Somalia, 2025

The Assembly will hear an address of His Excellency Hassan Sheikh Mohammed, President of the Federal Republic of Somalia. I request protocol to score His Excellency and invite him to address the Assembly. In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Your Excellency, Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General, Your Excellencies, Heads of States and Governments, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great honor and privilege to address the ADT UN General Assembly today at a time when our world is at a critical juncture. The UN was founded on the principles of advancing peace, security, and development and progress globally after the destruction of the Second World War. The UN is the embodiment of our common aspiration for a global governance anchored in international law, fairness, and equality. Eight years on since the first UN General Assembly, we should have already been better together, not seeking to justify why we can't be better together today. Global challenges across the world, people, and indeed humanity as a whole, is challenging with existential obstacles and threats that we can resolve through dialogue, cooperation, unity, and shared purpose. Yet instead of seeking to strengthen existing and future partnerships and enhancing social solidarity to achieve this, we are in a world of adverse competition and increasing governance uncertainty. Where we once strived to ask what is right under the international law, today we are witnessing the unapologetic rise of national might to settle disputes. This is a truly dark and dangerous path that threatens the hard-won, rules-based international order we collectively agreed on as UN member states. Excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen, while we should be focusing strategically on accomplishing the sustainable development goals and leaving no one behind by 2030, the number of fragile states and populations living in poverty is increasing globally. Over 30 member states of the UN today, including my country, Somalia, are classified as a fragile conflict affected because of both conflict and social and institutional fragility. When you add the vulnerability stemming from climate change, this number is frightening higher. In addition to this, urbanization is rising at the fastest rate in human history because of conflict, climate, and lack of economic opportunities in rural communities. Furthermore, foreign security remains a persistent deadly challenge affecting billions. According to the World Food Programme, 319 million people are facing acute hunger in 67 countries today. These stark and startling facts must give us all pause for reflection and thought. If we as a community of nations are serious about achieving common progress and prosperity for all as envisioned in the sustainable development goals, we must redouble efforts to strengthen multilateralism, solidarity, and shared action for all our people and planet. Excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen, Somalia, as a broad non-member, non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, is working tirelessly to promote the ideals and the values of peace, stability, and shared opportunities across the world. We are actively working with all Security Council members and the wider UN membership to find solutions for peace in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. Somalia remains deeply concerned by the continued suffering of the Palestinian people. The ongoing violence, displacement, and deprivation faced in the occupied territories, including Gaza, demand our collective conscience and urgent action. We call on for all an immediate and lasting ceasefire, unhindered humanitarian access, and renewed commitment towards the two-state solution as the only viable path for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East today. Somalia Security Council, Excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen, Somalia's unique history of decisively transitioning from conflict to a brighter socioeconomic and political and security future, starting from 2012, is the history of a real national effort supported by truly committed international partners, many of whom are represented in this room today. In fact, Somalia is evidence that multilateralism and global solidarity can make the world a better, safer, and progressive place. This lived experience is our own government's inspiration for a determined working for a more just, peaceful, and progressive world within the UN Security Council during our membership, because we know that we are truly better together. When we all work in unison at home, we are bravely fighting the last remaining pockets of international terrorism while building a strong and sustainable national security architecture. We are working closely with all our valuable international partners in defeating the violence, extremism, ideology, falsehoods, and illicit financial systems that facilitate global terrorism. As a result of our efforts in Somalia, our people and citizens across the world are safe today. Of course, while we remain grateful for all international support to combat terrorism, I strongly commend the unwavering commitment and courage of Somali security forces and the local community defensive forces for their sacrifices, resilience, and success against al-Shabaab and ISIS, the two most dangerous terror organizations in the world today. This will continue until we achieve complete victory and harmony in our country, our region, our continent, and the wider world. We must never give in to co-ordinated terrorists. Excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen, our government has embarked on a historic journey to undertake universal celebration elections in Somalia for the first time in 57 years. Somalia was Africa's first democratic nation in the 1960s, and we are proudly returning to that path of inclusive governance once again. Today, our national election registration process is ongoing, and more than 40 independent political associations have registered to participate in the upcoming elections. Our national experience is that nothing is better than a people-centered, a people-led, guided by the rule of law to build a unified and prosperous nation in our country. Financing development, the sustainable development goals are the blueprint for achieving dignity, justice, and equality through real investment in human capital, job creation, and social protection for the most vulnerable in all our communities. However, it was very clear from the fourth financing for development conference in Seville earlier this year that the financing gap between our ambitions and the reality are very far apart. Today, developing nations are facing the terrible shock of high debt burden, higher cost of sovereign borrowing, and expenditure on recurrent shocks which is impossible to budget for annually. The traditional economic model of forecasting predictable expenditure supported by clear revenue streams is no longer this simple. Governments of the developing nations are also now subjected to real-time investment cuts in core developmental activities, including health, education, and basic infrastructure. This is because of realignment of the already dwindling development assistance they used to receive from the developing nations. This is not sustainable, and if we as a community of nations are to achieve collective developmental progress together, excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen, in Somalia, we are taking responsibility of our own economic development by building on the successes of our recent reform based on the debt relief. Today, we are focused on mitigating the excruciating cost of public service investment by continuously raising domestic revenue, strengthening public financial management systems, and enforcing strict expenditure controls while enhancing transparency and accountability. Furthermore, we are committed to benefiting from strategic location and natural resources through trade with our region and the world. In line support of this ambition, Somalia has joined the East Africa community and is ratifying the African Continental Free Trade Area policies and joining World Trade Organization. Process is going on very well. Climate emergency, we are also resolute in our commitment to combat the devastating impact of climate change in the most vulnerable communities, especially those who are unable to mitigate and adapt effectively. Climate change is a raking havoc across the world with the most vulnerable countries suffering systemic and repetitive meteorological and socioeconomic shocks. These devastating economies destroying livelihoods and diverting limited public resources towards mitigating and adaptation responses, which take away from other vital social investment like education and health. The impact of climate change is forcing governments in developing countries, including my own, to make impossible financial trade offs, which humber our own aspiration for investing in resilience and development. Around 10% of the developing nations' budgets are diverted to responding to climate change. This need is to be addressed urgently through developing industrialized nations by meeting their financial obligations for climate crisis. They continue to exacerbate the climate crisis that continue to exacerbate. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, the resilient Somali people live with the climate crisis every day. For us, climate change is not an abstract. It is a horrible reality of disruptive and destroyed lives. Somalia's contribution contributes almost nothing to global emission, yet we endure some of the harshest consequences. Droughts, floods, and rising seas erode livelihoods and displace families, threatening to undo the progress we are making towards peace and development. As a government, we understand that addressing the adverse impact of climate change is a global public good that requires a strong partnership and genuine partnership. On our part, Somalia has adopted the national climate change policy, updated our national determined contribution, and is preparing its first neotransparency report. We are also developing a robust national climate finance strategy to guide how we mobilize and manage resources to address the challenge. To ensure these resources are used effectively, we have established the National Climate Fund, a dedicated institution to channel climate financing transparently and directly to the communities on the ground. We are restoring degraded lands, strengthening water security, and piloting nature-based solutions that protect both people and ecosystems. Despite our efforts, accessing climate finance remains too slow and complex. As our government strengthens its domestic revenue capacity and initiates the process for pre-arranging disaster-risk financing, we call for financial support that is accessible, affordable, predictable, and just from the international financing institutions and capital markets. Nations on the front line like Somalia cannot be left to face this crisis alone. Unsupported by the dominant global financial architecture, which is not fit for the purpose in this age of great challenge. Excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen, in conclusion, the 80th anniversary of the UN General Assembly is the best possible opportunity to take stock of our global achievement as far as our common commitments to sustainable development are concerned. We quietly transition it from the Millennium Development Goals to now the Sustainable Development Goals. Now I wonder, with the clock rapidly ticking very fast towards 2030, what the next acronyms of our global development aspirations will be. For us, being better together means more common ownership, common responsibility, and genuine part of sharing on the global achievement of sustainable development through investment in a resilient and fair future for all. I thank you. On behalf of the Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia