Topic: UN's Role of Addressing Sectarian and Ethnic Conflict within a Nation
Country: Somalia
Delegate Name: Cassie Hutchinson
School: Traverse City West High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Somalia position papers GLIMUN 2008 committees
Conflicts within a nation have been present before history has even been recorded. Whether it was a conflict over power, politics or territories, it didn't matter. The result of those problems ended with wide-spread epidemics, starvation, civil wars and ultimately death. But how far is too far? When did it get so bad that the United Nations needed to step-in and provide aide and help?
By not having a national government since 1991, Somalia faces more sectarian and ethnic problems than most other nations. There has been constant fighting between rival leaders to obtain the power of the country, and with that come very violent disagreements and fights, which can very easily turn into civil wars. In a result from that, citizens are facing starvation, diseases and death. Turning into a humanitarian disaster, the United Nations intervened in 1992. Although decreasing Somalia’s starvation levels, the causalities for the United States and other nations were just too high and they pulled out only a few years later. In the year 2000, a transitional government appeared, but controlled just ten percent of the country. A couple of years later, they lost power very quickly.
Somalia was in such bad shape, that a new government was formed consisting of a 275 member parliament. They selected a president, Abdullahi Yusuf. However, because the country was so violent and unstable, the government couldn't stay there, they operated out of Kenya.
In 2006 Ethiopia bombarded Somalia, and within a week gained control of the country, stating that the would remain there until a central government was in tact. The fighting continued and created another humanitarian crisis, causing the UN to once again intervene.
For the last seventeen years, Somalia has remained without a central government. The UN has done it's best to stay involved, without getting too dangerous. Although there are no representatives currently there now, the UN is strongly encouraging the political leaders to get together and solve their issues to gain peace throughout the entire country. We are in dire need of help and aide. We need to stop the civil wars, and the constant fighting within our own country. We need aide to help all of our people who are starving, with no place to live. We, Somalia believe that something drastic needs to happen soon, before the country gets divided into something that can not be fixed, and something that can not get any help.
