UN closes UNTMIS, ending three decades of political missions in Somalia

31 October 2026

The United Nations Transitional Assistance Mission in Somalia, known as UNTMIS, wound up its work on 31 October 2026.
Its closure ends three decades of United Nations political missions in the Horn of Africa country.
Raisedon Zenenga, the UN Secretary-General's Deputy Special Representative for Somalia and Officer-in-Charge of UNTMIS, spoke at the ceremony marking the closure.
He said the UN's political engagement in Somalia had been one of persistence, partnership and adaptation, and that the closure follows considerable progress.
Somalia's central institutions collapsed in the early 1990s, and successive UN missions supported peacebuilding, governance and national reconciliation since then.
Somali federal and national institutions will now carry full responsibility for the country's recovery.
About 25 UN entities continue to work in Somalia on humanitarian and development support.