Somalilandsun – International partners have welcomed the continued progress being made towards achieving the Somaliland-specific goals as set out in the Somaliland Special Arrangement-SSA.
This is per a joint communiqué by Government of Somaliland and International Donor community pertaining to the High Level Aid Coordination Forum of the 3rd and 4th November, 2014 held in Hargeisa where the partners also welcomed the strong partnership between the government, civil society, and international community while also noting that the enabling environment present in Somaliland, in particular with regard to safety, security and local engagement continues to provide a strong foundation for continued international cooperation.
Below are the verbatim excerpts of the joint Communiqué
Somaliland High Level Aid Coordination Forum, Hargeisa Somaliland
Joint Communiqué 3-4 November, 2014
Peace, stability, democracy and development has a regional and international dimension. Hence, our successes and our failures are matters of interest to the international community.
The seventh High Level Aid Coordination Forum took place in Hargeisa on 3 and 4 November 2014. This Forum which brought together Somaliland government, civil society and the donor community was a meeting among partners in a joint project.
The High Level Aid Coordination Forum represents the key platform for engagement between the Government of Somaliland and international partners.
The meeting was officially opened by the President of the Republic of Somaliland H.E Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud (Siilanyo) and co-chaired by H.E. Saad Ali Shire, Minister of National Planning and Development and H.E Geert A. Andersen, Ambassador of Denmark, Phil Evans, Head of DFID Somaliland and Somalia, and Sheikh Cisse, UN Resident Coordinator, a.i. It was attended by over 220 delegates from the Somaliland Government, members of parliament, and representatives from the civil society and the private sector. International participation included delegations from Australia, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, as well representatives from Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the African Development Bank, the European Union, the United Nations, the World Bank and the NGOs Consortium.
This was the second time in 2014 in which all the parties met to discuss the development needs and the ongoing partnership between Somaliland and the international community under the Somali Compact.
Discussions focused on progress achieved in Somaliland towards implementation of the New Deal Somali Compact, and specifically, the Somaliland Special Arrangement. Participants were provided with detailed updates on the actions taken in Somaliland in implementing key priorities within the areas of inclusive politics, security, justice, decentralization, economic growth, and revenue generation and service provision.
The international partners welcomed the continued progress being made towards achieving the Somaliland-specific goals as set out in the Somaliland Special Arrangement. The partners welcomed the strong partnership between the government, civil society, and international community. The international partners also noted that the enabling environment present in Somaliland, in particular with regard to safety, security and local engagement continues to provide a strong foundation for continued international cooperation.
Notwithstanding the commendable progress achieved to date, the participants acknowledged that opportunities are present for scaling up implementation of the Somaliland priorities set out in the Somaliland Special Arrangement. In particular, it was recognized that key legislative changes in fundamental areas such as public financial management, civil service, justice, investment environment and media are required to ensure that reforms continue to swiftly move from paper to practice.
Moreover participants agreed that holding timely elections in 2015 is of outmost importance to ensure the safeguarding of democratic principles that strengthen the legitimacy and accountability of Somaliland’s political system.
The participants noted the importance of increasing use of -locally owned and driven systems, so as to build the capacity of Somaliland institutions, and acknowledged the opportunities present for more large-scale transformational programmes to be introduced in Somaliland.
The participants also welcomed progress made in establishing a robust monitoring and evaluation framework for the Somaliland Special Arrangement and agreed that strong sector coordination be essential for continued, coordinated, development support in Somaliland.
All participants expressed their strong commitment to continue to use the High Level Aid Coordination Forum as the fora for discussing and agreeing continued strong support to the development goals of Somaliland.
The Somaliland development partners group co-chairs – the UK and Denmark – said: “Both the Somaliland Government and Donors are committed to implementing the New Deal in the spirit of partnership, shared commitments and mutual accountability. So we as Donors are providing more predictable funding to, for example, the SDF and the World Bank Multi-Partner fund, and in turn the Government needs to create the right regulatory environment through passage of crucial legislation such as the five public financial management Bills – the backbone of our joint commitment to improving public financial management”.
In attendance:
Government of Somaliland
Australian High Commission
Royal Danish Embassy
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany
Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Embassy of Sweden
Embassy of Switzerland
Embassy of the Republic of Turkey
UK Department for International Development
United States Agency for International Development
African Development Bank
European Union
Intergovernmental Authority on Development
United Nations
World Bank
NGO Consortium
Somaliland Non State Actors Forum (SONSAF)
