Closed Consultations on the AU Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM)

Drafted by Africa Security Analysis based on United Nations Security Council report

On the morning of Monday, 12 May, the Security Council will hold closed consultations at the request of Somalia—an elected Council member for the 2025–2026 term—and the United Kingdom, which serves as penholder on the file. These consultations will focus exclusively on the funding arrangements for the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM); no briefing is scheduled.

Background
At the end of 2024, through Resolution 2767 (27 December), the Council endorsed the AU Peace and Security Council’s decision to transition from the AU Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) to AUSSOM for an initial 12-month period beginning 1 January 2025. That resolution also invited the Secretary-General to implement, in hybrid form from 1 July, the financing framework established under Resolution 2719 (21 December 2023) for AU-led peace operations—permitting UN assessed contributions to cover up to 75 percent of AUSSOM’s budget—provided the Council confirms this decision by 15 May.

Independent Strategic Review and Cost Savings
To inform its decision, the Council will consider the Independent Strategic Review (ISR) of the UN Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS), co-led by Maman Sidikou (Niger) and Neil Cole (South Africa), and supported by AU and UN technical teams. Though originally due by 1 April, the ISR (S/2025/268, circulated 1 May) was delayed allowing further consultations. It identifies USD 61.6 million in potential savings—USD 43.2 million in operational costs and USD 18.4 million in staffing—through efficiency gains, resource optimisation, and the scaling back of lower-risk support activities, to be realised in a phased manner.

In transmitting the ISR, the Secretary-General noted a remaining funding gap for hybrid implementation under Resolution 2719. Subsequent AU–UN consultations yielded an agreement to secure an additional USD 63.3 million in savings—bringing total cost reductions to USD 124.9 million—through measures such as retaining the current troop reimbursement rate (USD 828 per person per month), excluding death and disability compensation from assessed funding, rationalising aviation assets, seeking voluntary contributions for UNMAS, and adjusting contingent-owned equipment levels.

Preparations for Hybrid Financing and Extra-Budgetary Contributions
In a 7 May report (S/2025/295), the Secretary-General detailed progress on the four workstreams outlined in the AU-UN roadmap: joint mission planning; mission support; financing and budgeting; and compliance and protection of civilians. That report also updated the status of the 25 percent of AUSSOM’s budget to be raised through extra-budgetary contributions. Based on the USD 828 reimbursement rate, AUSSOM’s revised annual budget is estimated at USD 166.5 million, leaving USD 41.6 million to be mobilised. So far, AU member states have pledged USD 10 million from the Peace Fund, and Japan and the Republic of Korea have committed a further USD 4.5 million, leaving a USD 27 million shortfall.

Council Deliberations and Positions
Council members are expected to exchange views on whether to endorse the hybrid financing model under Resolution 2719. The “A3 plus” (Algeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Guyana), EU members, Panama, the ROK—and even China, Russia, and Pakistan—have signalled support for this approach, emphasising the need for diversified contributions and robust cost-sharing. By contrast, the United States continues to oppose the application of the 2719 framework to Somalia’s context, and on 2 May, a group of U.S. senators introduced the “AUSSOM Funding Restriction Act of 2025” to bar U.S. funding under that mechanism and require opposition to any Council endorsement.

Monday’s closed consultations will therefore serve to align members on AUSSOM’s financing outlook, assess the ISR’s recommendations and the Secretary-General’s progress report, and debate a path toward a sustainable funding arrangement that preserves recent security gains in Somalia without creating a dangerous vacuum.