A/HRC/13/65 page 5 I. INTRODUCTION 1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 12/26 of September 2009, in which the Human Rights Council expressed its deep concern at the human rights and humanitarian situation in Somalia and renewed the mandate of the independent expert for one year, requesting him to submit a report thereon to the thirteen session of the Human Rights Council in March 2010. To this end, the independent expert undertook his fourth field visit to Kenya and Somalia from 12 to 24 January 2010. He visited Hargeisa in Somaliland and Bossasso and Garowe in Puntland. In Kenya, he held meetings in Nairobi and visited the Dadaab refugee camps. He was, unfortunately, unable to visit Mogadishu and the south-central regions of Somalia. 2. It may be recalled that the independent expert had presented his third report to the Council in September 2009. The present report covers the period from September 2009 to February 2010. It is based on the independent expert’s meetings with Somali stakeholders, members of the Transitional Federal Government and Parliament, civil society organizations, refugees and the United Nations. 3. The independent expert is grateful to all interlocutors, as well as to the United Nations Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS), OHCHR, the United Nations Department of Safety and Security, UNHCR, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) staff for their hospitality and logistical support during his stay in Nairobi and his trips to Hargeisa, Bossaso and Garowe. II. MEETINGS AND INFORMATION-GATHERING A. Meetings with the Transitional Federal Government 4. The visit of the President of Somalia to Nairobi during the independent expert’s stay in the city gave the expert the opportunity to meet the President for the first time since the latter assumed office. The independent expert also had separate meetings with the Minister for Gender, Women and Family Affairs, Fauzia Mohamed Sheikh, who is also the Focal Point for Human Rights, and the Minister for Finance and Deputy Prime Minster, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden. He expresses his gratitude to them for agreeing to see him despite their tight schedule. 5. The independent expert conveyed to the President his concerns about the continuing human rights and humanitarian law violations in Somalia and underlined the importance of the role of the Government in protecting the people. Despite the Government’s limited resources and capacity, there is a need for it to demonstrate that it is nevertheless determined, committed and able to lead the country out of the conflict and bring peace, reconciliation and recovery. 6. The President shared the expert’s concerns but underlined the many challenges his Government faced. He said that human rights would continue to be violated for as long as war prevailed in Somalia and peace and stability had not returned. The primary need for his country, therefore, was to improve the security situation; this in turn would ensure protection of the population and improve their human rights. There was also a need to build the capacity of the