On a visit to the southern Somali city of Kismayo, a senior United Nations official today hailed Jubaland’s announcement that elections for the remaining four seats for its Upper House representation would be held shortly —and that women’s representation would be included.

"One of the issues I had wanted to raise with His Excellency was the issue of women’s participation in the Upper House process,” said the UN Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Somalia, Anita Kiki Gbeho, referring to her scheduled meeting with Jubaland’s President Ahmed Mohamed Islam ‘Madobe’ earlier on Tuesday.

"He beat me to it. He announced —we are very pleased to have heard the news this morning —that two seats will be reserved for women, and of the two remaining seats, a woman will be competing for one of the seats. So good news coming out of Jubaland this morning,” she added.

The UN official was on an introductory visit —her first to the southern Federal Member State —to meet with Jubaland’s leadership, as well as electoral officials, including the chairperson of the State Electoral Implementation Team (SEIT), Siyad Mohamed Mursal,and civil society representatives. The country’s ongoing elections were a key topic on her agenda.

"It’s important, since I’m here to serve Somalia, that I go around and understand the different regions and I understand what is important to them,” Ms. Gbeho said. "This is a time when we’re smack in the middle of the [electoral] process, and we wanted to ensure that the Upper House process is finalized here in Jubaland and then we move on to the Lower House process.”