08 Sep Improving Aid Delivery through Localization in Somalia

On 6 September 2017, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management of the Federal Government of Somalia in collaboration with the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Office of the Deputy Representative of the UN Secretary General, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia and the Somalia NGO Consortium convened a half day workshop in Mogadishu with local and national responders from Somalia, titled Improving Aid Delivery through Localization in Somalia. Acknowledging that in many humanitarian situations the local responders are fundamental, the workshop provided a platform for humanitarian actors to find durable solutions to the challenges facing partnerships between local and international actors.

The meeting which brought together participants from the Somali government, the private sector, youth led social media campaigns, local and international NGOs, and donors explored ways in which actors could work better together to improve aid delivery in Somalia, taking into account the commitments made in May 2017 and the Grand Bargain. The Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Dr Maryan Qasim, in recognizing the constraints that exist, she called for a greater involvement of local actors in funding, adding that the federal government was committed to establish a disaster management fund, which would welcome contributions from all stakeholders, including local actors.

In respect to such successful collaborations, the workshop participants committed to:

• Building stronger partnerships amongst all actors through coordination mechanisms that will promote long term engagements.
• Use the existing platforms (and, if needed, create new ones) that will allow for regular communications on needs assessment, implementation of programmes, progress and feedback.
• Create collaborative planning and funding mechanisms that will support the strengthening of the capacities of local actors.
• To work with existing movements like Cawiwaalal and create a pool of volunteers in different parts of the country to work with on disaster preparedness, response and management.
• To establish a disaster management fund.