Challenges remain for Somalia despite a peace accord between its government and the opposition, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday.
"Somalia remains a challenge for the international community, but recent developments provide reason to hope," Ban said in his latest quarterly report to the Security Council.
The transitional federal government of Somalia and the opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia signed a peace agreement last month to end their conflict.
The agreement also called on the United Nations to deploy an international peacekeeping force to the troubled Horn of Africa nation, which has not had a functioning government since 1991.
"The key challenge now is in its implementation. I call on both parties to adhere to the terms of the agreement, in particular with regard to the cessation of hostilities and the facilitation of humanitarian access," the UN chief said.
Ban also issued a warning about the worsening humanitarian condition in the country.
Conditions "have taken a dramatic turn for the worse owing to the ongoing conflict, increasing food prices, a deepening drought that has hit a wide swathe of central Somalia, a poor start to the rainy season and increasing civil insecurity," he pointed out.
The number of Somalis in need of aid has risen to 2.6 million, or 35 percent of the population, said Ban, adding that attacks on aid providers were also on the increase.
Source: Xinhua
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