UN representative to assist Djibouti peace initiative

David Stephen, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative for Somalia and head of the UN political office for the country, is scheduled to go to Djibouti for two months to help organise a reconciliation conference for Somalia. Stephen is to “advise on the conceptualisation and organisation of the conference,” which is part of the Somalia peace initiative of Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh, a UN press release stated on Monday. In supporting Guelleh’s efforts, Annan reiterated his view that “the establishment of a central authority based on wide consultations and agreement will be the only way to reach a lasting settlement to the conflict in Somalia.” A cultural festival intended to foster a sense of national unity - involving peace and human rights activists, civil society groups and community leaders, but “pretty apolitical” overall - was scheduled to take place before March, as a precursor to the proposed reconciliation conference, a diplomatic source told IRIN on Wednesday. The international community is somewhat divided between wanting signs of progress from the so-called Djibouti initiative and letting Guelleh’s peace committee continue “absorbing all the different positions and opinions from key players and civil society” in order to ensure the legitimacy of the process, and increase its odds of success, he added.