26
oversight, monitoring and standards setting for the partner districts. Each UN partner
implements components of the Joint Program on Local Governance and Decentralized Service
Delivery program. In its role, for example, UN Development Program also works with district
government officials to engage in government planning (including developing, updating and
revising their district development frameworks) and budgeting processes in a transparent and
participatory fashion and to improve coordination between district governments and ministries.
The UN Children’s Fund, conversely, focuses on coordinating civil society in planning
processes and conducting civic education and civic outreach.
In 2011, USAID commenced its Transition Initiatives for Stabilization program
56
, implemented
by Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI) and the International Organization for Migration
(IOM), with the goals of “increase[ing] confidence in all levels of governance through the
delivery of targeted, strategic interventions that improve service delivery; support[ing]
collaboration between government, private sector and civil society; and increase[ing] dialogue
on peace, recovery and development in Somalia.”
57
In Somaliland, DAI and IOM partnered directly with government ministries and district
administrations to provide in-kind grants for infrastructure projects (such as
construction/rehabilitation of roads, municipal buildings and schools) and the development and
implementation of government administrative systems (such as the establishment of revenue
collection centers in partnership with the Ministry of Finance and the piloting of a civil
registration system with the Ministry of Interior). Prior to the start of construction of
infrastructure projects, DAI supported Somaliland government partners to facilitate community
discussions and consensus-based planning processes with local stakeholders to identify and plan
an infrastructure project that meets the needs of and is tailored to the individual community.
Similarly, IOM utilized “a collaborative process that brings stakeholders together from the
inception of grant ideas, through implementation, to the closing of each grant.”
58
Local council elections in November 2012 ushered into office a host of newly-elected local
leaders, a transition that IRI, with funding from DFID, supported by offering a workshop on the
legal framework of local government in Somaliland based on Law No. 23/2007, and conducting
district-level public opinion surveys to provide councilors with information on citizen priorities,
satisfaction with various local services and how they view interactions and communications
with local government. This pilot program was implemented in two districts in Awdal and
Maroodi-Jeeh regions.
Support to the Media
International community support to media and journalists has likely been the most limited in
terms of democracy and governance programming provided to Somaliland, likely due to the
limited legal and political space that exists for the media to operate.
56
At the time of drafting, the Transition for Stabilization program was ongoing.
57
"Transition Initiatives for Stabilization (TIS-Somalia)."
U.S. Agency for International Development
. U.S. Agency
for International Development, n.d. Web. July 2013. <
-
initiatives-stabilization-tis-somalia>.
58
Transition Initiatives for Stabilization (TIS)
. Nairobi: International Organization for Migration, 2012. Print.
