Somalia: Leaving Mogadishu, By Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General for Somalia, Peter De Clercq

18 September 2013

It has been just over 17 months on the job - first with UNPOS and now with UNSOM - and unfortunately time has come for me to leave Somalia. I leave with a heavy heart, feeling that there are still many things that I would have wanted to be a part of.

Much is being said about all the things that have NOT happened since the end of the transition, and, true enough, we would have all liked to see a new, safe, stable and prosperous Somalia emerging at a much faster pace. However, it took almost 25 years for Somalia to reach the state of disrepair that it was in at the end of the "transition period" and it will take a considerable amount of time to put everything back on track.

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