The State of Qatar participated in the meeting in Somalia, held in Washington, the USA, with the participation of the Republic of Turkiye, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the Federal Republic of Somalia.
HE Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Counterterrorism and Mediation in Conflict Resolution Dr. Mutlaq bin Majed Al Qahtani represented the State of Qatar during the meeting.
The meeting discussed Somalias security, state-building, development, humanitarian priorities, how to better support Somalias fight against Al Shabaab, and prepare for the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia drawdown.
The participants agreed to strengthen coordination of international security assistance. Partners agreed on the importance of ensuring timely delivery of stabilization assistance to newly liberated areas.
The partners expressed support for the Federal Government of Somalias focus on counterterrorism and capacity building.
The partners committed to support Somalias efforts to meet the benchmarks on weapons and ammunition management to enable the UN Security Council to fully lift the arms controls on the Federal Government of Somalia. The partners encourage and support Somalias National Consultative Council (NCC) process in promoting political reconciliation and to delineate the roles and responsibilities of levels of government in Somalia, including by finalizing the constitution.
The partners expressed concern about the ongoing conflict in and around Lascanood and called on all parties to adhere to the ceasefire, de-escalate, allow unhindered humanitarian access, and engage in constructive and peaceful dialogue. They also expressed concern about the ongoing humanitarian crisis driven by Somalias worst drought on record. They welcomed support along with international actors to meet the immediate needs of the Somali people, while also strengthening Somalias ability to withstand future climate shocks.
At the end of the meeting, the participants welcomed the State of Qatar's invitation to hold the next meeting in Doha.
On the sidelines of the meeting, HE Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Counterterrorism and Mediation in Conflict Resolution met separately with HE the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee and HE the State Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Federal Republic of Somalia Ali Mohamed Omar.
The two meetings discussed the cooperation relations between the State of Qatar, the USA, and Somalia, in addition to a number of regional and international issues of common interest.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The State of Qatar.
