Statement by

His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Siad Doualeh

Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Djibouti to the United Nations

High Level Meeting on the

Financing of the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM)

Thursday, 25 September 2025

1. I stand before you today on behalf of His Excellency Mr. Ismail Omar Guelleh, President of the Republic of Djibouti, to reaffirm our steadfast support for the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), and to call upon our partners – regional. Continental and international – to ensure that this mission receives the adequate, predictable, and sustained funding it needs to succeed.
2. Djibouti calls on partners to urgently fulfill funding commitments under the agreed hybrid funding model.  It is of utmost concern that there is no clear pathway for financing the new post-ATMIS security arrangement, AUSSOM. 
3. Al Shabab remains a potent threat and we have to collectively eradicate it. Djibouti, as a TCC Sector 4, knows firsthand that security gains are fragile and depend on predictable, sufficient resources.  We appeal to Member States, the United Nations and international donors to act now.  Without adequate  support, progress against just Al-Shabab, stabilization efforts and the restoration of governance risk being jeopardized. 
4. Djibouti is proud to have formalized a bilateral framework with Somalia in July of this year  for additional deployment of Djiboutian Armed forces, reflecting our resolve to support peace, security and stabilization efforts in the region.
5. Djibouti remains committed, both as a contributor of forces and as a partner in diplomacy and  development to ensure that peace gains are sustained and that security improvements are accompanied by stabilization, governance and protection of civilians.

Resolution 2719 is the product of our joint efforts.  It provides AUSSOM a mechanism to  tap into its UN assessed contributions to cover the bulk of the costs.  Because without reliable funding, there is a risk of gaps in pay, logistics, supplies, force readiness, etc.

As underscored  repeatedly by the Secretary General in many of his pronouncements, both AMISOM and ATMIS, remained chronically underequipped and under resourced.  Let us learn the lesson from the past!

Let us collectively invest in peace.

Hand in hand let us help our Somali brothers-sisters build a bright Somali-owned and Somali led future.

The benefits far outweigh the costs!

                                                                    Thank you for your attention.