Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the progress of efforts to establish a credible, nationwide electoral framework in Somalia ahead of the national elections scheduled to take place in 2020.

Somalia has committed to hold inclusive one-person-one-vote elections in 2020 and progress has been made in charting a path towards this. We call on Somalia's leaders to honour that commitment with an election that gives voters a meaningful opportunity to choose their representatives and enables women, minority groups, internally displaced persons and people with disabilities to participate fully.

It is positive that the National Electoral Law has been drafted. The next steps are the passage of the National Electoral Law by Parliament, the drafting of supporting regulations, the amendment to the political parties law and the finalisation of the Constitutional Review process. In 2019 progress is needed on voter registration, voter education and practical preparations for election day.