ADDIS ABABA, July 3 – The African Union convened an emergency meeting on Friday to assess the future of its peace support mission in Somalia after the United States announced it would end funding for the UN support office that provides critical logistical assistance to African troops operating in the country.
The closed-door meeting, held at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, brought together military and defence representatives from member states of the African Union Peace and Security Council to discuss the implications of Washington’s decision to halt support for the UN Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) when the mandate of the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) expires on Dec. 31, 2026.
According to an African Union document, the United States formally notified the AU on July 1 that it would no longer support UNSOS, which provides vital logistical backing for AUSSOM, including air transport, engineering services, medical support, equipment and other operational assistance for African Union forces deployed in Somalia.
The AU warned that the move could significantly affect AUSSOM’s logistics, operational capacity and financing at a time when the mission remains central to Somalia’s fight against the Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab.
The emergency session, convened under a notice dated July 2, focused on assessing the impact of the US decision and identifying immediate measures and a roadmap to address the expected funding and operational challenges.
Military representatives from Peace and Security Council member states, including Somalia, Uganda, South Africa and Algeria, attended the meeting to examine options for mitigating the consequences of the funding cut on Somalia’s security and wider regional stability in the Horn of Africa.
Washington has justified its decision by arguing that, despite nearly two decades of international support, insufficient progress has been made in degrading Al-Shabaab and that the Somali government has yet to assume full responsibility for the country’s security.
The United States said it has contributed nearly $2 billion to support the African Union missions in Somalia since 2007, along with $1.6 billion in bilateral assistance to troop-contributing countries. It added that it has also provided hundreds of millions of dollars to Somalia’s security forces and billions more in humanitarian and development assistance.
UNSOS has long served as the logistical backbone of AU operations in Somalia, supplying air transport, engineering, medical services, equipment and other essential support to troops deployed under the African Union mission.
