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 towards conflict resolution in Somalia. 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, experiences, 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

DECLARATION............................................................................................................................ i

APPROVAL .................................................................................................................................. ii

DEDICATION..............................................................................................................................iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................. v

LIST OF TABLES..................................................................................................................... viii

LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... ix

LIST OF ABBREVIATION AND ACRONYM......................................................................... x

ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................................. xi

CHAPTER ONE............................................................................................................................. 1

INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1

1.0 Introduction............................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background of the Study .......................................................................................................... 1

1.1.1 Historical Perspective ............................................................................................................ 1

1.1.2 Theoretical perspective .......................................................................................................... 5

1.1.3 Conceptual Perspective.......................................................................................................... 6

1.1.4 Contextual Perspective........................................................................................................... 9

1.2 Statement of the Problem........................................................................................................ 10

1.3 Objectives of the study............................................................................................................ 11

1.3.1 General Objective ................................................................................................................ 11

1.3.2 Specific Objectives .............................................................................................................. 11

1.4 Research Questions................................................................................................................. 11

1.5 Scope of the Study .................................................................................................................. 11

1.5.1 Geographical Scope ............................................................................................................. 12

1.5.2 Content Scope ...................................................................................................................... 12

1.5.3 Time Scope .......................................................................................................................... 12

1.6 Significance of the Study........................................................................................................ 12

1.7 Definitions of key concepts .................................................................................................... 13

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

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............................................................................................................................. 58

APPENDIX I: TRANSMITTAL LETTER .................................................................................. 58

APPENDIX II: INFORMANT CONSENT.................................................................................. 59

APPENDIX III: QUESTIONNAIRE ........................................................................................... 60