Mogadishu - Speaking at the Heritage Institute for Policy Studies in Mogadishu today, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG), Nicholas Kay highlighted the political, economic and security progress that Somalia has made and called on the Federal Government and Parliament to make faster progress with implementation of Somalia’s plan for peace and state building called Vision 2016.

Mr Kay said “Somalia’s institutions and leaders must unite and work together to deliver the ambitious plan that the people want to see delivered. On the ground projects must begin benefiting the people who need them the most.

“In the next few weeks and months the Government must take a number of key actions for the political process to continue. This includes legislation for the Boundaries and Federation Commission, the National Independent Election Commission and appointments to the Independent Constitutional Review Commission,” he added. “There is a real danger that political infighting will knock Somalia off course. Respect for the Constitution and an approach that brings people together rather than divides them are vital.”

The SRSG also highlighted the importance of cementing recent military successes against Al-Shabaab in newly recovered areas by delivering much needed Government services to prevent insecurity returning. He went on to draw attention to the need for the international community to do better at focusing support to build an effective Somali National Army that is able to take over eventually from AMISOM. More broadly, he stressed the need for the New Deal Somalia Compact to start receiving funding and delivering flagship programmes on the ground in the coming few months.

The UN envoy concluded by saying “Somalia today is better than it has ever been in the last 23 years and I am optimistic with good Somali institutions in place, you will make progress. However if much more time is lost then the progress that is needed to achieve Somalia’s Vision 2016 priorities will not be possible.”