Today the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for political affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, visited Somalia and held meetings with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and the speaker of the Federal Parliament, Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari.

The Under-Secretary came to Mogadishu to deliver a message from the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, and to reinforce the UN’ support to the people of Somalia for agreeing on an electoral process for 2016.Feltman, who was accompanied by the Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) in Somalia, Michael Keating, said he “recognized that there is a lot of work to be done to make the roadmap for the electoral process a success”.

“The Special Representative and I spoke to the President about a number of political, economic, security issues in which the UN is working with the people and leaders of Somalia. We talked about the upcoming High Level Partnership Forum that will take place in Istanbul and we went over the road map on the way forward”, Feltman said.

His statement was reinforced by the spokesman for the Somali President, Daud

Aweys, who added that the meeting also addressed the political progress and “how the United Nations is taking its role in supporting Somalia”.

From the President’s office, the Under-Secretary-General paid a courtesy call on the Somali Federal Parliament Speaker and the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Ambassador Francisco Caetano Madeira.

Regarding the electoral process, Feltman also mentioned the UN recognizes that it would have been ideal to have a consensual way forward but given the impasse over the last weeks, the decision made to proceed was the right one.

He praised the government’s efforts to ensure women representation in the electoral process. “The United Nations welcomed the commitment to have 30 percent representation by women in both the Upper House and Lower House. We

also welcome the commitment to continue working on a road map for the 2016-2020 period so that by 2020 there can be in place a one-person one-vote electoral system that meets the aspirations of the Somali people”, he added.

Michael Keating, who hosted the Under-Secretary-General, said his visit comes after the Federal Government had decided on the electoral model and after a number of serious security instances. “For us at the UN and for the international community, supporting Somali civil society and the government is very important to remain on the international map,” he noted.