Your Excellency, Mr. President of the Federal Government of Somalia: Hassan Sheikh Mohamud; and all the other excellencies gathered here. I am delighted to be co-chairing this event, and welcoming you back to Mogadishu.

In 2014 we declared that 2015 should be the year of federalism and delivery. When I arrived in 2013 the Federal Government of Somalia was corralled in Mogadishu. The rest of the country was a patchwork of different local power-holding arrangements, with no tangible link to Mogadishu, little in the way of governance institutions and with many entire districts under the control of Al Shabaab.

So much has changed since then. Today is the first time we have had all of Somalia’s Regional Presidents attending an HLPF. Three new Federal Member States will shortly join Puntland as foundation stones of the new Federal Somalia. There are a number of things we will discuss today that must be achieved before the Istanbul HLPF in February. One of those is confirming exactly how formal member state status will be conferred.  The fifth Member State will be formed from Hiraan and Middle Shabelle. While recognizing important recent progress I am sorry that we are not further down the track. I urge swift conclusion of that process before Istanbul.

On delivery we have created something that has never been done anywhere else in the world. The New Deal in Somalia is the most advanced, the most comprehensive of all agreements ever made by the international community and a fragile country.

Somalia decided the New Deal framework should be the overarching framework for all international donor and partner engagement with Somalia in late 2012. Design of the Compact was launched the following May and culminated in the conference in Brussels in September 2013 where the Somali Compact was endorsed.

It is worth us recalling our history and reminding us of why we are here. According to the Compact, the HLPF was set up to provide a forum for inclusive and strategic political dialogue; to promote accountability and transparent decision making; to facilitate the exchange of information and linkages between the political process, security, human rights protection and development; to ensure an integrated approach and provide policy guidance where necessary to the Somali Development and Reconstruction Facility and PSG Workshops. The wide ranging nature of today’s agenda shows we are doing exactly that.

In our inaugural meeting in February 2014, we agreed to prepare a road map for the implementation of the Government’s Vision 2016. Our meetings in May and June 2014 resulted in partners support to the stabilization efforts of the government, primary health care, the Somali National Army trust fund and humanitarian activities. We agreed the importance of establishing the independent commissions, and advanced dialogue on how to use country systems. Then at the Copenhagen HLPF in November 2014 we looked back, recognized our progress in state formation and the establishment of the New Deal architecture, discussed our challenges, and called for 2015 to be the year of federalism and delivery. 

Our meeting here in Mogadishu last July was a landmark as well. We welcomed the principles to guide the now ongoing national consultative process and endorsed the action plan for the NCF. We also agreed concrete timelines for the roll out of the Gulwaade plan, and called for the finalization of the Heegan plan.

We have come a long way together. The progress is tremendous, the achievements impressive but the work is not yet done.

Later this week the second and final plenary of the National Consultative Forum will take place. Today is not the day to enter in to this in detail. Public consultations have taken place across the country, and hundreds, I think thousands, of Somalis from all walks of life – men and women, young and old – have taken part. I congratulate the Federal Government, the federal member States, UNDP and donors for their achievement. The issue for the NCF will be how to balance the outcomes of those regional discussions.

Some kind of compromise will have to be accepted.  Nobody is likely to achieve exactly what they desire.  But everybody can win if an agreement is reached. In Istanbul we shall need to consider the details, and funding requirements, of implementing the agreement.

The integration of national forces remains a key priority. I remain hopeful that a draft National Security Policy will be issued in time for the HLPF in February.  As the President has publicly said we must take constructive steps towards building a more integrated, accountable and transparent security sector. There is vital progress against milestones needed before Istanbul.

Finally, but most importantly, and as I mentioned in Brussels, Copenhagen and here earlier in the year, we will all be judged by how we contribute to giving Somali people a better life. While being proud of what we have achieved, and while looking ahead at what more we can and must do, we should be somberly realistic about the present. The vast majority of Somalis continue to suffer poverty, displacement, insecurity, corruption, and little rule of law or respect for human rights. We collectively need to do more. I fully endorse the President’s when he calls for us to do more to support a youth focused economic plan. We need to endorse key actions to create an enabling environment for economic recovery.

We are here today to look at all these aspects, and prepare for our next HLPF Ministerial level meeting, hosted by the government of Turkey in February next year.

We still have one more year of the Compact to run. We must continue or focus on achieving the milestones we set for ourselves. We need to get those milestones right.

But we - or at least you - must also think about what happens beyond 2016. I will be watching with a keen interest from afar. It has been the very greatest pleasure of my professional life to work on these issues, and to play a small role in helping Somalia come back together.

Thank you again for being here. A very warm welcome to you all.