Kazakhstan heads Security Council Committee on Somalia and Eritrea

Kazakhstan is heading the UN Security Council Committee on Somalia and Eritrea as part of its UN Security Council non-permanent membership, reports Khabar state TV channel.

Kazakhstan, as the chairman of the Committee, intends to contribute to the international efforts aimed at national peace building not only in the Horn of Africa peninsula, but the entire Africa, the report said.

The Committee is supported by the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea. It is comprised of eight experts and it is based in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

The Monitoring Group on Somalia was first established by the Council on 16 December 2003 to focus on ongoing arms embargo violations. Subsequently, the Council extended and expanded the mandate of the Monitoring Group on several occasions.

After the imposition of the sanctions regime on Eritrea on 23 December 2009, the name of the Monitoring Group was changed to Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea.

The Group was preceded by a Panel of Experts, which was established by the Council on 22 July 2002 to generate information on violations of the arms embargo on Somalia with a view toward strengthening it.

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