FGS Sign New Joint Programmes with UN, donors.
The Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and the United Nations (UN) have launched joint programmes to kick-start implementation of a process to rebuild critical Somali State institutions as the country continues on the road to recovery.
The implementation of these programmes, which focus on Federal State formation, Constitutional Review and Implementation, Elections, Rule of Law, Youth Employment, and Capacity Development through the Strengthening Institutional Performance, will be led by the Federal Government of Somalia with joint support from the European Union, the United Nations, and other partners.
The launch in Mogadishu on Wednesday was marked by a signing ceremony between Philippe Lazzarini, the UN Resident Coordinator, and various members of the Somali Cabinet led by the Somali Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Abdirahman Aynte.
The signing ceremony follows joint discussions and endorsement of the programmes by the FGS Cabinet, the UN, and a group of donor partners, composed of the European Union (EU), Denmark, Italy, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom (DFID). It is also the culmination of a process that began nearly two years ago during a conference in Brussels, where the New Deal Compact for Somalia was officially endorsed.
Minister Aynte expressed gratitude to the donors for their support and to the UN for working closely to design and ensure that the programmes meet the well-intended targets in line with the country’s Peacebuilding and State-building Goals (PSGs) and the New Compact Deal for Somalia.
Aynte said, “2015 was supposed to be the year of delivery and we are almost halfway through already but we are delighted that we are signing, probably, the most important programmes that are going to help our government and key government institutions to deliver on Peacebuilding and State-building Goals as they were intended within the Compact programme”.
Lazzarini said the launch of the joint programmes under the Somalia Development and Reconstruction Facility marks an important milestone for the UN’s engagement in Somalia.
“The significance of this ceremony is also to demonstrate that the processes put in place since the adoption of the (New Deal) Compact are now being translated into concrete activities and results on the ground,” said Lazzarini, outgoing Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to Somalia.
According to Aynte, the FGS commits to ensure that programme implementation happens quickly, and there is already high-level commitment from the government and Prime Minister Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, who has formed a Cabinet-level committee to monitor the progress made.
Speaking on behalf of the donor partners, Daria Fané, the Head of Development Cooperation for the EU Delegation to Somalia said, “It’s an important moment of delivery in our collective commitments towards the New Deal. And I would like today on behalf of my Ambassador and the EU member States who contribute, to thank UN and the Somali Government, particularly also the coordinating efforts from the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation and the Aid Coordination Unit; but also the line ministries that have been involved here, for their partnership and collective effort in making it happen”.
