Djibouti, 29 October 2025 — Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is expected to arrive in Djibouti this evening to attend the 25th anniversary of the Arta Peace Conference, a landmark event that played a pivotal role in Somalia’s post-war reconciliation and state-building efforts.
The commemoration, which officially opens on Thursday in the town of Arta, will be inaugurated by Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh.
The event brings together key Somali leaders, including former presidents and current government officials, to honor the historic 2000 peace talks that paved the way for the formation of Somalia’s first transitional government.
Former Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who arrived in Djibouti on Tuesday, is among those confirmed to attend the ceremony.
The 2000 Arta Conference, hosted by Djibouti under the leadership of President Guelleh, led to the establishment of the Transitional National Government (TNG) — the first internationally recognized Somali government since the state’s collapse in 1991.
Although the TNG later dissolved, the peace process it initiated paved the way for subsequent negotiations in Kenya (2002–2004), which resulted in the creation of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), and later culminated in the establishment of Somalia’s permanent federal institutions.
The anniversary event is expected to celebrate Djibouti’s enduring role in Somali peacebuilding and to reflect on the progress and challenges of Somalia’s state-building journey over the past quarter century.