More trust needed between Somalia's peacekeeping parties

This DIIS Policy Brief takes a look at how the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the Somali National Army (SNA) interact and relate to one another.

It is argued that the relationship is strained, not least because the Somali government has limited faith in AMISOM’s ability to defeat al-Shabaab. More concerted efforts must be made to bring AMISOM and the SNA together.

First of all, AMISOM is expected to build the capacity of the SNA. More importantly, and in direct connection to this, the Somalis are meant to take over from AMISOM sooner rather than later. A trustful relationship between AMISOM and the SNA is in both cases critical.

This policy brief is one out of three, which explores issues relating to Somalia’s peace process, and in particular AMISOM’s role in it.