STORY: Senior UN official for Africa concludes visit to

Somalia
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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NATS
DATELINE: 16/JUNE/2019, MOGADISHU, KISMAYO, SOMALIA

SHOT LIST:

MOGADISHU:

1. Wide shot, Aden Abdulle International Airport

2. Med shot, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (DSRSG) for
Somalia, Raisedon Zenenga, at the airport to receive Ms. Bintou Keita, the United
Nations Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) for Africa
3. Med shot, plane carrying ASG Bintou Keita arriving
4. Wide shot, DSRSG Raisedon Zenenga waiting
5. Med shot, plane taxiing
6. Med shot, ASG Bintou Keita getting off the plane
7. Wide shot, ASG Bintou Keita and DSRSG Raisedon Zenenga walking
8. Med shot, ASG Bintou Keita and DSRSG Raisedon Zenenga
9. Wide shot, ASG Bintou Keita greeting Somali women leaders during a meeting
with representatives of the civil society
10. Med shot, Somali women leaders
11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Bintou Keita, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General
(ASG) for Africa
“My take when I get to the field is always first of all to try not to come from a
victim’s perspective, so to see the women in terms of who they are, what they bring
to the table and how the various women are working collaboratively in cooperation
in order to advance the things that matter to them in the society where they find
themselves.”

12. Med shot, ASG Bintou Keita listening

13. Wide shot, Asha Siyad, Chairperson of Somali Women’s Leadership Initiative
(SWLI) speaking at the meeting
14. Close up shot, ASG Bintou Keita taking notes
15. SOUNDBITE: (English) Asha Abdulle Siyad; Chairperson of Somali Women’s
Leadership Initiative (SWLI)
“In the constitution review that is happening now, we need to have an article that
specifically says the minimum 30 percent (of parliamentary seats) should be
(reserved for) women. Even if that is concretely written in the constitution, the
implementation will not come easily. So that will be another challenge. We need a
huge support from the international community, from our government and from
federal member states and from every person in Somalia.”

16. Med shot, a women representative speaking at the meeting

17. Med shot, Somali youths meeting with ASG Bintou Keita
18. Close up shot, a Somali youth listening
19. Med shot, youths taking notes
20. Med shot, ASG Bintou Keita taking notes
21. Wide shot, youths listening at the meeting
22. SOUNDBITE: (English) Bintou Keita, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General
(ASG) for Africa
“The youth are the leaders of today and the leaders of tomorrow and because the
country is the country, so you are part of it, which means that the engagement, the
participation and I heard the political participation are part of that path for
leadership.”

23. SOUNDBITE: (English) Hussein Ibrahim, Somali Youth Alliance official

“There are many youth organisations, they have ideas, they have initiative but they
lack funding. We need to prioritise different (programmes). There are community
based organisations which are led by youth. They need to be established and
strengthened with organisational skills so that they have the capacity to enforce
their programs.”

24. Wide shot, ASG Bintou Keita meeting with Somali youths

Kismayo:

25. Med shot, a plane carrying ASG Bintou Keita

26. Aerial shot, Kismayo landscape
27. Med shot, an aerial view of part of Kismayo landscape
28. Wide shot, Kismayo International Airport
29. Med shot, ASG Bintou Keita getting off the plane on arrival in Kismayo
30. Wide shot, ASG Bintou Keita and her delegation walking
31. Drive shot, ASG Bintou Keita heading for a meeting with Jubaland administration
officials
32. Med shot, ASG Bintou Keita heading for a meeting with Jubaland administration
officials
33. Wide shot, ASG Bintou Keita shaking hands with Abdulkadir Haji Mohamed Yusuf,
Second Vice President of Jubaland State of Somalia
34. Med shot, ASG Bintou Keita and Abdulkadir Haji Mohamed Yusuf in a meeting
35. Close up shot, ASG Bintou Keita
36. Med shot, ASG Bintou Keita and Abdulkadir Haji Mohamed Yusuf
37. Wide shot, group photo
38. SOUNDBITE: (English) Bintou Keita, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General
(ASG) for Africa
“I just started as the Assistant Secretary General for Africa back on January 1 as part
of the implementation of the reforms of the Secretary-General and now I am dealing
with all the countries in Africa, and one of them is Somalia. And so I wanted to find
out what are the dynamics in Mogadishu and I also wanted to see what are the
dynamics in one of the member states so this is why I came to Kismayo.”

39. Wide shot, ASG Bintou Keita meeting AMISOM Police officers
40. Close up shot, ASG Bintou Keita
41. Close up shot, a senior AMISOM Police officer
42. Med shot, ASG Bintou Keita meeting AMISOM Police officers
43. Close up shot, ASG Bintou Keita meeting with Hamza Abdi Bare, Chairman of the
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission of Jubaland State
44. Med shot, ASG Bintou Keita in a meeting with Hamza Abdi Bare, Chairman of the
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission of Jubaland State
45. Wide shot, a meeting with the Kismayo civil society organisation representatives
46. Close up shot, ASG Bintou Keita listening
47. Med shot, one of the civil society organisation representatives speaking at the
meeting
48. Close up shot, a civil society organisation representative listening
49. Med shot, ASG Bintou Keita taking notes
50. Wide shot, ASG Bintou Keita meeting with AMISOM senior military officers
51. Close up shot, Brig. Gen. Birhanu Tilahun, Sector 6 Commander
52. Close up shot, ASG Bintou Keita listening
53. Wide shot, Brig. Gen. Birhanu Tilahun, Sector 6 Commander speaking at the
meeting
54. Med shot, senior AMISOM military officers at the meeting
55. SOUNDBITE: (English) Bintou Keita, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General
(ASG) for Africa
“We discussed the vision around where the country has to be in the medium term,
let’s say in five years’ time, and it has a lot to do with the political governance, so the
establishment of federalism as well as discussions on the economic situation and
particularly when to reach the decision point for debt relief, the HIPC (heavily
indebted poor countries). We also discussed the relationship between the United
Nations and the federal government and particularly appreciating that we are on the
right way and right path and the arrival of the new Special Representative of the
Secretary-General is going to be further occasion to build and further the
relationship.”

56. Med shot, ASG Bintou Keita walking

Senior UN official for Africa concludes visit to Somalia

Kismayo, 16 June 2019 - The United Nations Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) for
Africa in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace
Operations, Bintou Keita, today concluded her five-day working visit to Somalia with
a tour of Kismayo, the interim capital of Jubaland, to familiarise herself with
developments taking place in the federal member state.

Ms. Keita held a closed-door meeting with the Second Vice President of Jubaland,
Abdulkadir Haji Mohamed Yusuf, and state ministers Mursal Khalif and Ismail Ahmed
Garas.

The trip marked Ms. Keita’s first visit to Somalia since she was appointed Assistant
Secretary-General at the beginning of this year.

“I started as Assistant Secretary General for Africa on January 1 as part of the

implementation of the reforms of the Secretary-General, and now I am dealing with
all the countries in Africa,” said ASG Keita during her stay in Kismayo. “One of them
is Somalia.”

“I wanted to find out what are the dynamics in Mogadishu and I also wanted to see
what are the dynamics in one of the member states, so this is why I came to
Kismayo,” she added, following her meeting with senior Jubaland State officials.

Ms. Keita’s visit to Jubaland State came at a time when the federal member state is
preparing for legislative and presidential elections scheduled for July and August,
respectively. The UN and the African Union Mission in Somalia are aiding with
preparations to ensure that the voting is free, fair and peaceful.
Prior to her visit to Kismayo, Ms. Keita arrived in Somalia last Wednesday and met
Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire and other top federal government officials on 15
June. The discussions focused on the participation of women in the country’s
political process and economic reforms, and the relations between the UN and the
federal government.

“We discussed the vision around where the country has to be in the medium term,
and it has a lot to do with political governance, the establishment of federalism as
well as the economic situation, particularly the decision point for debt relief,” the
ASG noted.

Somalia is lobbying international creditors to cancel its foreign debt, most of which
was accumulated prior to the outbreak of the civil war in 1991. The federal
government maintains that debt relief will help the country invest its resources into
reviving the economy and creating more jobs for its youthful population.

Ms. Keita expressed satisfaction with the state of relations between the UN and the
federal government and said that cooperation will be further bolstered by the arrival
of the recently designated Special Representative of the UN Secretary- General for
Somalia, James Swan.

In her meeting with Somali women leaders, ASG Keita urged women to fight for their
rights and vote for female candidates who vie for positions of leadership in order to
increase their participation in the country’s decision-making process.

In thanking Ms. Keita for her visit, the chairperson of the Somali Women’s
Leadership Initiative, Asha Abdulle Siyad, appealed to the international community
to continue supporting the women of Somalia in their quest for gender parity.

“We need to have an article (in the constitution) that specifically says the minimum
30 percent (of parliamentary seats) should be (reserved for) women,” observed Ms.
Siyad, who also warned that implementation of such a principle will present another
challenge for Somali women.

Somali women activists have been lobbying members of the federal parliament to
approve a pending electoral reform bill that would enshrine the 30 percent gender
quota in the country’s future legislatures.
As a result of the 2016 electoral process, female representation in Somalia’s federal
parliament rose from 14 percent in the outgoing legislature to 24 percent, but it still
fell short of the 30 percent quota goal.

Ms. Keita also held discussions with representatives of youth groups, whom she
urged to initiate a process that would help the UN and the broader international
community to engage more effectively with young people on various issues
concerning them.

“The youth are the leaders of today and the leaders of tomorrow,” said the ASG.
“You are part of (Somalia), which means that the engagement, the participation and
the political participation are all part of that path for leadership.”