Somaliland Foreign Minister addresses UK International Conference on ‘Sovereignty’

[Jacaylbaro]

The Somaliland minister of Foreign of Affairs, Mr Abdillahi Mohamed Duale, addressed on Thursday an international gathering of government officials, diplomats, business people and academics taking part in the ‘State of Sovereignty’ conference held at the prestigious International Boundaries Research Unit (IBRU) of Durham University in the city of Durham, United Kingdom.

 

The 3-day international IBRU conference brought together a diverse group of delegates and speakers from over 53 countries. The conference was designed to address the practical implications of boundary making, boundary management and dispute resolution, which officially opened Wednesday 1st April 2009

 

Somaliland’s Foreign minister, Mr Duale, on day two of the conference, gave a two-hour long presentation which ended with a Q&A session. The minister described the history of the State of Somaliland and how, since his country’s independence in 1991, Somaliland has moved forward as an independent and sovereign country to create a stable democratic society in a region afflicted with instability, wars and conflict.

 

The minister’s paper titled “A Sovereign State for Somaliland & What it means for the Horn of Africa” illustrated that ‘Somaliland has fulfilled all the standard criteria for the establishment of a sovereign state and international recognition’ and argued that ‘with the attainment of sovereignty Somaliland could accelerate its development and help to add stability to the region.’

 

Following his presentation, the Foreign Minister speaking to conference journalists covering the 3-day event said, the conference provided him and his delegation the ideal opportunity to meet and hold discussions with a wide range of fellow participants including those from the African Union, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, US State Department plus numerous international experts in the field of international boundary disputes and sovereignty issues.

 

“I’m very much grateful and pleased to have taken part in this important forum and be given the opportunity to explain our side of events.

 

Definitely, its been very beneficial for my country to get to know so many foreign government departments, their officials and delegates at this conference, which I believe, will certainly assist us in our ultimate goal of achieving sovereignty status,” said, Mr Abdillahi Mohamed Duale, the Somaliland minister of Foreign Affairs.

 

Conference organisers, IBRU said, they invited Somaliland’s Foreign Minister to speak at the conference as his country’s long pursuit for sovereignty provided an ideal, real – world example of the difficulties facing certain states during their quest for sovereignty status and world recognition.

 

The ‘State of Sovereignty’ conference is celebrating the 20th anniversary of boundary studies at IBRU, a department of Durham University. The conference ends on Friday, 3rd April 2009.