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Somaliland: SONSAF Holds Consultative Conference on Somaliland Trust Fund

March 28, 2012 · 269961 Comments2012-03-29+03%3A25%3A06Mohamed+I.+Haji+Abdi

HARGEISA(SomalilandPress)-Somaliland Non State Actors Forum (SONSAF) held a conslutative meeting on how Somaliland Development Fund is to function in line with Somaliland National Development Plan on Wednesday March 28 at Mansor Hotel in Hargeisa.

Wednesday’s meeting was chaired by the Executive Director of SONSAF Hon Mohamed Ahmed Mohamud who gave a brief summary of Somaliland Development Fund (SDF) and purpose of the consultative meeting. Mr. Mohamed Mohamud acknowledged that the purpose of the meeting is to find options on how the fund should be managed and governed since this will be the first time that aid will channeled directly to local organizations.

Present during the meeting was Miss Tuesday consultant with STATT (A Consultative firm based in Hong kong) which has been contracted by DFID and DANIDA to undertake critical analytical and consultative step towards the design of the proposed donor fund in Somaliland.
The key question raised during the meeting were as follows:
Types of expenditures:
· What types of expenditures should be used on?
· Which sectors should be funded?
· Should the specify windows/sectors/priorities for fund? How specific should those windows be?
· Is earn marking better to increase clarity over what funds should be used for?

Management and Governance
· What options are there for how the fund should be managed and governed?
· How can donors get the comfort they require an financial management, procurement and reporting?
· How the SDF can also supports development of budget processes, sector strategies and public

Financial Management Reforming?
After long deliberations and devising, the participants made some suggestions on key questions as described below:

Purpose of the SDF
· Generate and attract other funds available for Somaliland.
· Improve aid effectiveness and public financial management system.
· Address the national priorities as outlined in the financial management system.
· Address the national development plan.
· Contribute to public institutional building and employment creation.
· Increase public trust, accessibility and sustainability.
· Contribute better coordination monitoring and evaluation.
· Development programs contributing to employment creation.
· Institutional building and public management reforms.

1) Sectors recommended in respect to National Development Plan
· Infrastructure,Livestock,Water,Fishing,Agriculture,Health & Environment
2) Management and governance in this section, participants recommended establishing a committee that will undertake the overall SDF activities including planning, execution, monitoring and evaluation.

The participants suggest that the committee should consist of donors, Somaliland government, civil society, and the private sectors.

· Establish SDF Board of Trustee, SDF management committee, Development Somaliland Trust fund policy in order to ensure legitimacy of finding modalities.

· Encourage citizen contribution to SDF process.

The Somaliland Development Fund(SDF) has been proposed jointly by DFID and DANIDA to support increased National Ownership of the aid agenda and development process by the government of Somaliland. The two donors have embarked in excess of $25 million dollars over a period of three years between the years of 2012-2015 for the fund and it is likely that other donors may chose to use this financing modality to support National Priorities once the fund is in operation.

The overall objective of SDF will be to support a more and prosperous Somaliland however, given the size of the fund, there is a need to prioritize , and thus the focus of the fund is still to be defined. However, it is hoped that SDF will contribute to a government with a better fiscal management, that will
be in a position to fund National Priorities, allocated on objective basis and which will have an impact on
citizens lives.

About SONSAF
SONSAF aims to strengthen non state actors in Somaliland to engage in domestic and international
Policy dialogue and decision making to bring about a secure and peaceful future for the people of Somaliland. SONSAF speaks of a broader Somaliland such as poverty reduction, good governance, democracy, peace and security.

Somalilandpress
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Wednesday, March 28, 2012

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By Mohamed I. Haji Abdi

Tags: Somalil, Somaliland news, SONSAF

inayuusuf says:

How close the name of SONAF Executive Director is to our president’s name! At the first glimpse, I really thought it’s the president himself.

3:06 am on March 31, 2012

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