STORY: Somalia’s government reassures UN of its

solidarity and support

TRT: 2:42
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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATURAL SOUND
DATELINE: MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

SHOT LIST

1. Med shot, Raisedon Zenenga, Officer-in-Charge of the UN Assistance Mission

in Somalia (UNSOM) and Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-
General for Somalia, flanked by Ahmed Isse Awad, Somali Minister of Foreign
Affairs and International Cooperation, walk out of their meeting room.
2. Wide shot, Raisedon Zenenga, Officer-in-Charge of the UN Assistance Mission
in Somalia and Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General
for Somalia flanked by Ahmed Isse Awad, Somali Minister of Foreign Affairs
and International Cooperation tour the site of the January 1 mortar attack
3. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) RAISEDON ZENENGA, OFFICER-IN-CHARGE OF THE
UN ASSISTANCE MISSION IN SOMALIA AND DEPUTY SPECIAL
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UN SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR SOMALIA
“Today, we received a visit from Minister of Foreign Affairs. We are very
grateful for his visit. He came here to express solidarity with us and to
express his sympathy following the attack that we suffered on the 1 st of
January. We are very much appreciative of his visit. We appreciate the
expression of support for our work. We have had a very good discussion on
how to build constructive working relationship and also on the measures that
are required for us to get more enhanced protection in terms of security for
our staff”.

4. Med shot, Raisedon Zenenga, Officer-in-Charge of the UN Assistance Mission

in Somalia and Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General
for Somalia flanked by Ahmed Isse Awad, Somali Minister of Foreign Affairs
and International Cooperation touring the UN compound
5. Mid shot, UN security official leads guided visit to the site of another mortar
attack
6. Med shot, Raisedon Zenenga, Officer-in-Charge of the UN Assistance Mission
in Somalia and Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General
for Somalia flanked by Ahmed Isse Awad, Somali Minister of Foreign Affairs
and International Cooperation touring the UN compound
7. Med shot, UN security official showing the Foreign Affairs and International
Cooperation minister the site of another mortar attack
 8. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) AMBASSADOR AHMED ISSE AWAD, SOMALI
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
“Somali government is committed to protecting the UN and ensuring their
safety and security”.

9. Mid shot, Ambassador Ahmed Isse Awad, Somali Minister of Foreign Affairs
and International Cooperation flanked by Amadu Kamara, UNSOS Director
walking to the site of another mortar attack
10. Wide shot, UN official showing the site of the mortar attack
11. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) AMBASSADOR AHMED ISSE AWAD, SOMALI
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
“My second purpose of the visit was to express and reassure the UN
leadership in Somalia and to the larger family of the UN, the support of the
Somali government has for the UN family in Somalia. We are here to support
and we commit to support the UN to make their life in Somalia easy to
cooperate with them and to support the execution of their mandate without
hindrance”.

STORY

Somalia’s government reassures UN of its solidarity and support

Mogadishu, 15 January 2019 - Somalia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and

International Cooperation, Ahmed Isse Awad, met with senior United
Nations officials in the Somali capital today, following the 1 January
mortar attack on the UN compound.

“I came to express solidarity with the UN family against the attack that
happened on January 1 by Al-Shabaab, which injured three of their
members,” said Mr. Awad during his visit to the facility that houses
offices of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM),
the United Nations Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) and a number of
UN agencies, funds and programmes.

The meeting was hosted by the Officer-in-Charge of UNSOM and Deputy

Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia,
Raisedon Zenenga, the Head of UNSOS, Lisa Filipetto, and the Resident
and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia and Deputy Special
Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia, Peter de
Clercq.
“The Somali government is committed to protecting the UN and
ensuring their safety and security,” stated the Foreign Minister, who
commended the important work the UN is doing in Somalia.

“We are very much appreciative of his visit. We appreciate the

expression of support for our work. We have had a very good discussion
on how to build a constructive working relationship and also on the
measures that are required for us to get more enhanced protection in
terms of security for our staff,” noted Mr. Zenenga.

Mr. Awad later toured the sites damaged by the shelling and reassured
the UN of his government’s unwavering support and commitment to
their safety and protection.

“My second purpose of the visit was to reassure the UN leadership in

Somalia and the larger family of the UN of the support of the Somali
government. We are here to support the UN, to cooperate with them
and to support the execution of their mandate without hindrance,” he
pledged.

Seven mortars landed inside the main UN compound in Mogadishu on

the afternoon of New Year’s Day. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for
the indirect fire attack, which was strongly condemned by the federal
government of Somalia, the UN Secretary-General, and international
partners.

END