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represent the citizens of Somaliland,” citizen representation did not find its way into subsequent
discussions on priorities. It may be telling that some respondents can cite the
Paris Declaration
with greater ease or frequency than poverty or literacy statistics. The design of future
programming may need to place greater emphasis on the link to constituencies and beneficiaries
to ensure that improving the lives of citizens remains the ultimate goal of assistance. This could
range from a focus on volunteer mobilization and community actions to the use of public
forums and SMS messaging for encouraging two-way feedback mechanisms.
Opportunity 7: Encourage coalition building between civil society and other actors.
The desire for improved coordination runs as a theme through official Somaliland documents,
workshop discussions, and stakeholder input. Given the simultaneous focus on local ownership,
international organizations should strive to be model participants, rather than leaders, in
coordination efforts. International actors, however, can help provide the tools that would
improve coordination and can encourage civil society to take the next step towards coalition
building. A coalition-building approach would enable individual stakeholders to maintain their
specific priorities, while building alliances with likeminded partners. Such an approach may
help move discussions past questions of information sharing and aid effectiveness to enlist a
wider range of actors – including the media, academia, faith-based organizations, the Diaspora,
and the business community – that can help achieve shared development goals, whether
discouraging unsafe migration practices or increasing input into parliamentary decision-making
processes. Related, cross-sector activities could include support for a civil society column in a
newspaper or website, the funding of university or other research organizations to conduct
research that informs advocacy, the planning of joint community actions with faith-based
organizations, encouraging outreach to diaspora volunteers, and providing opportunities for
networking with the private sector.
