By WardheerNews
Editor’s Note: Somalia is a nation of duality, markedly characterized with extreme highs and lows. Whereas the majority of its society is deprived of any chance for education, a handful of its urban community members have a world class education and diplomatic experiences. Ambassador Abdillahi Said Osman, often known as Ambassador Osman in the diplomatic community, is one of those highly educated and diplomatic personalities. WardheerNews is pleased to introduce to its esteemed readers Ambassador Osman and his distinguished career in diplomacy and world politics.
Ambassador Osman has held numerous impressive positions where he contributed to governance, conflict resolution and institutional capacity building in Africa. The latest office he held was the Assistant Secretary General of the OAU (Organization of African Unity), now called African Union (AU). In his tenure at the OAU, Mr. Osman has played an important role in helping establish the democratization process that is taking root in Africa today. Among some of the projects he directly supervised includes the setting up of the legal instruments for the establishment of the AU Peace and Security Council. Abdelkarim A. Hassan has conducted this interview with Osman for WardheerNews.
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WardheerNews (WDN): Ambassador Osman, can you briefly tell us about your background?
Ambassador Osman: First I would like to thank WardheerNews for their tireless effort of bringing issues that are of interest to the Somali people wherever they may reside. For the consistency in providing quality news that keeps us informed about the current state of affairs and for providing a positive forum for exchange of ideas.
I was born in Berbera, I completed my primary and secondary education in Somali schools (Berbera and Amoud respectively) in1959 and after passing the GCE exam, I was granted a government scholarship to the UK for my higher education to study law. I pursued my studies at the University of Hull, Faculty of Law Yorks, England and was awarded a Law Degree LLB (Hons.) majoring in Public International Law and Mercantile/Corporate Law. I served as Secretary of the University Law Society and won the University Law Prize in my class. After passing the prescribed Bar exams, I was called to the English Bar and qualified as Barrister-at-Law 1963. I am a member of the Honorable Society of the Middle Temple and had my professional legal training at the Beans Chambers Temple, London under the supervision of Mr. Patrick Mayhew (QC) Northern Ireland, who became the Attorney General of U.K. and later Secretary for Ireland during the 80s. I also completed a graduate Master’s Degree at Long Island University (New York) during my tenure as UN Ambassador in New York. My thesis was on: The Refugee Crisis in Africa and The Role of International Organizations.
Having completed my education, I returned home and joined the Somali Public Service in April 1964 in fulfillment of my national obligation to apply my education in the service of my mother country. I had a very interesting and exciting professional career in the Somali Public Administration (1964-1990) during which I held a number of senior level positions including:
• Ambassador/Permanent representative to the United Nations, New York (1984-1990);
• Ambassador/Permanent representative to the UN office, Geneva (1976-84);
• Chief State Counsel (Avvocato Generale dello Stato) (1970-1976) Permanent Secretary;
• Ministry of Justice (1968-70) Director, Legal Department (1965-68) Legal Counselor of the Cabinet of the Prime Minister, (1965);
• Secretary to the Prime Minister (1964).
During my public service, I had the opportunity to Chair a number of legal and technical commissions particularly in the area of codification and legal integration.
At the international level, I attended many conferences and meetings held in different parts of the world under the auspices of the UN, OAU, Non-Aligned Movement and League of Arab States. I was adviser to the Somali delegation at the Ministerial talks on the Ethiopian/Somali dispute held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 1988, and later in Mogadishu. Earlier in 1967, I was a member of the Somali delegation at the Arusha Summit on the Somali/Kenya relations. During my tenure as the Somali Ambassador to the United Nations in New York and Geneva I served several times as chairman of both the Arab and the African ambassadors at the United Nations. I was also elected the Vice President of the General assembly of the United Nations in 1984.
In June 1991, I was elected OAU Assistant Secretary General by the African Summit held in Abuja, Nigeria, for a four year term and was later appointed OAU Senior Advisor till 1999. For the past five years I have been involved in a number of UN/AU assignments related to conflict resolution, legal and development issues. I have recently been appointed as Deputy Cluster Leader/ Consultant on Governance and Rule of Law for the UN/World Bank Joint Needs Assessment (JNA) on Somalia based in Nairobi. I am currently a Diplomat in Residence at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University and Advisor on Africa.
Read more: Interview with Amb. Abdillahi Osman
WardheerNews
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