Politics · Somalia · Horn of Africa
The UN closes its political mission in Somalia today, ending three decades of political missions in the country
UNTMIS wraps up on 31 October and hands its work to Somali institutions. About 25 UN agencies stay on, but this year’s $852m aid appeal was only about 35% funded by mid-October.
NAIROBI — The United Nations’ political mission in Somalia closes on Saturday, ending three decades in which UN political missions have worked alongside the country’s efforts to rebuild a state that collapsed in the early 1990s. From now on, Somali institutions take full responsibility for the country’s recovery, UN News reported.
“The story of the UN’s political engagement in Somalia has been one of persistence, partnership and adaptation,” said Raisedon Zenenga, the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Somalia and officer-in-charge of the UN Transitional Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNTMIS). He said the closure “comes after considerable progress by Somalia”, though “significant challenges remain”.
“Somalia today possesses national and federal institutions that did not exist when the UN’s political engagement began,” Zenenga said, pointing to progress on state formation, political inclusion, the constitution, human rights and governance. “However, continued engagement by the international community will remain important to sustaining progress and addressing outstanding priorities.”
What stays behind
The UN is not leaving. About 25 UN entities will keep working on humanitarian and development programmes. The need is large. The UN’s humanitarian office, OCHA, calls Somalia one of the world’s most complex crises, where conflict and climate shocks feed each other and families are often displaced two or three times. This year 4.8 million Somalis need help. Aid agencies asked for $852m to reach 2.4 million of them, half of those in need, and by mid-October only about 35% of that money had arrived.
The Secretary-General has also asked for continued support against al-Shabaab and for a gradual security transition. Somalia imports more than 90% of its essential goods, OCHA says, and its economy depends on subsistence farming, livestock, pastoralism and money sent home from abroad.
“Today is not an end to the partnership between the United Nations and Somalia,” Zenenga said. “It marks the conclusion of one chapter and the beginning of another.”
AB24’s reading from Nairobi: the mission closes while the African Union force still carries much of the fight against al-Shabaab. Watch whether donors fund the aid appeal now that the political mission has gone, and how the federal government and the member states handle disputes without a UN political office in the middle.
Sources: UN News, 31 Oct 2026.
— AB24 · Nairobi