Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced the appointment of Michael Keating of the United Kingdom as his new Special Representative for Somalia and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM). Mr. Keating will succeed Nicholas Kay of the United Kingdom who will complete his assignment at the end of the year. Mr. Keating brings to this position extensive experience in supporting political and peace building transitions, as well as leading complex humanitarian and recovery programmes in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa.

Did You Know???

• Somalia, situated in the Horn of Africa, lies along the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
• Between Jan. 1991 and Aug. 2000, Somalia had no working government. A fragile parliamentary government was formed in 2000, but it expired in 2003 without establishing control of the country.
• The Somalis are one of the most homogeneous peoples in Africa, but unity is thwarted by clan-based rivalries.
• Somaliland’s capital is Hargeysa, and its port, Berbera, provides goods to landlocked Ethiopia.