Nairobi, Kenya (CNN) -- A U.N. official who toured the Horn of Africa to assess its political climate thinks there's hope for war-torn and chaotic Somalia.

Lynn Pascoe, the U.N. under-secretary-general for political affairs, made stops in Djibouti, Eritrea, the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, the Somali capital of Mogadishu, and Kenya's capital of Narobi, where he spoke to reporters on Thursday.