International Rescue Committee Hands off Successful Projects in Twenty Villages

The International Rescue Committee, as a member of the Governance and Peace-building Consortium, is formally handing over 20 community-driven development projects to Village Committees in each of the 20 villages across Burtinle and Garowe districts in the Puntland State of Somalia.

The ceremony will take place in Burtinle town in partnership with the Puntland Ministry of Interior on Wednesday, October 22, 2014 at 9 a.m. Among the accomplishments to be celebrated are the building of schools and health posts, and presenting to the wider community initiatives for inclusive, transparent leadership and participatory decision-making.

Funded by UK Aid, IRC is implementing Hogaan Iyo Nabad “Strengthening Governance and Peace Building in Somalia” through activities to support village institutions to clearly define roles and responsibilities and ensure upstream linkages are forged between the village institutions and the districts.

The program is designed to focus on strengthening local leadership and supporting communities to become capable to continue projects started without Consortium support.

The community projects have taken place in twenty villages, 18 in Burtinle district and 2 in Garowe. Beginning in late 2013, the District Council exercised its mandate of confirming the Village Committees of seven members, whose duty is to continually consult the community on priorities for development and on-going projects. The Committees then each chose a project to implement with IRC’s support – many chose schools and health facilities, some markets.

With the handover of the projects in the October 22 ceremony, it is expected that communities will continue to work closely with the Village Committees, and District Councils to advocate support from central government in sustaining development initiatives.