With her Ethiopian colleague Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu, Foreign Minister Emma Bonino chaired the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Partners Forum which took place today in New York in the margins of the 68th session of the General Assembly. The initiative fits into the framework of Italy’s traditionally strong political focus on stability and security in the Horn of Africa. The meeting was an important opportunity to discuss the most recent political and security developments in Somalia, including with respect to the repercussions at the regional level.
In the presence of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Minister Bonino thanked the IGAD Partners Forum for its important political dialogue role. She underscored that the solution to the Somali question must be found through the strong commitment and involvement of all the regional actors in fighting terrorism and strengthening security in the country.
“This is a delicate time in the history of the new Somalia”, declared Minister Bonino. She pointed out that the new Somali state must be based on “inclusiveness and on reconciliation between the principal groups in the country”. Another foundation must be “a federal framework that, with a balanced division of competences between state and local government, seems to be the solution that most closely corresponds to the history and needs of Somalia”.
Minister Bonino also expressed her appreciation of the role played by President Sheikh Hassan and his country’s political leadership, to which the Italian government will continue to lend the greatest possible political and economic support.
