 January international arms experts visited a number of armories where they met, among others, Commander of the Somali National Army, Brigadier General Dahir Adan Elmi, Somali Police Force Commissioner Brigadier General Abdihakim Dahir Sa’eed and Deputy Director of the National Intelligence and Security Agency, Colonel Abdallah Abdallah Mohamed, who welcomed the support of the international community in building the government’s capacity to manage its weapons.