Islamist movements and transitional governments, 2000–2012

What happened

• May to August 2000, Arta (Djibouti). Between 2,000 and 3,000 delegates, including elders, women (the "Sixth Clan"), religious leaders, business and the diaspora, formed the Transitional National Government (TNG). It was the first conference built on elders and civil society rather than armed leaders. It also formalised the "4.5" clan-share formula (Inclusive Peace, Graduate Institute Geneva; Rift Valley Institute). The TNG never ruled beyond part of Mogadishu.
• 2002 to 2004, Kenya. Talks led by the regional body IGAD produced the Transitional Federal Charter (February 2004) and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was elected president on 10 October 2004 (Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue).
• June 2006. The Islamic Courts Union (ICU), grown from local courts funded by business, took Mogadishu. It reopened the port and airport and made the streets safer, the first single authority in the city since 1991. Many residents valued the calm but feared its strict rules (Menkhaus, MERIP, 2007; Aisha Ahmad, International Security).
• December 2006. Ethiopian forces entered to back the TFG, and the ICU dissolved in Mogadishu (MERIP).
• 2007. The UN authorised an African Union mission, AMISOM (UN). Fighting in Mogadishu displaced about 400,000 people, and Human Rights Watch found all sides responsible for serious violations (HRW).
• June 2008. The TFG and the opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia signed the Djibouti Agreement (PA-X). Ethiopia completed its withdrawal in January 2009 (Al Jazeera), and parliament doubled to 550 seats to include the opposition.
• January 2009. Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a former ICU leader, became president, widening the government's base.
• 2011. Famine was declared on 20 July. About 260,000 people died between October 2010 and April 2012, half of them children under five (UN News). On 6 August Al-Shabaab withdrew from Mogadishu (Al Jazeera). In December the Garowe Principles set the path to end the transition (PA-X).
• 2012. On 1 August an 825-member National Constituent Assembly adopted the Provisional Constitution. On 10 September parliament elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud president (Britannica).

Who carried the banner

Elders, women's groups, business people, religious leaders and the diaspora who came to conference after conference; the regional states that co-signed the Garowe Principles; and the many Somalis who kept towns running without a state.

What the historians record

Each neighbour sponsored its own track of talks, and outside backers supported rival factions. Security delivered across clan lines drew public support quickly.

Why it matters

This period shows that Somalis kept coming back to the table, decade after decade, until a national framework was agreed.