United Nations and Conflict Resolution in Somalia

ABSTRACT The study sought to examine United Nations and Conflict Resolution in Somalia. The study objectives were; to establish the contributions of the United Nations towards conflict resolution in Somalia, to identify the challenges facing the United Nations towards conflict resolution in Somalia and to examine the possible solutions to the challenges facing the United Nations luards conflict ie~oiution in Sumaha. The study was based on conflict theory. The theory of conflict is a theory proposed by Karl Marx which states that society is in a state of perpetual conflict because of competition for limited resources. The study applied a cross-sectional design to reflect aspects of the perception, feelings, experi~nces, facts and emotional feelings of the study participants in examining the impact of the United Nations on conflict resolution in Somalia. This was because the research questions that were generated require the observation of explanatory, descriptive and analytical aspects of the research. Simple random approach was used during the study. Data was collected from primary and secondary sources using questionnaires. After collecting data, the data was presented in tabular forms and percentages. The study findings revealed that the average mean of Contributions of the UN in conflict resolution in Somalia was 3.9 which were also very high on the scale and this implies that there are numerous contributions of the UN in conflict resolution in Somalia. The study on the challenges facing the United Nations towards conflict resolution in Somalia revealed that there is big challenge of absence of a mechanism to empower the judgments of the International Court of Justice, UN in Somalia is distribution of power according to cultural, economic, and military influence, the UN faces a challenge of lack of strong security measures to safeguard the people in Somalia and that there is a weak government institutions in Somalia which affects the operations of the UN, While the findings on the possible solutions to the challenges facing the United Nations towards conflict resolution in Somalia revealed that there is need for the UN in Somalia to work with other conflict resolution agencies, UN needs to ensure the conflict parties in peace talks to abide by their commitments, there is also need to equip the UN peace keepers in Somalia with adequate training and skills in conflict resolution, there should be strong commitment to resist endorsing un-achievable or ill-conceived mandates in Somalia and UN needs to do more to help expand the pool of willing and capable troop and police contributors. The study concluded that it is necessary to collaborate with others agencies for the conflict resolution to provide credible and achievable mandates for United Nations operations. The study also recommended that the UN also should also prime the pump to generate even more peacekeepers to maintain peace in conflict hit areas and thus protect the human rights especially for civilians.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

DEDICATION

APPROVAL

DECLARATION .

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF FIGURES ix

LIST OF ABBREVIATION AND ACRONYM x

ABSTRACT xi

CHAPTER ONE i

INTRODUCTION i

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study 1

1.1.1 Historical Perspective i

1.1.2 Theoretical perspective 5

1.1.3 Conceptual Perspective 6

[.1.4 Contextual Perspective 9

[.2 Statement of the Problem 10

[.3 Objectives of the study 11

[.3.1 General Objective 11

[.3.2 Specific Objectives 11

.4 Research Questions 11

.5 Scope of the Study 11

.5.1 Geographical Scope 12

.5.2 Content Scope 12

.5.3 Time Scope 12

.6 Significance of the Study 12

.7 Definitions of key concepts 13

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CHAPTER TWO .14

LITERATURE REVIEW 14

2.0 Introduction 14

2.1 Theoretical Review 14

2.2 Conceptual framework 15

2.3 Related Literature 16

2.3.1 Contributions of the UN in conflict resolution in Somalia 16

2.3.2 The Challenges faced by the UN in Conflict Resolution in Somalia 18

2.3.3 Addressing the challenges faced by the UN in conflict resolution in Somalia 22

2.4 Empirical Studies 24

2.5 Research Gap 26

CHAPTER THREE 27

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 27

3.1. Introduction 27

3.2. Research Design 27

3.3 Study Population 27

3.5 Sample Procedure 29

3.5.1 Purposive sampling 29

3.5.2 Random Sampling 29

3.6 Sources of Data 30

3.7 Research Instruments 30

3.7.1 Questionnaires 30

3.8 Validity and Reliability of research Instrument 30

3.8.1 Validity of Research Instrument 30

3.8.2 Reliability of Research Instrument 32

3.9 Data Processing 34

3.9.1 Data Analysis 35

3.10 Ethical Consideration 35

3.11. Limitation of the study 35

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CHAPTER FOUR .37

DATA PRESENTATION, INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS 37

4.0 Introduction 37

4.1 Showing demographic characteristics of the respondents 37

4.2 Findings on contributions of the UN in conflict resolution in Somalia 40

4.3 Findings on the challenges faced by the UN in conflict resolution in Somalia 43

4.4 Findings on the solutions to overcome the challenges faced by the UN in conflict resolution

in Somalia 45

CHAPTER FIVE 47

DISCUSSIONS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 47

5.0 Introduction 47

5.1 Discussions of findings 47

5.1.1 Demographic characteristics of the respondents 47

5.1.2 Contributions of the UN in conflict resolution in Somalia 47

5.1.3 Challenges faced by the UN in conflict resolution in Somalia 48

5.1.4 Solutions to overcome the challenges faced by the UN in conflict resolution in Somalia. ..48

5.2 Conclusions 49

5.2.1 Contributions of the UN in conflict resolution in Somalia 49

5.2.2 The challenges faced by the UN in conflict resolution in Somalia 49

5.3 Recommendations 50

5.3.1 Contributions of the UN in conflict resolution in Somalia 50

5.3.2 The challenges faced by the UN in conflict resolution in Somalia 51

5.3.3 Addressing the challenges faced by the UN in conflict resolution in Somalia 52

5.4 Areas of further research 53

REFERENCES 54

APPENDICES 59

APPENDIX I: TRANSMITTAL LETTER 59

APPENDIX II: INFORMANT CONSENT 60

APPENDIX III: QUESTIONNAIRE 61