UN ends its Somalia political mission after three decades

Nairobi The United Nations political mission in Somalia ended on Saturday (October 30, 2026) after a two-year transition, closing a chapter of more than three decades of UN peacebuilding operations in the east African nation. UNSOM was established by the UN Security Council in 2013 to support Somali authorities in the transition to democracy and the rule of law after more than two decades of conflict involving militias, Islamist groups and criminal gangs. Somalis vote in the first one-person, one-vote local election in decades Somalis vote in the first one-person, one-vote local election in decades The voting of local council members, to be conducted across Mogadishu's 16 districts, has been organised by the country's federal government but rejected by the Opposition parties, which have called the election flawed and one-sided Somalis vote in the first one-person, one-vote local election in decades storyline 1 It started as UN Political Office for…