A/HRC/45/52 6 August 2019, and in an effort to ensure full implementation of the instrument and enhance international cooperation and partnerships to ensure the protection of persons with disabilities, the Minister for Women and Human Rights Development of Somalia and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in collaboration with the Independent Expert, co-organized a high-level side event on the margins of the fortysecond session of the Human Rights Council entitled “Making the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities a reality”. At the regional level, the Federal Government ratified the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa on 6 March 2020. 8. The Independent Expert welcomes the positive collaboration extended by the Federal Government of Somalia to her predecessors, including the frank dialogue and exchanges held during mandate holders’ periodic country missions and other types of engagement. She looks forward to receiving the same level of cooperation that has been extended to her predecessors. In addition to country visits, there are other avenues through which special procedure mandate holders engage with Governments to address human rights violations, including the issuance of urgent appeals, letters of allegation and other forms of communication. On 4 September 2019, the Independent Expert and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions issued a joint communication concerning the killings of two civilian men and injuries sustained by three civilian women during crossfire between members of the rapid response unit of the Somaliland police and clan militia in Ceel Afweyn, Sanaag Region, Somaliland.2 IV. Recent developments A. Political, security and economic developments 9. At the Somalia Partnership Forum held in Mogadishu in October 2019, the Federal Government of Somalia and its international partners adopted a new set of priorities to be achieved over the following year. They also adopted a mutual accountability framework for 2020 centred on four key themes: inclusive politics; security and justice; economic development; and social development. 10. On the political front, a number of commitments were made to create the preconditions necessary for holding one person-one vote elections within the constitutionally mandated time frame. These included the adoption of an amended Federal Constitution and the completion of voter registration by end of June 2020; the enactment of the electoral law and the amendment to the political parties law by December 2019, which would include a 30 per cent minimum quota for women parliamentarians; continued progress towards national reconciliation; and the ensuring of meaningful participation of different sectors of society, including women, youth, persons with disabilities, minorities and marginalized communities, in all processes. On 27 June, the Chair of the National Independent Electoral Commission presented options for holding the one person-one vote elections within the constitutionally mandated time frame, either in March or August 2021, depending on voter registration method.3 11. The electoral law, which was signed on 20 February 2020 by President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed “Farmajo”, contains a number of gaps that hinder its effective implementation. On 28 February, a joint ad hoc parliamentary committee was established to review the four key legislative issues with the law: seat allocations for both houses of Parliament (constituencies), the election of members from Somaliland, representative rights of Banaadir Region and the 30 per cent quota to ensure women’s representation in 2 3 4 See https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/ DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=24840. See https://unsom.unmissions.org/federal-elections-and-political-consensus-building.

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents