I have the honour to refer to my report of 17 November 2008 (S/2008/709) on Somalia, in which I undertook to revert to the Security Council with further proposals and alternative options in the event that the multinational force envisaged in the Council's presidential statement of 4 September 2008 (S/PRST/2008/33) did not materialize.
As I advised the Council during its meeting on 16 December 2008, only 14 of the 50 countries approached have responded to my request for contributions to a multinational force. One country has offered to provide funding, equipment and logistical support, while a second has offered funding. Two international organizations also expressed willingness to facilitate contributions from their members. However, no Member State has yet pledged troops or offered to assume the lead nation role.
Although I have yet to receive formal responses from the remaining 36 Member States, it is my assessment that sufficient troop pledges to allow the deployment of a multinational force are unlikely to materialize. I regret this disappointing outcome, which stands in such sharp contrast to the exceptional political will and commitment of military assets which Member States have shown in respect of the fight against piracy. It remains my advice that the complex security challenges in Somalia cannot be addressed within the capabilities of a typical United Nations peacekeeping force and that a multinational force is the right tool for stabilizing Mogadishu.
While I will continue to approach States that have not yet responded to my appeal for contributions to a multinational force, and would request your continued assistance in identifying a possible lead nation, I would like to present to the Council the attached proposals on alternative options (see annex). These options could be taken together as a package of steps that would be undertaken immediately to support implementation of the Djibouti peace process and contribute to enabling the conditions required for the eventual deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping operation.
I should be grateful if you would bring the present letter and its annex to the attention of the members of the Security Council.
(Signed) Ban Ki-moon
Annex
Somalia: next steps for the military/peacekeeping track
Note by the Secretary-General dated 17 December 2008
Background
1. In its presidential statement of 4 September (PRST/2008/33), the Security Council requested the Secretary-General to identify and approach States that might contribute the required financial resources, personnel, equipment and services for a multinational force for Somalia. To date, the Secretariat has received formal responses from 14 out of the 50 countries approached. One Member State has offered to provide airlift services, logistical support, equipment and funding for a multinational force, while a second has offered to contribute funding. Two international organizations have expressed willingness to help by mobilizing funding from their member states. No Member State has offered to play the lead nation role. It is our assessment that Member States will pledge some resources and possibly troops, but not enough to allow the deployment of a multinational force. Nonetheless, efforts are continuing to obtain pledges from the 36 Member States that have yet to respond to the appeal for capabilities for a multinational force.
2. Ethiopia has announced that it will withdraw its forces from Somalia at the end of 2008. A number of Member States, as well as the Chairman of the African Union Commission, Jean Ping, have expressed their concern about the impact of Ethiopia's withdrawal on the situation in Somalia. In a meeting of the International Contact Group for Somalia on 16 December, Ramtame Lamamra, Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union (AU), noted the political commitment of the latter to keeping the African Union Mission for Somalia (AMISOM) in place after the departure of the Ethiopian forces, noting that this would be possible only if the mission received the international assistance necessary to enable it to reinforce and sustain its operations.