25
Parliamentarians for Africa’s assistance has focused on providing support to legislative
committees.
Support to Political Parties
IRI has provided assistance to Somaliland’s political parties since 2003 with funding from
USAID and NED, though much of this political party programming has focused on preparing
them to participate in electoral processes (as described above). Following the 2005 elections,
IRI’s support to Somaliland’s three political parties included policy development and
communications training in the immediate post-election period, capacity building for political
party women and youth leagues and political party organizational development assistance. In
2007, IRI supported one member of each of Somaliland’s three political parties to participate in
its USAID-funded election observation mission of Kenya’s December 2007 general elections.
Following the 2012 local council elections, IRI focused on strengthening organizational
structure, improving internal communication and providing assistance with strategic planning to
all three political parties, including establishing, for the first time, district-level party branches
active outside of the election season and providing them with much needed political and
technical skills. IRI remains the only organization that works with political parties on their
development.
Support to Local Governments
In 2008, five constituent bodies of the United Nations (UN), including the International Labour
Organization, UN Development Program, UN Settlements Program, UN Capital Development
Fund and UN Children’s Fund, initiated the Somalia-wide UN Joint Program on Local
Governance and Decentralized Service Delivery program. The intent of the UN Joint Program
on Local Governance and Decentralized Service Delivery is to “support good governance
(transparency, accountability and participation) and effective management in regional and
district councils, increase public investment in basic services, and strengthen civic awareness
and participation in local decision-making and development.”
53
Funding for this program has
been contributed by the European Commission, the Swedish International Development
Cooperation Agency, the Danish International Development Agency, DFID, USAID, the Swiss
Agency for Development and Cooperation, and the governments of Norway and Italy.
54
Broadly speaking, the UN Joint Program on Local Governance and Decentralized Service
Delivery focuses on three key areas in support of decentralization and local governance: 1)
policy development and legal frameworks, 2) capacity development and 3) service delivery.
Through this program, funds are provided to district governments to finance small infrastructure
and social service projects. In Somaliland, the project works with seven target districts of
Borama, Gabiley, Hargeisa, Berbera, Zeila, Burao and Oodweyne, and additionally provides
capacity building support to relevant government ministries
55
as their roles relate to providing
53
"Joint Programme Fact Sheet."
JP Somalia Local Governance & Decentralization
. United Nations Development
Programme, n.d. Web. July 2013. <
=>.
54
"Joint Programme Fact Sheet."
JP Somalia Local Governance & Decentralization
. United Nations Development
Programme, n.d. Web. July 2013. <
=>.
55
UN Development Program, for example, works closely with the Ministry of Interior. International Labour
Organization, alternatively, works closely with the Ministry of Public Works on projects such as the building of
roads. As the UN Children’s Fund works primarily on health, water and education projects, it works closest with
the ministries relevant to the provision of those services.
