The African Union warns Somalia’s fragile progress risks collapse without nearly $200 million in funding for its final peace mission, exposing deep divisions among donors over who should bankroll African security.
The African Union’s top official has issued a blunt warning: Somalia’s fragile stability could unravel unless international partners urgently step up.
Speaking on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, AU Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf appealed for $196 million in funding for 2025 to sustain the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM).
Youssouf praised Mogadishu’s recent gains — from debt relief to a historic UN Security Council seat — but said al-Shabaab remains a lethal threat. “Somalia cannot shoulder this burden alone,” he said. “Without urgent, predictable, and sustainable financing, hard-won achievements risk being undone.”
AUSSOM, launched in January as the successor to ATMIS, is billed as the AU’s final mission in Somalia, a transitional force designed to hand responsibility back to Somali security forces.
The AU has already doubled its Peace Fund contribution to $20 million, but Youssouf said the gap remains vast, calling on the UN, EU and other partners to “match Africa’s commitment.”
The plea highlights a deeper fracture among donors. Some Western capitals argue that hybrid UN-AU funding models are riddled with inefficiencies, while others warn that without such backing, security gains in the Horn of Africa will evaporate.
The funding stalemate also raises uncomfortable questions: can Somalia’s federal government realistically absorb the full security burden when al-Shabaab still stages bombings in the capital, and when regional rivalries fuel instability?
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who chaired the pledging session, framed the mission as a bridge toward sovereignty: “Together, let us ensure Somalia’s future is defined by hope, not relapse.” But behind the rhetoric lies a harsher truth.
With international attention pulled to Gaza and Ukraine, Somalia risks slipping back down the global agenda.
Unless the money comes through, AUSSOM could join AMISOM and ATMIS as another underfunded experiment in international security — and Somalia’s fragile calm could once again tip into chaos.
