29
Anytime that we get out of Hargeisa and we’re able to work with groups who are
not based in Hargeisa, I think we see a little bit more impact and the information
is better received…aside from Hargeisa, especially when it comes to governance
[programming], the country’s pretty much neglected…the comment you hear
over and over again is, “No one ever comes to talk to us.” The dissemination of
information outside of the capital is pretty much nonexistent… I think trying to
do politics, democracy, governance outside of the capital is a really
important…Getting out of Hargeisa, that should be the number one priority.
Voices outside Hargeisa just aren’t getting heard.
and:
Sometimes, a lot of times we find that rural communities are marginalized.
There's so much focus on the city and working in Hargeisa and working where
there is exposure, where is this infrastructure and so on, but there's a large rural
community… When we talk about citizens, a lot of Somaliland citizens are
nomadic. They’re moving from one place to another. They're farmers, they live
in rural communities, and then we just might forget that. We think everybody is
up the way they are in the city, which they're not really.
Shift in Focus to South Central/Position of Somaliland
The vast majority of donor and implementing partners IRI interviewed identified the position of
Somaliland within the greater Somalia context and/or the recent shift in focus of the
international community to South Central Somalia as an issue with the potential to greatly affect
donor support to Somaliland. Certainly, Somaliland’s status as a self-declared, but not
internationally recognized, independent state has posed challenges for donor engagement since
its start; donor governments cannot completely separate support to Somaliland from the
political, logistical and security implications of providing support to Somalia. Restrictions on
travel to Somalia for many personnel associated with Western governments, for example, have
applied to Somaliland as well. However, the 22-year period following the overthrow of the
Barre regime in 1991 provided an opportunity for attention to be focused on Somaliland, “an
island of relative peace and stability”
65
within the Horn of Africa region, generally, and
Somalia, specifically.
With the adoption of a provisional constitution and the indirect election of a parliament and
president in 2012, the view of South Central Somalia began to change as exemplified by the
United States’ formal recognition of the new Somali government on January 17, 2013.
66
Since
the installation of the new Somali government in 2012, “the aid community seems to be
warming up to Somalia, widely seen as a new ‘donor darling’ after decades of neglect.”
67
How
65
United Nations. News Centre.
New UN Envoy Hails Somaliland as ‘island of Relative Peace and Stability’ in
Insecure Region
.
UN News Centre
. United Nations, 13 June 2013. Web. Aug. 2013.
.
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The United States had not recognized a Somali government since the collapse of the Somali state in 1991.
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Ravelo, Jenny L. "Why MSF Pulled out of Somalia." Devex, 15 Aug. 2013. Web. Aug. 2013.
somalia/81626?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonuKvIde/hmjTEU5z17 UsWqW3hokz2EFye
LIHETpodcMS8RkNa TFAwTG5toziV8R7bNKc1r2NkQXBfn>.
