The head of the new United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Somalia, Nicholas Kay, as he arrived in Mogadishu on Sunday (June 2nd) said he was very pleased to be in Mogadishu and " have this opportunity to support the Federal Government and people of Somalia to bring peace, security and prosperity back to Somalia."
The new UN Somalia Office, formally set up on Monday June 3rd, comes with a new mandate "to support state building and peace building. Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon welcomed the launch of the UN office as a "vote of confidence in the new Somalia." Mr. Kay, a British national, takes over from Ambassador Augustine Mahiga, who headed the former UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS). Mr. Kay served as Africa Director at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office until 2012 and previously as ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan.
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