Day: October 20, 2021

Kismayo:—On a visit to the southern Somali city of Kismayo, a senior United Nations official today hailed Jubaland’s announcement that elections for the remaining four seats for its Upper House representation would be held shortly — and that women’s representation would be included.

“One of the issues I had wanted to raise with His Excellency was the issue of women’s participation in the Upper House process,” said the UN Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Somalia, Anita Kiki Gbeho, referring to her scheduled meeting with Jubaland’s President Ahmed Mohamed Islam ‘Madobe’ earlier on Tuesday.

“He beat me to it. He announced — we are very pleased to have heard the news this morning — that two seats will be reserved for women, and of the two remaining seats, a woman will be competing for one of the seats. So good news coming out of Jubaland this morning,” she added.

The UN official was on an introductory visit — her first to the southern Federal Member State — to meet with Jubaland’s leadership, as well as electoral officials, including the chairperson of the State Electoral Implementation Team (SEIT), Siyad Mohamed Mursal, and civil society representatives. The country’s ongoing elections were a key topic on her agenda.

“It’s important, since I’m here to serve Somalia, that I go around and understand the different regions and I understand what is important to them,” Ms. Gbeho said. “This is a time when we’re smack in the middle of the [electoral] process, and we wanted to ensure that the Upper House process is finalized here in Jubaland and then we move on to the Lower House process.”

Jubaland was the first of Somalia’s Federal Member States to start holding Upper House elections. Four seats had already been filled, and the administration announced early on Tuesday that the elections for the remaining four Upper House seats would be completed on Thursday.

Change of focus

The country’s international partners had previously emphasized the need for the election of the remaining Upper House seats to be completed quickly in order to allow the electoral focus to shift towards the next phase of the federal elections, those for the Lower House, known as the House of the People.

In her comments in Kismayo, the UN Deputy Special Representative echoed the international community’s points, and noted that lessons could be learned.

“It means that it can go ahead and begin [the Lower House elections],” Ms. Gbeho said. “We know that for Somalia this will not be an easy process, we saw the process for the Upper House elections, we saw some of the comments that came through. But if we look at the glass as half-full, then we could learn from the process of the Upper House and use it to influence the Lower House process moving forward.”

Somalia’s international partners have also been advocating for the country’s leaders to ensure that the electoral processes respect the right of women to participate fully in all aspects of public life, and that the minimum quota of 30 per cent women’s representation should be achieved in Parliament.

“Women are 50 per cent of the population — if you move forward with half of your population not being represented, not having a voice, not having a say, I dare to imagine that it’s unlikely that you will find solutions to the problem, and government — this life of service is about people — it is about building Somalia,” the UN Deputy Special Representative said.

“So if you don’t have Somalis at the table or if you have half of the population missing when you’re taking decisions,” she continued, “when you’re trying to agree what the way forward would look like, I’m not sure you will actually get to your end game or the vision that Somalia imagines for itself.”

Source: National Somalia News Agency

WASHINGTON —

Here’s a look at what U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top diplomats have been doing this week:

US-South America

Promoting democracy and managing migration are the focus of Blinken’s first trip to Ecuador and Colombia from October 19 to 21 as top U.S. diplomat. During a speech Wednesday in Quito, Blinken outlined challenges facing democracies in the Western Hemisphere but said he was optimistic they could be overcome.

Venezuela also looms large as the U.S. calls for political talks to resume between the Venezuelan government and the country’s opposition. U.S. officials this week discussed ways to tackle irregular migration, as Colombia hosts nearly 2 million Venezuelan migrants, and Ecuador also hosts a large number of migrants from Venezuela.

China also came up during Blinken’s South American trip. Ecuadorian officials described Beijing as “a commercial partner,” with Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso saying he wanted to secure a trade deal with China. Blinken told his Ecuadorian counterpart the U.S. was not asking countries to choose between Washington and Beijing, but he warned of risks of doing business with Chinese companies, saying “there really is no division between purportedly private enterprises and the state.”

US ‘One China’ Policy

Nicholas Burns, President Joe Biden’s nominee to be the next U.S. ambassador to China, took a tough line on dealings with China during his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday. Burns said the U.S. was right to continue its “one-China policy” but that Washington was also right to oppose China’s unilateral actions that undermine the status quo and undermine the stability of the region. Noticeably, Burns used the wordings of Washington’s so-called one-China “policy,” which is different from Beijing’s one-China “principle.” The U.S. has “acknowledged” but has never endorsed the Chinese Communist Party’s claim of sovereignty over Taiwan.

Colin Powell’s legacy

Colin Powell, the first Black U.S. secretary of state and a top military officer, died Monday at age 84 from complications due to COVID-19 while battling multiple myeloma.

He is being remembered by America’s foreign service work force, who say Powell was devoted to ensuring the State Department was properly resourced, consulted and respected.

Powell, who shaped lasting U.S. policies toward Africa, also is being remembered on the continent for peacemaking, supporting the fight against AIDS and sounding the alarm against war abuses.

US-Haiti

Haitian protesters took to the streets this week to demand the release of 17 missionaries — 16 Americans and 1 Canadian — kidnapped on October 16 by the 400 Mawozo gang. An interagency team dispatched by the U.S. government is working closely with Haitian authorities to try to recover the missionaries. The State Department has raised its travel advisory for Haiti to Level 4: Do Not Travel.

Top US envoy to afghanistan steps down

The U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, stepped down from his post this week, less than two months after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Blinken announced Khalilzad’s departure in a statement Monday, saying the envoy would be replaced by his deputy, Thomas West. Talk of Khalilzad’s resignation had emerged since August after the Afghan Security Forces collapsed and the Taliban rapidly took control over the war-torn country.

Tigray violence

The U.S. remains gravely concerned by escalating violence in Tigray.

Forces in Ethiopia’s Tigray region said Monday that the Ethiopian government had launched airstrikes on the regional capital, Mekelle. The United States also was looking into the reported attack, with State Department spokesperson Ned Price saying the U.S. remained “gravely concerned by what has been escalating violence in Tigray for some time.”

China missile test

Top U.S. officials said Washington was paying close attention to China’s efforts to build up its military arsenal, amid reports Beijing took a major step forward two months ago by testing a hypersonic missile. Monday, the State Department said the U.S. was “deeply concerned” about the rapid expansion of China’s nuclear capabilities, which is deviating from Beijing’s decades-long nuclear strategy based on minimum deterrence.

Iran nuclear deal

Efforts to get Tehran to return to the terms of the Iran nuclear deal are in danger of falling short, forcing the United States and its allies to consider nondiplomatic options to contain the threat, according to top U.S. officials.

Jerusalem consulate

The United States will move ahead with its plan to reopen the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem as Washington restores ties with the Palestinians and commits to a two-state solution. “As I said in May, we’ll be moving forward with the process of opening a consulate as part of deepening those ties with the Palestinians,” Blinken said during a Wednesday press conference. But he stopped short of providing a timeline.

Source: Voice of America