Republic of Somaliland NDP III 2023-2027

February 24, 2018 admin@somalilandeconomic.com No Comment 797 Views

Republic of Somaliland National Development Plan III 2023-2027

The Government of Somaliland has developed successive development plans to address its national development challenges. The National Development Plan (NDP III, 2023-2027) is a medium-term strategy designed to unlock the country’s potential in all sectors of the economy to achieve inclusive, sustainable development and poverty reduction. The NDP III builds on the achievements and lessons learned during the NDP II period (2017-2021), which concluded in December 2021, and aims to achieve the socio-economic transformation envisioned in the Somaliland National Vision 2030. During the NDP II period, the country grappled with external shocks and the persistent drought in the sub-region. The global shock of the COVID-19 pandemic taught Somaliland – and the entire world – the importance of building resilience in the economy, especially for the poor and vulnerable. As such, one of the notable updates to the NDP III is the addition of the Social Protection sector and climate change adaptation alternatives to strengthen the economy’s resilience to recurrent shocks. The NDP III envisages a diversified and resilient economy anchored on the principles of sustainable development. The plan prioritizes physical and human capital development as conduits to economic development. The NDP III will include significant investments to uplift infrastructure, mining and extractives, water facilities, and food security, and build on achievements in the health and education sectors. As in the past, the government’s investments in the overall governance architecture remain high, as no meaningful development can occur without democracy and the rule of law. The NDP III has many strategies to support economic development by improving the business environment for the active participation of domestic investors and attracting foreign direct investment. The plan will continue to emphasise easing the process for registering businesses through one-stop shops, enhancing financing conditions, improving energy access, and lowering costs to reduce the burden on businesses.

The NDP III outcomes and cost estimates are the aspirations of the various sectors and government institutions over the next five years.

The plan is meant to clarify the direction and structure of Somaliland’s national development, providing common ground for dialogue, facilitating the participation of a wide range of stakeholders and development partners, and promoting synergies to achieve shared goals. In this context, an essential precondition of successful implementation is “mutual alignment”. As the government is committed to aligning resources from the national budget with the NDP III, development partners are encouraged to follow suit based on international principles of development cooperation, as enshrined in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.

As part of the NDP III implementation strategy, the government has initiated a National Development Fund (NDF) that is based on transparent and accountable governance principles to facilitate joint financing of priority interventions. The government will engage with development partners to build the NDF into a central financing mechanism for Somaliland’s long-term development.

The implementation of the NDP III will also involve the government engaging with its development partners and inviting them to jointly formulate National Flagship Programmes (NFPs) with clearly defined plans, budgets, implementation arrangements, and committed finances. These NFPs are designed to address the following priorities:

Boosting Somaliland’s economic and private sector development and exploring and maximizing opportunities and multiplier

effects created by recent significant private sector investments.

Improving the resilience and livelihoods of agro-pastoral and pastoral communities in areas most vulnerable to climate change and recurring droughts.
Developing climate-smart infrastructure in partnership with local governments and the private sector to improve access to affordable services crucial for developing value chains and private sector initiatives, such as energy, water, roads, information and communications technology, and markets, among others.
Broadening and accelerating support to the decentralisation process that was started with support from the UN Joint Programme on Local Governance (JPLG).

The government will commit sufficient resources to monitor the NDP III during its implementation. All ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) are called upon to reinforce their internal capacity to continuously monitor progress through outcome targets and annual operational benchmarks. A separate NDP III Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) supplement provides technical guidance to MDA staff to harmonise monitoring and reporting efforts across government institutions. The learning from the mid- and end-term evaluations will offer vital recommendations for the formulation of Somaliland’s next Vision Paper. It is critical that monitoring and evaluation are conceived and implemented as joint exercises, leading to broad ownership of conclusions and recommendations

Finally, I want to reiterate the importance of alignment by all stakeholders in terms of objectives, choice of interventions, financial commitments, institutional and implementation arrangements, and monitoring and reporting on progress. I am confident that with the spirit of alignment, the NDP III will successfully improve the lives of my fellow citizens.

1.1 Introduction

In 1991, Somaliland had the enormous task of building a functional state after the devastating effects of the civil war that caused tremendous damage to the country. With determination, successive governments laid the foundations upon which to build future developments.

Thus, the country’s development evolved out of a process of more than twenty years of grassroots peacebuilding and state-building. Over this time, the Somaliland government started engaging a range of international partners, including the United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, the European Union, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and a range of United Nations agencies and national and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs/INGOs).

The first joint effort to work towards a common understanding of the priorities of Somaliland was the 2006 Joint Needs Assessment (JNA), leading to the 2007-2010 Reconstruction and Development Plan (RDP), conducted together with the United Nations and the World Bank.

These processes informed the thinking behind Somaliland’s first National Development Plan (NDP I, 2012-2016).

The then Ministry of National Planning and Development (MoPND) went on to develop the Somaliland Vision 2030. NDP I was written to operationalise the country’s vision and communicate with citizens and the diaspora.

At the start of NPD I, Somaliland was considered, by World Bank estimates, to be one of the poorest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$347. At the time, this was the fourth lowest in the world, ahead of Malawi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Burundi.

With perseverance and much needed reforms, including improved budgeting and planning of domestic resources, the National Development Plan II (2017-2021) achieved steady growth for the period, with GDP per capita increasing from US$557 to US$775. Compared to initial estimates in 2012, this is a jump from the fourth poorest country in the world to the eighteenth poorest in the world.

This steady growth has caused changes to the structure of the economy. Although still largely pastoralist and with livestock rearing a mainstay in the economy, other sectors have witnessed significant growth over the years. This is especially true of the service sectors, notably in retail trade, tourism (due to relative peace), and financial services, with remittances playing a catalytic role in the economy.

Leveraging the significant diaspora population, remittances continue to be the main flow of finance into the country together with development assistance. These serve as both a social safety net and key contributors to the growth in various sectors, especially in construction.

The re-emergence of the Berbera Port, with investments of US$440 million from Dubai Ports World, and its complementary infrastructure, the Berbera Corridor, is a testimony to the growing strategic role Somaliland could play in the Horn of Africa, reaping a peace and stability dividend. This is indicative of the improved investment climate in the country, with increased opportunities for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into other underdeveloped sectors such as fisheries and commercial agriculture. The oil exploration deal with Taiwan is another example of the improvements to and confidence in the business environment in Somaliland.

1.2 Demographics of Somaliland

The population of Somaliland was estimated to be 3.6 million in 2014 (47.9 percent male and 52.1 percent female) and projected to increase to 4.2 million in 2020, using a growth rate of 2.93 percent, with the bulk of the population living in urban centres.

The population of Somaliland has an average household size of six with 48 percent of the population being under the age 15 and roughly 72 percent of the population being under 30 years. Similarly, 48 percent of the population is within the working age group (15-64).

Somaliland’s population is young and has become more urbanised over time due to several factors, including repeated droughts. However, there is still a significant proportion of Somaliland’s population living outside of urban areas, whether living in rural settlements or as nomadic pastoralists. Urban, rural, and nomadic households differ significantly in terms of economic activities, sources of income, and consumption patterns, but also in terms of public service delivery challenges, such as the basic services of education, health, water, and sanitation. Although poverty is present across the country, those in non-urban areas are more deprived.

The different population groups stand at 53 percent urban dwellers, 11 percent residents in rural settlements, and 34 percent nomadic and agro-pastoral communities. Meanwhile, two percent of the population lives in settlements for Internally Displaced People (based on government and UN estimates). Having one of the highest fertility rates in the world, Somaliland has a broad-based age pyramid.

The population is demographically very young, with nearly two-thirds (61 percent) of Somaliland’s population aged less than 25 years and around three-quarters (74 percent) aged below 30 years.

Youth between 15-29 years of age constitute 26 percent of the population, while older persons (65 years and above) comprise only 6 percent of the total population. Nearly half (48 percent) of the population is within the working age (1564 years), highlighting the need to create jobs and ensure that training or education address the needs of the labour market. The sex and age distribution of the population is presented by the population pyramid in Figure 1.

The growing urban population is already reshaping the socio-economic dynamics in Somaliland. More individuals in cities mean an increased demand for services and jobs.

Also, this new trend is putting pressure on prices, particularly for food and housing. Somaliland’s economy is based on a dichotomous employment situation. Unemployment levels in urban Somaliland are exceptionally high – as much as 70 percent nationally.

On the one hand, there is an emerging service sector, which is generating increasing levels of quality jobs, but which are not adequately catered for by the local educational and training institutions. On the other hand, the bulk of the population is engaged in the traditional sectors of pastoralism, agro-pastoralism, artisan fisheries, and trade, which require minimum levels of education and are not expected in their present situation to lead to improved livelihoods. To the contrary, these sectors are coming under increased threats due to the consequences of climate change.

Diversifying the income sources of the population is a challenge that Somaliland must face. The creation of meaningful and adequate employment sources is a challenge every government must tackle.

Chapter 2 ACHIEVEMENTS TOWARDS VISION 2030 GOALS

2.1 Somaliland Vision 2030 and NDP III Structure Pillars and Sectors

In 2011, after 20 years of remarkable progress as an independent country, Somaliland decided to embark on the formulation of a vision that could encapsulate its long-term aspirations. The Somaliland National Vision 2030: A Stable, Democratic and Prosperous Country Where People Enjoy a High Quality of Life was developed, considering Somaliland’s past, present, and envisioned future.

Since its inception, the Somaliland National Vision 2030 has provided common goals concerning Somaliland’s future, enabling the country to take ownership of its development agenda. It also inspires the nation and its leadership to mobilise resources and overcome development challenges to attain higher standards of living. Moreover, the vision guides development partners to align their assistance with national priorities and aspirations. Importantly, it provides a framework upon which national strategies and implementation plans can be anchored.

The pillars upon which the Somaliland National Vision 2030 rests are i) Economic Development, ii) Infrastructure Development, iii) Good Governance, iv) Social Development, and v) Environmental Protection. Expanding upon the five pillars of the National Vision 2030 and the NDP II, and based on requests from the affected government institutions, the National Planning Commission (NPC) decided to introduce changes in the planning structure of NDP III.

Please note:

The Judiciary Pillar was added to accommodate the courts. The Ministry of Justice remains in the Governance sector.
The Social Protection sector was added to the Social Development pillar.

Underpinning and Cross-cutting Themes

As in the NDP II, the underpinning themes of Resilience and Human Rights are key and critical conceptual areas that provide the foundational basis for development that each sector rests upon. Cutting across each of the ten sectors are the following thematic areas:

Displacement affected communities
Gender
Children’s rights
HIV/AIDS
People with disabilities
Youth

2.2 Poverty and Inequality

Data on poverty and inequality dates back to the poverty report in 2013, done in collaboration with the World Bank.

The findings suggest that poverty is more prevalent in rural communities, where the poverty headcount stood at 37 percent. The urban areas were slightly better, with 29 percent of the urban population considered living in poverty.

It is important to mention that significant changes occurred between 2013 and the present, with the economy moving away from livestock dependency to be more service-oriented. The GDP per capita increased from an initial US$347 in 2013 to US$681 in 2022. This is likely to impact the population in different ways, ranging from economic activities to employment rates and household sources of income.

Based on the last labour force survey (2015), 50 percent of the population is in the labour force, but the poverty headcount ratio remains high among the economically active.

2.3 Social Development Education

As in many other countries, education is highly correlated with poverty in Somaliland, and it can be a route out of poverty. Household heads with higher education levels are less likely to be in poverty. Although adult literacy is close to the Sub-Saharan Africa average, Somaliland children are much less likely to attend primary school than children in other countries in the region.

Children who do not attend primary education are likely to grow up lacking basic cognitive skills. The lack of basic cognitive skills will reduce their productivity and wages as adults as well as reduce their ability to adapt to changes and shocks in their environment. Children in rural areas of Somaliland are much less likely to attend secondary school compared to those in urban areas, raising concerns about the disparities in education access between rural and urban Somaliland. Cognizant of its obligation under Article 6 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that every child has a right to education, the government of Somaliland has initiated various programmes over the period of NDP II. Despite the challenges, the Gross Enrolment Rate in primary education has improved only marginally from 29 percent in the 2018/19 academic year to 32 percent in 2020/21. However, the Gross Enrolment Rate in secondary education remained the same at 18 percent.

The Gender Parity Index at both primary and secondary levels decreased from 0.84 to 0.81 and 0.78 to 0.75, respectively. These are areas NDP III will strive to improve upon over the next five years. Educational attainment is higher for men than it is for women.

Overall, 21 percent of women have no education, compared to 17 percent of men. Approximately 50.9 percent of women and 42.9 percent of men in the households surveyed have not completed primary education. Ten percent of men attended secondary or higher schooling, compared to 9 percent of women.

Health

Although there are still considerable challenges in the health sector, noticeable progress has been registered in many health outcomes, as per the Health and Demographic Survey from 2020. Maternal mortality was reduced from 732 per 100,000 live births to 394 per 100,000 live births during the NDP II period. It is important to note in this context that the proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel increased from 33 percent to 40 percent in the same period.

Between 2016 and 2021, the under-five mortality rate went down from 137 per 1,000 live births to 91, and the infant mortality dropped from 85 to 72 per 1000 live births. However, neonatal mortality went up slightly, from 40 to 42 per 1,000 live births. Breastfeeding is almost universal in Somaliland, with 94 percent of children born over the last two years being breastfed and the prevalence of early initiation of breastfeeding in the first hour of birth is 69 percent.

Malnutrition improved marginally from 14 percent in 2016 to 13 percent in 2021. Also, in the context of communicable diseases, the incidence of new HIV infections per 1,000 uninfected people dropped from 6.8 to 0.03, while the incidence of tuberculosis dropped from 285 to 200 per 100,000 people and the incidence of hepatitis B dropped from 150 to 51 per 100,000 people.

Related to out-of-pocket expenditures, the Somaliland Health Demographic Survey (SLHDS) reports on households’ expenditures on health services based on the last month prior to the survey, showing that 27 percent of households spend less than $US50, whereas 28 percent

spend US$50-99, 18 percent spend US$100-199, 7 percent spend US$200-299, and 20 percent spend US$300 or more on healthcare.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

According to the recent SLHDS, 41 percent of households get their drinking water from improved water sources. However, there is a slight discrepancy between the urban and rural population.

This data shows that less than half of the population has access to improved drinking water sources, defined as piped water on premises and other drinking water sources, like public taps or standpipes, tube wells or boreholes, protected dug wells, protected springs, and rainwater collection. Table 1 shows the number of additional functioning improved drinking water sources constructed or rehabilitated during the NDP II period.

The main interventions by the Ministry of Water Resources Development (MoWRD) are the construction (drilling) or rehabilitation of boreholes, together accounting for 50 of the 639 additional water supply systems, and the establishment or rehabilitation of mini-water systems (27.5 percent).

2.4 Economic Development

The Impact of Drought

In recent times, particularly beginning in 2010, there have been repeated droughts in Somaliland due to low and erratic rainfall. Currently, Somaliland is experiencing a drought. The drought has led to a severe reduction in the quantity and quality of grazing pastures and the water available for livestock. The effect on livestock herds has been devastating. Some regions have seen herd sizes fall by over half due to death, distress selling, and low birth rates. As a result, some families have lost their entire herd.

Around half of the population are pastoralists and livestock play a crucial role in supporting their livelihoods. They are a source of income and calories as well as a major capital asset. For many pastoralists, livestock are the only asset they own. Their living standards are intimately connected with the health of their livestock.

Besides a damaging impact on the health of livestock herds, the drought has had a significant direct impact on those who are engaged in agricultural production. It has also had an indirect impact on those working in the non-agricultural sector through reduced economic growth and inflation.

Crop Production

Somaliland’s agriculture is dominated by subsistence farming, mainly dependant on traditional small-scale sorghum-based dryland agriculture (mono-cropping), although maize is also grown, especially in years with better rainfall. Mono-cropping has made soil less productive and is one of the attributed factors to land degradation in traditional farmlands. Most agriculture related programmes focus on emergency response and resilience enhancement, with very few working on agricultural development.

Livestock

Livestock exports represent about 80-90 percent of the total value of all exported goods and services of Somaliland, indicating their importance. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Yemen, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are the main destinations for Somaliland livestock exports.

The bulk of the live animals being exported are small ruminants (sheep and goats). Saudi Arabia is the main destination for these animals, with 70 percent of the exports taking place during the Hajj season. Based on health grounds, Saudi Arabia imposed a ban on imports between November 2016 and May 2020, based on claims that it found Rift Valley Fever (RVF) in Somali livestock. A second import ban was instituted in March 2020 following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and was ended in December 2022.

The clear drop after the 2016 peak year is explained by the combined effect of the drought and the Saudi Arabia import ban. Over the same period, stable numbers of live animals were slaughtered annually for domestic consumption in the seven urban slaughterhouses (approximately 530,000 goats and sheep, 23,000 camels, and 18,000 cattle per year). In the domestic market, the negative impact of the drought was compensated by the fact that more animals were available for the domestic market due to the Saudi Arabia import ban.

Fisheries

More than 95 percent of fish currently caught in Somaliland are estimated to be from registered national fishing boats, with an estimated 80 percent of this coming through the Berbera Port. Data from other locations (Maydh, Las Khorey) is currently not reliably collected.

International vessels can operate through a locally established partner company and are currently (as of 2021) limited to a maximum of four licensed vessels after a complete ban was imposed by the Ministry of Livestock and Fishery Development (MoLFD) in 2018 and 2019. The growth of the annual catch from international vessels is therefore limited. The official annual catch from international vessels dropped from 830 tons in 2017, to zero during the period of the imposed ban, and back to 219 tons in 2020 and 162 tons in 2021.

The limitations have been imposed for environmental reasons, as MoLFD does not have the capacity to regularly conduct stock assessments and establish sustainable fishing quotas or ensure sufficient oversight to limit the damage to coral reefs.

The fleet of national fishing vessels that were registered with the Fishery Department consisted in 2021 of 245 smaller vessels with an engine capacity of less than 25 hp, 123 vessels with an engine capacity between 25 hp and 100 hp, and only seven bigger vessels with an engine capacity of more than 100 hp

Energy

The recently updated National Energy Policy estimates that 80.7 percent of Somaliland urban households have access to electricity, whereas 20.3 percent of rural and nomadic households have access to electricity. These figures are slightly below the target outcome indicators of the NDP II.

Energy is relatively expensive, which has a negative impact on household income and business development. Efforts by the Ministry of Energy and Mining (MoEM) to reduce the average tariff charged by energy service providers have been a priority and during the NDP II period there has been a reduction of 35 percent, according to a survey in the 9 major towns, which slightly surpassed the 30 percent target.

It is estimated that 16.2 percent of the total installed 150 MW capacity comes from renewable energy sources, considerably above the NDP II target of 10 percent. The main renewable energy projects implemented during the NDP II period include:

Energy Security and Resource Efficiency Somaliland (ESRES) was a US$34 million clean energy investment and technical assistance programme in Somaliland.
The Somali Electricity Access Project (SEAP) is a US$2.6 million clean energy investment and technical assistance programme in Somaliland.
Somaliland Energy Transformation was a US$4 million renewable investment that targeted maternal and child health facilities, schools, and water points in the rural areas of Somaliland.
A US$2.6 million investment in solar streetlights and renewable energy installations for Las Anod and Erigavo hospitals.
The Berbera Solar Project that installed 7 MW of solar capacity in Berbera.

In terms of improving the policy and legal framework, the Somaliland Electrical Act was passed by the parliament in 2018 and signed off by the president. However, there are important sections, such as tariff regulation, that were removed by the parliament during the review.

Upon the approval of the Act, the Somaliland Electricity

Commission was appointed, and they are currently regulating the sector. The Commission is currently working to establish the certification and licensing system of the electrical workers and contractors. The MoEM also developed and endorsed the temporary distribution guidelines.

In early March 2017, consultancy services were contracted for the development of a Power Master Plan. This Power Master Plan captures the current situation within the Somaliland power sector as well as suggests ways to improve efficiency. The Power Master Plan of Somaliland was launched in 2020.

Extractives

The MoEM formulated and facilitated a multi-client 2D seismic project, which it presented to all international oil companies that have production sharing agreements with government. The first project of the multi-client arrangement was concluded in January 2018, with the acquirement of 3500 km of 2D seismic surveys for Genel Energy on blocks SL6, SL7, SL10, and SL13. The second project was concluded six months later in July 2018, with the acquirement of 800 km of 2D seismic surveys for RAK GAS on block SL9.

In mid-2019, both RAK Gas and Genel carried out seepage analysis surveys. These oil and gas exploration surveys covered 17 percent of Somaliland’s land mass, exceeding the NPD II target of 10 percent. The extractives sector has also implemented numerous mineral exploration undertakings, including the following:

Small scale jade mining
Abdulqadir Mining exploration survey
Dhagax Guure mining exploration survey
Sheiklh (Sule Malable) mining exploration survey
Laaso Surad mining exploration survey
Exploration and small-scale mining of gold in Sanaag
Siimoodi gemstone project.

2.5 Environmental Management

The following developments are noteworthy achievements during the NDP II period:

Biodiversity Protection

A total of 5,000 km² of land has been gazetted as protected areas and four biodiversity hotspot sites have been identified and evaluated.

In terms of wildlife protection, 90 cheetahs, approximately 40 antelopes, and numerous birds of prey, wild cats, caracals, and about 400 lizards and tortoises were saved. Three wildlife orphanage centres have been established in Dabis, Masalaaha, and Geeddeeble. The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change signed an agreement with Sweden for a project to assist in the establishment of Somaliland’s first marine conservation area, to be established during the NDP III period.

Soil and Water Conservation

Various soil and water conservation programmes have been implemented, including the construction and rehabilitation of 30 berkhads in Togdheer and 11 berkhads in Sanaag, as well as soil bunds, stone terraces, check dams, and gabions. Four sand dams and two earth dams were constructed at Arabsiyo, Dabis, Aw Barkhadle, Diinqal, El Ayfwein, and Balli Gubbedle.

Communal Grazing Reserves

Five communal grazing sites were brought under the management of the local communities of Bancawl, Casuura, Bookh, Aroori, and Tuuyo. An additional 20 potential communal rangeland sites have been assessed, while dozens of illegal private enclosures were eliminated, mainly in the Maroodi Jeex and Togdheer regions. A rangeland demonstration site was established at Illinta Bari.

Forestry and Tree Planting

Approximately 820,000 seedlings were distributed to major urban centres and at least 70 percent of trees were successfully planted. Five new tree nurseries were established in Debis, Geeddeeble, El Afweyn, Ainaba, and Shurko and an additional five nurseries were rehabilitated in Borama, Berbara, Erigavo, Burao, and Hargeisa. Reduction of the Use of Charcoal

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, with support from its development partners, distributed 15,000 energy-saving cooking stoves, 4,000 liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders, and 3,000 kerosene stoves covering all regions of Somaliland.

The policy and legal instruments were put in place to introduce a tax exemption for LPG and a tax reduction for equipment related to alternative energy. The ministry has also provided a subsidy for private investors interested in producing charcoal from mesquites (Prosopis juliflora), an invasive tree species in farmlands, especially in the west of the country.

2.6 The Somaliland Development

Fund

The Somaliland Development Fund (SDF) is highlighted here as an excellent example of a jointly-managed development fund under the chairmanship of the Government of Somaliland, leading to the successful implementation of projects in several sectors at the value of almost US$60 million. It has been often recognised as the government’s preferred financing mechanism.

Phase one of the SDF was successfully concluded at the end of 2018 and phase two has been initiated. In total, just under 500 procurement contracts were handled for the supply of goods and services for the design, preparation, implementation, and conclusion of these projects. The vast majority (approximately 90 percent) of these contracts were awarded to local contractors, providing a boost to the Somaliland economy as well as reinforcing entrepreneurial skills and routines in operating under professionally executed contracts.

One important reason for the operational success of the SDF projects is the Project Preparation Facility (PPF) at the SDF Secretariat. Once an initial Project Concept Note is approved, this will unlock financial resources for technical assistance to support the requesting ministry in developing a professionally designed Final Project Proposal with a detailed budget.

The establishment of a Project Preparation Facility could greatly enhance the capacity of ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to operationalise the NDP III and formulate properly designed interventions with sound budgets. Lessons could be learned from global funds that work with such a facility, such as the Green Climate Fund.

Chapter 3 MACROECONOMIC ANALYSIS

3.1 Gross Domestic Product

Somaliland started measuring its annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2012, with technical assistance from the World Bank, and later the Government of Sweden and the African Development Bank (AfDB). This coincided with the first National Development Plan (NDP I, 2012-2016). The economy registered a steady growth from 2013 to 2016, averaging 2.6 percent for the period under consideration.

The start of the National Development Plan II (NDP II) coincided with negative growth, with the economy contracting at -1.1 percent, which was mainly attributed to the drought and restrictions imposed on livestock imports by Saudi Arabia. The subsequent two years registered significant growth under the circumstances, with 2.5 percent and 6.2 percent in 2018 and 2019 respectively. As Somaliland has one of the most open economies in the region and is connected to the world economy through trade, COVID-19 impacted the economy in 2020, as in most countries, with a contraction of -3.1 percent.

The GDP at constant prices rose from US$1.9 billion in 2012 to US$2.3 billion in 2020, and GDP per capita (at current prices; 2017 base year) rose from US$544 to US$697. This highlights the significant potential for growth yet to be fully exploited due to economic vulnerability to external related shocks.

3.2 Sectoral Contributions to Economic Growth

Somaliland is attempting to develop non-livestock sources of growth for the economy to create additional revenues for the government to invest in social sectors, as well as to reinvest into the economy. The NDP II had strategies and interventions in agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and the ever-growing service sector, while identifying programmes to promote resilience to maintain comparative advantage in and grow the livestock sector.

Based on estimations from Somaliland’s GDP figures, which is computed using an expenditure approach, sector contributions to GDP in the last two years confirm the growing importance of the service sector. Table 6 highlights the various components based on classifications of the System of National Accounts 2008 guidelines. The major contributions of the three main economic sectors to GDP in 2020 were 8.1 percent from agriculture (production sector), of which livestock clearly stands out, 18.6 percent from industry, and 73.3 percent from services.

The Agricultural and Production Sector

The contribution of the agriculture and production sector to GDP dropped from 8.1 percent in 2019 to 6.9 percent in 2020. The drop is mainly attributed to the impact of COVID-19 that curtailed livestock exports into the main market of Saudi Arabia, as there was limited Hajj and Umrah participation. Somaliland is the Horn of Africa’s largest exporter of livestock – mainly goats, sheep, and cattle – into Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States, particularly during the Hajj. The livestock sector contributes over 75 percent of the total value of exports, as well as to the agriculture sector.

Pastoralism continues to be the dominant economic activity for most of the six regions across Somaliland, creating jobs and employment for the greater part of the population.

There is limited economic activity in forestry, fisheries, and crop production. With a coastline of over 800 kilometres, fisheries are one of the most underdeveloped sub-sectors.

There is just one commercial fish processing factory in the country. Despite livestock’s significant contribution to the Somaliland economy, all three sub-sectors, including livestock, continue to lag due to their strictly subsistence nature.

The Industrial Sector

The contribution of the industrial sector to GDP dropped slightly from 18.6 percent in 2019 to 15.0 percent in 2020. All the sub-groups, i.e., construction, manufacturing, and mining, registered drops in overall activity. The construction industry remains the most buoyant, contributing to 93.4 percent of industry, with both private and public investment in the sector. The construction sub-sector is highly dependent on remittances from Somalilanders abroad. Mining and quarrying contributions to growth remain largely underdeveloped whilst manufacturing is mainly in light industries.

The Services Sector

The contribution of the services sector to GDP increased slightly from 73.3 percent in 2019 to 78.1 in 2020. All sub-sectors showed a great deal of resilience despite the pandemic, with just moderate drops in a few instances. Food and beverages constitute 58.1 percent of the total services sector, followed by other services, which include wholesale and retail, telecoms, financial services, hospitality, etc. Public administration remains strong, especially from the central government, constituting 6.4 percent of the sector, a drop from seven percent in 2019.

Prospects

in the service sector depend on the rebound of activities in accommodation, professional services, administration, remittances (to support consumption), and hospitality, which contracted during the pandemic due to travel restrictions.

The tourism sector could pick up as travel restrictions are eased due to improved health responses, the administration of COVID-19 vaccines and increased international travel.

However, the outlook for the tourism sector remains fragile due to uncertainties surrounding the potential appearance of new variants of the COVID-19 virus and potential need for new travel restrictions.

3.3 Fiscal Operations

The Government of Somaliland’s fiscal position over the last three years of NDP II was strong despite challenges posed by COVID-19 for revenues and unexpected expenditures. In the fiscal year 2019, the overall budget balance (including grants) was a surplus of SlSh 90.4 billion. Due to the pandemic, the deficit widened to SlSh 29.7 billion in 2020, attributed mainly to a reduction in grant flows as well as increased spending on goods and services.

The budget balance was restored from a deficit to a positive of SlSh 97.2 billion in 2021 as economic activities bounced back. Figure 8 highlights the government’s fiscal balances considering grants and loan repayments. The objective of the analysis is to delineate the effect of grants and loan repayments on current efforts to gain a strong fiscal position.

The budget balance (excluding grants) and primary balance (excluding grants and loan repayments) were both positive for the last three years of NDP II. The budget balance, excluding donor funds and loan repayments, was consistently positive, reflecting good fiscal management.

Domestic Revenue

Domestic revenue, as indicated in Figure 9, increased by 26 percent from SlSh 1.8 billion to SlSh 2.0 billion, or 7.9 percent of GDP in 2020. The revenue-GDP ratio highlights the need for significant improvement in revenue generation, as the World Bank’s minimum recommended ratio is 14 percent for Sub-Saharan Arica countries. Tax revenue continued to be the main source of revenue for the government over the NDP II period, accounting for 87.8, 86.8, and 80.8 percent of total revenue in 2019, 2020, and 2021 respectively. The contribution of taxes to domestic revenue is slowly reducing as non-tax revenues grow, a positive development in expanding the revenue base.

Government Expenditures

eral financial institutions, all of the country’s debt is domestic. Additionally, due to an absence of financial assets such as treasury bills and central bank bonds, all loans accrued are mainly arrears accumulated by MDAs and central bank advances. There is an existing debt manual that guides the validation and payment of debt.

Similarly, government expenditure grew in nominal terms alongside revenues. Compensation of government employees continues to be the main expenditure, with a majority going to the security sector. Of particular importance is the increase in project financing from the government over the years, which grew from SlSh 27.7 billion to SlSh 182 billion, an increase of over 500 percent. To address the infrastructure deficit, which is required to spur economic growth, this trajectory must be sustained.

Donor funds using Somaliland’s country systems continue to be extremely low compared against recommendations set out in the Paris Declaration, which encouraged donors to use country systems as opposed to creating parallel structures.

Domestic Debt Market Developments

The domestic debt market remains shallow and is constituted largely of arrears accumulation by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs). There is no accessible capital market for the government or private sector to raise required funding for investments. Due to a lack of access to international financial markets and financing from multilat

Total domestic debt payment as of December 2021 amounted to SlSh 86.5 billion, dropping from a high of SlSh 111.9 billion in 2020, a 22 percent reduction (see Figure 11).

3.4 Financial Sector Development

Financial indicators of the banking industry remain within prudential requirements, indicating a well-capitalised and highly liquid industry.

Growth in the banking industry is evident in its asset base.

Total assets grew by 22 percent from 2019 to stand at US$290.6 million by the end of December 2020. Overall, the assets of the banking industry grew by 64 percent from 2017 to 2020. There was also a significant rise in bank deposits from US$120.3 million in 2017 to US$291.1 million by the end of 2020. This is a significant indicator of the banking sector’s liquidity and ability to supply credit to the economy.

Although there is considerable room for improvement, the banking sector’s catalytic role and contribution to the economy is growing. Gross loans as of December 2020 stood at US$184.3 million, up from US$49.7 million at the end of 2017, a growth of 271 percent. Private sector credit growth, a universal indicator of business growth, grew 124 percent in 2020. Unfortunately, there is no data on Non-Performing Loans (NPLs). This makes it impossible to estimate significant asset quality measures, such as gross NPLs to gross loans, provisions to NPLs, earning assets to total assets, etc.

The industry remained highly liquid, with a liquid to total asset ratio of over 80 percent since 2017, reaching a peak of 90 percent at the end of December 2020. This is well above the prudential requirement of 30 percent. This indicates that banks are holding onto significantly more cash than required, possibly due to the lack of safe investment options. The ratio of liquid assets to deposits as of December 2020 was 89 percent, high enough to meet short-term liabilities.

Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE) from the end of December 2019 to the end of December 2020 rose from 0.8 percent and 7.7 percent to 0.7 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively. The moderate returns could be attributed to excessive liquidity, as some of the liquid assets could be invested for higher returns.

The non-bank financial sector serves the informal component of the economy and is often used as a good indicator of financial inclusion. In Somaliland, non-bank financing is provided by microfinance institutions (MFIs) and mobile financial services. Both are expanding, in volume and in value, contributing to the rapid expansion of the digital financial space.

MFI’s assets, capital, and income continue to grow. Total capital grew by 21 percent from US$5.7 million at the end of December 2018 to US$6.8 million at the end of December 2019. MFIs registered 24 percent and 27 percent growth in total assets and total loans, from US$7.4 million and US$6.0 million in 2018 to US$9.4 million and US4 7.5 million, respectively. Finally, MFIs registered their highest recorded growth rates during this period, rising from US$252,118.47 to US$ 484,867.69, an increment of 92 percent.

3.5 Balance of Payments

The balance of payment is not estimated in Somaliland as the system of national accounts is not fully estimated.

As a result, this section analyses the goods and services of a typical current account, depicting persistent deficits financed through remittances and official flows. The goods account balance is estimated to be at a deficit of US$109.8 million as of December 2021, compared to a deficit of US$106.6 million the previous year. The deterioration in the goods account balance mainly reflects an increase in the importation of goods, which offsets the slight growth in exports.

The services account balance decreased 14 percent, from

In this regard, the stability of the shilling from 2017-2020 a deficit of US$16.3 million in 2019 to US$ 18.6 million in 2020. The widening deficit is attributed to a drastic drop in both tourism and personal travel due to COVID-19.

Both the services and goods accounts persistently recorded increasing deficits from 2017 to 2020. As a result, the trade balance worsened over the same period, exerting more pressure on financing the deficit. As depicted in Figure 12, the trade deficit widened from US$ -93.2 million in 2017 to US$ -128.4 in 2020, representing a negative growth of 38 percent.

The main sources of financing the trade deficit are remittances from abroad and Official Development Assistance (ODA). There is limited data on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Portfolio Investment Flows (PIFs) into the country.

3.6 Exchange Rate Development

The foreign exchange market continues to be awash with liquidity largely due to export receipts and ODA. However, it is equally under pressure as net flows of remittances registered in 2021 were negative.

The Central Bank of Somaliland’s main monetary policy tool to manage inflation is the exchange rate corridor. Based on movements in the market, the bank embarks on open market operations, through auctions, to stabilise the Somaliland shilling. The bank injects more shillings into the market when the value of the currency is considered overvalued (appreciates) against the US dollar. Alternatively, when the shilling depreciates, which impacts price stability, the bank intervenes by withdrawing more shillings using the US dollar. The market volume for US dollars then increases and slightly depreciates against the shilling.

Overall, currency depreciation or appreciation within a five percent band is acceptable, as it is considered non-volatile.bodes well for inflation and overall macroeconomic stability.

The Bank of Somaliland intervened in the market on multiple occasions in 2021 to influence the market rate of the shilling. Overall, the net injection was SlSh 48 billion, indicating a strong performance of the shilling against the US dollar.

3.7 Price Development (Inflation)

Although Somaliland is vulnerable to external shocks that can spike inflation, such as high imports (imported inflation), persistent trade deficits, and exchange rates, inflation has been low and stable over the last two years. Headline inflation has consistently been below double digits since August 2018, when it was 13.6 percent following high spikes in much of 2017 and 2018. Over the last two years, prices have, to a large extent, been stable within the central bank target of single digit inflation. Much of the inflation is driven by food inflation, except from April 2021 to July 2021 as depicted in Figure 15. The price stability towards the end period of NDP II is much more pronounced, as the last six months of 2021 registered subdued prices, peaking at one percent in July 2021.

The rise in food prices is influenced by the increase in “food crop and related items” prices, which increased by 3.7 percent in July and 1.8 percent in August before declining 0.2 percent in September. The other volatile component of headline inflation is energy prices, which also remained low in the last six months, peaking in December at 2.6 percent.

As expected, core inflation is less volatile than food and non-food inflation. This is because core inflation measures fundamental changes in prices of goods and services in the economy, minus the volatile items. For the last six months, core inflation has never reached one percent. In fact, in December 2021, it was constant at 0.5 percent from the previous month. Indeed, the economy has experienced price stability for the past two years, aided by central bank monetary operations which keep inflation at reasonable levels as COVID-19 continues to impact lives and livelihoods.

Chapter 4 MACROECONOMIC STRATEGIES FOR GROWTH

4.1 Introduction

The Somaliland economy continues to grow, riding on the peace dividend as well as the government’s commitment to diversify the economy away from pastoralism. Prospects remain good in the medium and long term. The macroeconomic framework to support growth within the period of NDP III, in line with the objectives of Vision 2030, will specifically include, among others, the following reforms:

Growth diversification
Revenue mobilisation and expenditure rationalisation
Domestic money market development
Improved monetary policy framework
Financial sector stability, competitiveness, and safeguards
Business environment improvements
Strengthened statistics via an inter-agency macroeconomic working group

4.2 Fiscal Policy

Domestic revenue (tax and non-tax) mobilisation is imperative to generate additional revenue and achieve greater budgetary flexibility, especially on development and project financing. The fiscal envelope will be expanded to increase expenditures on social services and infrastructure development. Options include improving revenue collection and streamlining expenditures to more strategic issues.

Although sensitive for a low-income country, taxation will be fair and non-distortionary, forming the bedrock of sustainable revenue mobilisation.

Revenue Mobilisation

Independent and semi-autonomous revenue authorities have proven to be effective in improving compliance in many areas. As a result, the Somaliland Revenue Authority will be established. Tax exemptions will be streamlined for both inland revenue and customs. The exemption rules and procedures will be strict. There will also be improved tax exemption reporting for inland revenue as part of annual tax returns and partner funds will be incorporated into the budget.

For inland revenue:

The revenue base will be expanded by encouraging Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) into formal structures and/or improving overall compliance in the informal sector.
The Integrated Tax Administration System (ITAS) in the Public Financial Management (PFM) reform strategy will be prioritised in phase II of the World Bank project, replacing the PFM Support project. The automation will improve general taxpayer information and, eventually, compliance.
The capital gains tax will be reformed so taxes will be paid after disposal. It is beneficial to have a specific tax on the sale value or a percentage of the consideration made, whichever is higher. Presently, any gain or loss from the disposal of an asset is included in gross income or the loss is permitted as a deduction of gross income. This is prone to non-compliance.
Telecoms taxation will be improved by introducing an excise on telecoms, a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) tax on all calls, and the standard corporate tax on profits payable by GSM companies.

This will be followed by telecoms audits, possibly with external technical assistance.

In the context of customs revenue:

In line with the PFM Strategy, the customs department will receive funding to transition to the Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) system, which will reduce most of the current manual valuation.
Utilising the Berbera Oil Terminal, and the overall Barbera Corridor, the government will continue to devise strategies to increase imports from Ethiopia, including fuel.
The taxation regime on khat, cigarettes, and other tobacco products will be overhauled based on World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations. There will be an ad valorem tax and a specific tax on all tobacco products.

Rationalised Expenditures

With limited domestic resources, the government will rationalise expenditures to be efficient and effective, reducing waste and improving impact.

In line with the PFM Strategy, the government will work on the establishment of the Procurement Authority, working closely with the National Tender Board (NTB) and parliament. This will pave the way to decentralise procurement in government, improving capacity at the MDA level and increasing value for money.

Linking the budgeting process to the National Development Plan will address the mismatch between the annual budgets and the NDP III. Additionally, extrabudgetary expenditures will be reduced to keep arrears at sustainable level by MDAs.

4.3 Monetary Sector Developments

Currently, the only monetary policy tool utilised by the Central Bank is the exchange rate corridor. This requires building foreign exchange buffers as part of the reserve management. There are downside risks to the effectiveness of this strategy, particularly the vulnerability of livestock exports, volatile inflow of remittances, and reduced ODA.

In the near future, the Central Bank intends to adopt a monetary targeting regime using Narrow Money (M1) and Broad Money (M2). It will consider reserve requirements as one of its morphing strategies. A well-capacitated research department, rather than a monetary policy unit, will be established to help the bank’s continuous assessment of the economy to prescribe the right policies for price stability, financial sector management, and economic growth.

On financial inclusion, a credit information system will be established to reduce possible excessive credit concentration and work on creating a platform for guarantees for SMEs. Presently, Somaliland’s banks have too much liquidity. Therefore, financial sector policies to incentivise lending to the private sector will be promoted. This will create a win-win situation, where liquidity could increase yields for banks while providing needed credit to the private sector.

4.4 Financial Stability and

Safeguards

The banking sector is in good condition, but financial inclusion remains limited despite recent gains, especially among women in the informal economy. The sector is dominated by a few large players, organised in an oligopolistic structure, with limited information provided to the Central

Bank on important indicators that gauge asset qualities, such as on Non-Performing Loans (NPLs). The Central Bank will continue to build its supervisory capacity, utilising standard reporting tools for all bank and non-bank financial institutions. There is a need to improve data sharing obligations so that banks and non-banks regularly supply information to the Central Bank, especially on credit distribution. This information will help the government avoid credit concentration and develop incentives to stimulate borrowing in critical sectors of the economy. Besides the building of a credit information system to reduce possible excessive credit concentration and improve inclusion, a platform for guarantees for MSMEs must be created to enhance inclusion. Regulations and the payment architecture for mobile banking need to be improved. Mobile banking services have the potential to improve financial inclusion via an electronic payment platform in the country.

Risk-based bank supervision and the enforcement of prudential ratios must be introduced based on the Basel Committee recommendations. The whole range of financial sector indicators will be subjected to prudential requirements.

4.5 Domestic Currency and the

Debt Market

The government of Somaliland, through the Central Bank, will work on modalities to introduce money markets into the country in line with the principles of Islamic banking, as required by the Islamic Banking Act.

Due to limited domestic resources, much of Somaliland’s development budget comes from international partners.

Domestic revenue is mainly comprised of taxes, especially on international trade. The government doesn’t have access to multilateral financial institutions, hence the need to create an avenue to raise funds both from domestic economic players and Somaliland’s diaspora. This will serve both the government and corporate sectors, as there is a need for a domestic money market to raise capital for investments.

For the establishment of a domestic debt market, strictly based on Shariah-compliant investments, the government will study the model in other Islamic countries and Sukuk markets and adjust for local context. Furthermore, a national development forum on domestic market development will be organised, including discussions on establishing diaspora bonds, a financial tool available in other countries in the region.

Prior to the establishment of the money market, a debt law must be enacted. The law can legislate the “golden rule principle”, taking debt only for capital expenditures.

Moreover, it can introduce an explicit debt anchor by, for example, targeting a specific debt-to-GDP ratio. A debt management strategy will then be developed based on the proposed legislation, based on the objectives of contracting debt at the lowest cost and risk to future generations.

4.6 Improving the Business

Environment

The business environment in Somaliland remains good, but improvements will further support private sector-led growth. The World Bank’s 2012 Doing Business Index (DBI) ranked Hargeisa 174 out of 183 in doing business. Since then, there was no other DBI report that included Somaliland. Recently, the Ministry of Finance Development conducted a study of the business environment in the county, based on the recommendations in the 2012 DBI report.

This study concluded that:

Momentum needs to be sustained in the following areas:

The number of days it takes to register a business has been reduced and Somaliland is now competitive among East African countries. Only Rwanda is doing better, with just 4 days.
Continue the one-stop shop for investors.

Improvements are needed in the following areas:

Improvements in the energy sector will be geared towards reducing costs, establishing a national grid, improving the energy mix for sustainability, strengthening regulations, and enhancing standardisation.
Access to credit remains a challenge – out of the eleven indicators in the 2012 DBI report, access to credit was ranked the lowest. The policies mentioned previously under the financial sector are expected to improve this indicator.
Although competitive in the region, paying taxes will be made more efficient for the taxpayer and less costly for the government to collect, especially for land and buildings. There will be an inter-agency committee to review reforms and create a roadmap on how to address reforms, if needed.
Land banking for investment will be prioritised based on the recently approved Land Policy in 2021, which establishes reforms to the land tenure system.

Chapter 5 MAINSTREAMING CLIMATE CHANGE IN NDP III IMPLEMENTATION

5.1 Introduction

predict the weather. However, these typical climate patterns no longer exist or are more difficult to predict because of Somaliland is highly vulnerable to the risks of climate change and extreme weather conditions. The NDP III comes at a time when Somaliland has experienced five consecutive failed rainy seasons, and forecasts indicate that the rainfall in 2023 will be below the average, devastatingly impacting the ecosystem. These droughts and shocks are increasingly becoming recurrent and disproportionally affecting vulnerable groups, including women and girls, children, the elderly, people with disabilities, and other marginalized groups. Frequent and intense droughts undermine food security and worsen livelihood conditions, fuelling societal grievances, increasing competition over scarce resources, and exacerbating existing community tensions and vulnerabilities. Climate change has complex and interlinked implications for natural resources, peace and security, human health, migration and displacement, gender equality, and vulnerable and marginalized groups.

Hence, the NDP III is adopting a climate resilience approach in its implementation by mainstreaming climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies to respond to the needs and priorities of different communities.

Compared to other nations, Somaliland emits relatively low levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere but suffers from the impact of global greenhouse gas emissions. In the NDP III, Somaliland is committed to reducing the emission of greenhouse gases by increasing the share of renewable energy sources and generation and planting trees in urban and rural areas.

5.2 Climate Change Adaptation

Approaches

The NDP III will embed climate change adaptation approaches in its implementation to combat the climate crisis and achieve Somaliland’s national development priorities.

Climate-resilient Infrastructure

Somaliland aims to build advanced infrastructure that enables economic and social development while facilitating local, regional, and global trade. The priority is a domestic road network that connects the different parts of the country. 37.71 percent of the cost of the NDP III is dedicated to building to climate-resilient infrastructure such as roads, bridges, ports, airports, and telecommunication lines that can withstand shocks from extreme climate impacts. Investing in resilient infrastructure is a key strategy for adapting to climate change and will save billions of dollars worth of damages while reducing vulnerabilities. More resilient infrastructure assets pay for themselves with extended lifecycles and more reliable services.

Early Warning Systems

Somaliland relies on regional institutions for climate information and early warning systems. Although the Ministry of Agriculture Development (MoAD) keeps weather records at specific meteorological stations across the country and NADFOR disseminates periodic weather information through radio, rural communities seldom access this information to take necessary actions. Historically, rural communities have relied on natural indicators like wind direction, the location of stars in the sky, and cloud movements to climate change. Early warning systems are becoming a critical adaptation measure that can reduce the damage of droughts to the economy, specifically for agro-pastoralists and vulnerable groups. In the NDP III implementation, the Government of Somaliland will establish the National

Meteorological Agency (NMA) for the documentation and timely dissemination of climate information to stakeholders to prepare for eminent droughts and other climate patterns.

Water Supply and Security

Recurrent droughts from declining rainfall have significantly reduced the availability of water in Somaliland. Water scarcity kills livestock, dries crops, and forces pastoralists and agro-pastoralists to move from one place to another in search of water and pasture. In urban areas, families prioritise water for cooking and drinking and forgo bathing and washing clothes during dry seasons when water is scarce and expensive. In its implementation, the NDP III invests in rainwater harvesting systems to increase water availability.

These measures will be complemented by the installation of green technology, such as solar water sources, to improve water supply sustainability and reduce the cost of operations and maintenance. It is also vital to adopt a policy of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM), which considers the entire water cycle from source and distribution to treatment, reuse, and return to the environment in a sustainable manner

Natural Landscape Restoration and Reforestation

Over the past two decades, the degradation of natural resources and deforestation, mainly driven by charcoal production and overgrazing, have rapidly increased Somaliland’s vulnerability to climate change-induced droughts and desertification. The Environment chapter of the NDP III outlines nature-based solutions or ecosystem-based adaptations for the climate crisis. This includes planting trees in urban and rural areas and on mountain slopes and planting mangroves in coastal areas to significantly reduce heatwaves, provide natural sea defences from storm surges, and prevent desertification.

Sustainable Production Practices

In Somaliland, most food production depends on weather conditions as a majority of the country’s agriculture is rainfed. Changing rainfall patterns make it difficult for farmers to determine when to sow the seeds, which can lead to reduced food production and availability. For example, farmers typically sow their fields in February each year and expect rainfall between March and May, while finally harvesting in July or August. However, infrequent rain and shifting rainfall patterns lead to smaller yields or, in some cases, total crop failure for the year. The Production chapter of the NDP III outlines the implementation of sustainable agricultural practices to achieve food through strengthening communities’ resilience and adaptive capacity, while also protecting marine resources and adopting climate-resilient livestock management approaches.

Considerations for Vulnerable Groups

The NDP III reflects the needs and priorities of the vulnerable group in the Cross-cutting Themes chapter while also being inclusive in its implementation. Implementing the NDP III strengthens vulnerable groups’ resilience and reduces their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related events and shocks. For example, the implementation of national social protection systems and measures for vulnerable groups, including women and children, people with disabilities, displacement affected communities, and people living with HIV/AIDS, will strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters. Moreover, ensuring that vulnerable groups have equal rights to economic resources, access to basic services, and ownership and control over productive resources will further insulate them from climate-related crises.

Long-term Planning

The NDP III envisages climate adaptation solutions that could be more effective if integrated into national development policies, strategies, and plans. Somaliland will develop a National Adaptation Plan (NAP) which will consolidate and harmonize strategies, plans, and policies to strategically prioritize adaptation needs to address climate change-related crises. The NAP will inform government decisions on investments and regulatory and fiscal framework changes and raise public awareness of climate change risks. Given the unique case of Somaliland, the government will work with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) to explore ways to support the development of the NAP, which will also be used to improve adaptation elements for Nationally

Determined Contributions (NDCs), which are a central part of the Paris Agreement.

5.3 Financing Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

Somaliland is committed to upholding the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and other international treaties in tackling the risks of climate change.

Although Somaliland cannot directly participate in global climate change discussions as a state, it can still participate and play an active role through the UN, regional bodies, friendly states, and other multilateral agencies. For example, in collaboration with the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MoECC) organizes annual climate change forums where participants exchange updates about the impacts of climate change and adaptation strategies. The MoECC will expand these forums by inviting all relevant public and private institutions, development partners, and think tanks and research firms. The MoECC will also organize regional events to cascade climate change discussions to affected communities and their governance structures. Furthermore, the MoECC will coordinate with relevant stakeholders, such as UNEP, to formulate the NAP that will guide the national adaptation needs.

Like many other developing countries, Somaliland needs to finance its climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. There are several global funds available for climate change mitigation and adaptation. While Somaliland may not be able to benefit directly from these funds as a state, it can still access financing through the UN, specifically UNEP, and other multilateral agencies.

These funds include:

The Global EbA Fund provides grants to innovative approaches to ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA).
The Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator (AFCIA).
The Green Climate Fund (GCF).
Strengthening Endogenous Capacities of Least

Developed Countries to Access Finance for Climate Change Adaptation (UNI-LEAD) and others.

Moreover, the announcement of a global Loss and Damage Fund at the most recent United Nations Climate Conference (COP27) is an opportunity for Somaliland and other developing countries to finance their climate mitigation and adaptation needs. Since Somaliland is likely to face restrictions and challenges in accessing climate change adaptation and mitigation financing, the country needs to develop an innovative strategy to coordinate with UN agencies and other multilateral agencies to benefit from available funds.

Chapter 6 ECONOMY SECTOR

6.1 Introduction

Table 9: Policies and legal instruments developed during NDP II Somaliland’s Vision 2030, with respect to the state of the economy, is to be “a nation whose citizens enjoy sustained economic growth and reduced poverty levels”. To achieve this objective, the government will prioritise expenditures on core sectors such as health, education, and water. The emphasis will be on improving human capital as a bedrock of development. Furthermore, development will always be anchored on sound macroeconomic policies and enabling factors, such as trade facilitation and investment policies, which will lead to job creation and ultimately improve livelihoods through increased incomes.

The anchor of the Somaliland economy used to be livestock and livestock-related activities, but over the years this has shifted, at least in terms of market value, to the service industry. This is a common trajectory of economies in Sub-Saharan Africa – skipping growth in industrialisation and instead focusing on services.

In the services subsector, the dominant players are retail trade, telecoms, tourism, and financial services. Remittances play a catalytic role in the economy and are supported by the large diaspora population. Remittances and the export of livestock ensure a steady supply of much-needed foreign currency to finance the persistent account deficit.

The economy is growing as an important logistics hub for the Horn of Africa, riding on the Berbera Corridor and the peace dividend. The successful Dubai Ports World investment in the Berbera Port and a logistic hub by trading giant Trafigura are good indications of the investment climate in the country. Investments in fish processing from artisanal fishing can be an important source of value added in the economy.

Notwithstanding these gains, Somaliland’s economy remains vulnerable to shocks. To grow on a sustainable path, a reform agenda should be pursued to improve the enabling business environment. A key component of this is expanding the financial sector to support economic growth, which will be complemented by public sector reforms.

6.2 Situational Analysis

The NDP II period witnessed successes and challenges regarding the economy. Although external factors continue to hinder the growth of the economy, challenges also remain on the domestic front. This section highlights the progress as well as the challenges in this sector.

Policies and Legal Reforms

The government’s role in a typical liberal economy is to create an enabling environment through appropriate policies and legal instruments for the private sector to prosper, as well as to address market failures and the provision of public goods.

The reforms in Table 9 highlight the commitment of the government to continually improve the business environment for improved inclusive economic growth.

Public Financial Management

Public Financial Management (PFM) was driven by its reform strategy, which has several important reform programmes, i.e., in the budgeting process, increasing domestic revenue, automating the country’s payment system, and building the capacity of public services to better manage the country’s finances.

The Ministry of Planning and National Development led a prioritisation process of Somaliland’s NDP II (2017-2021), and subsequent budget cycles were informed by these outcomes. The Ministry of Finance Development has also engaged with communities and held public hearings on the budgetary process to enhance citizen engagement and accountability. One of the PFM targets included improving human capital, IT infrastructure, and automation, as well as legal and regulatory frameworks. This has been partially achieved, as mentioned in the policies and reforms subsection.

The reforms in Table 9 highlight the commitment of the government to continually improve the business environment for improved inclusive economic growth.

Public Financial Management

Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises

Micros, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) play a key role in inclusive growth and employment. In Somaliland, MSMEs are enterprises that employ less than 100 people and have sales turnover or total assets of less than US$500,000.

MSMEs contributed significantly to the post-war recovery in Somaliland following independence and remain a core element of the country’s private sector-driven economy.

A 2017 study by Cardiff University and Gollis University showed that most enterprises in Somaliland are informal and involved in trade. The study estimated that in Hargeisa alone, the informal economy provides 77 percent of the city’s total employment. To facilitate the ease of doing business, the Ministry of Trade and Tourism has established a Business Information Centre (BIC), or Xogsiiye-9444, aimed at providing information to small businesses. The BIC provides information across Somaliland in Somali, English, and Arabic on business start-up practices, access to finance, and business development services.

Following the approval of the MSME Policy 2019, the ministry drafted a roadmap for implementation and established a technical working group to guide the process.

The Ministry of Trade and Tourism established a business licensing inspection team that has been undertaking inspection activities since 2018 to ensure that all types of businesses operating in the country legally exist and are registered. This measure aims to reduce the growing number of unregistered and unlicensed enterprises.

The one-stop shop platform for business registration and licensing was established in 2021, which aims to ease the process of registering businesses by both national and international investors. This will help streamline and automate business registration as well as increase certainty and transparency in setting up businesses, which will increase investor confidence.

The government extended COVID-19 support to businesses in 2020 by cutting the cost of registering a business in Somaliland by both citizens and foreign nationals by 50 percent. In addition, 20 start-ups were granted a 65 percent reduction on business registration and licensing fees.

Tourism

On tourism, the government undertook certain measures primarily linked to the protection and preservation of historical and archaeological sites in Somaliland. Sites that have been protected include Laas Geel, Dhagah Kuurre, Abbasa, Qiblatayn, Dhagah Nabi Galay, and Old Amoud, among others. These measures are geared towards contributing to their long-term preservation, especially the Laas Geel heritage site, which is being promoted as a tourist attraction so it can to be better integrated into the local economy.

Trade and Investment

The Investment Policy 2019 and the Investment Act (Law No. 99/2021) introduced measures to promote, strengthen, and streamline foreign and domestic investment in Somaliland, as well as improvements to productivity and competitiveness. The Berbera Corridor is considered a strategic trade and transit route for the Horn of Africa and beyond.

To leverage this opportunity, the Government of Somaliland established the Berbera Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which extends 12 km from the Port of Berbera, to be the leading integrated maritime, logistics, and industrial hub in the Horn of Africa. The Somaliland Special Economic Zones Law 93/2021 was passed in 2021 and aims to provide local and foreign investors with a conducive and competitive environment for investment and trade.

The SEZ’s one-stop shop will be managed by Dubai Ports World and provide a range of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives. These include exemption from corporate taxes, duty-free storage of goods and 100 percent foreign ownership, as well as the ability to operate through branches of foreign companies.

Complementary investments by partners to build the road leading to Ethiopia and the Hargeisa bypass, as well as other investments at the border town of Tog-Wajaale, were all geared towards leveraging the Berbera Port. Dubai Ports World and the Ethiopian Ministry of Transport signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2022 with the aim of developing the Ethiopian side of the road, linking Addis Ababa to Berbera, with the goal of establishing a major trade and logistics corridor in the region.

Labour and Employment

The key labour focus during NDP II was promoting employment-related programmes that target youth and women.

Several successful programmes were implemented with a focus on youth entrepreneurship and creating jobs. Most of these programmes are implemented by international non-governmental organisations (INGOs).

The government initiated the National Service Programme (NSP) in 2018, aimed to foster youth employment and create a platform that provides internships to young professionals. In September 2022, the Civil Service Commission announced the placement of 482 NSP trainees (171 women and 311 men) as full-time government employees in all six regions of the country. This was the third batch of NSP trainees given job placements since the programme was launched by the president in 2018.

In 2018, the Labour Act was amended and the first guidelines for work permits for foreign workers were developed.

Furthermore, an online system for work permits has been established and made operational. A labour union was established to promote and strengthen social dialogue.

6.3 Challenges and Key Issues

The major challenges identified for the NDP III period are the following:

With limited funding – attributed to the international status of the country – fiscal sustainability is a key challenge. Domestic resources alone are not sufficient for major capital investments and the prioritisation of funding for critical social sectors remains a concern.
Human resources and technical capacity needed to support institutions in the economy remain limited.

Additionally, the effective utilisation of external financial and technical assistance remains a challenge.

The economy is minimally diversified, depending mostly on imports of goods from abroad, making it vulnerable to external shocks such as conflicts, pandemics, and supply chain disruptions. Due to the structure of the economy, domestic revenue is dependent more on customs (77 percent) than inland revenue.
There is a low uptake of insurance products due to low levels of awareness. Additionally, insurance authorities lack the capacity to support a conducive environment for insurance service providers or educate the public about the benefits of using insurance services. For a modern economy with risk and uncertainty, this limits possible international investments.
Access to finance is one of the key challenges facing the private sector, especially for MSMEs, and could hinder attracting investment in key sectors. This is related, to some extent, to the state of the financial sector. Modern capital market structures that align with Islamic principles, such as Sukuk markets, are limited. There are also no commercial banking laws in Somaliland.
Somaliland must strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of the regulatory framework for MSMEs to address business environment constraints.
MSMEs with high potential for job creation must be more effectively supported, especially priority sectors where value chains are limited.

6.4 NDP III Outcomes and Priority

Interventions

Strategic Objective 1: To promote a sound and stable macroeconomic environment.

Outcome 1: By 2026, Somaliland will achieve inclusive and sustainable economic growth through sound macroeconomic frameworks and policies.

The Ministry of Finance will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Establishing policy and administrative reforms to strengthen compliance and improve domestic revenue mobilisation. On domestic revenue generation, as the country has a large informal sector, this means expanding the tax base to include MSMEs by further encouraging their integration into the formal economy. Key reforms may include increased automation of tax collection through a more integrated structure, such as the widely used Integrated Tax Administration System (ITAS). This includes the adoption of ASYCUDA World software and systems for customs operations.
Stringently enforcing a tax exemption regime for both international trade and inland revenue. Particular emphasis will be placed on domestic taxes, as current tax expenditures are only monitored for revenue loss on international trade.
Exploring different financing schemes due to limited access to development financing from multilateral development banks. This includes climate financing, blended financing, diaspora bonds, and Islamic capital markets.
Continuing to realign the budget and prioritising expenditures for growth-enhancing sectors, as well as the provision of social services. Priority will be given to education, health, livestock and fisheries, environmental management, food security, the digital economy, and growth-inducing expenditures in the areas of oil and gas, infrastructure, trade facilitation, and soft infrastructure, among others.
Ensuring that the Budget Committee, chaired by the minister of planning, allocates resources in line with national development goals, barring any emergency circumstances.
Strengthening the democratic gains of the country and upholding budget transparency. The national budget, monthly budget reports, and the citizens’ budget will be made widely available to the public. It is envisaged this will generate a feedback mechanism for future consultations with the public.

Furthermore, the Central Bank of Somaliland will prioritise the following interventions:

Maintaining domestic monetary policy for price stability. The ultimate objective for all Central Banks is price stability, and the Somaliland Central Bank is no exception. The bank will continue to pursue policies geared towards expanding the toolkit at its disposal to fight inflation. Currently, the only mechanism is exchange rate market intervention. A broad-based approach, including targeting monetary aggregates, will be established.

Outcome 2: By 2027, Somaliland will have strengthened the capacity of domestic financial institutions to encourage and expand access to banking, insurance, and financial services for all.

The Central Bank of Somaliland will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Improving financial intermediation in the economy, especially interbank transactions for overnight lending. Currently, financial penetration through banks remains low, especially for MSMEs and women-led businesses. Additionally, there are virtually no interbank transactions in Somaliland, which is an issue that must be remedied in collaboration with the Bankers’ Association. Relatedly, developing subregional banking links with Ethiopia will be prioritised to ease trade financing and support transit trade with Ethiopia.
Undertaking financial sector reforms, including expanding money markets based on Islamic Sukuk principles as used in other countries.
Regulating the financial sector in line with market-based principles. This will be the foundation on which a national payment system for the country will improve interbank connectivity.
Developing innovative financial products to support growth. This is especially important for financial inclusion, especially for MSMEs and women.

Furthermore, the National Insurance Authority will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Developing the insurance industry to help mitigate risks for businesses and consumers. This ensures that slight shocks, disasters, and vulnerabilities have a limited impact on businesses and individuals.
Enhancing the oversight and supervision of the insurance industry. The regulatory environment will be strengthened to protect all policyholders and beneficiaries. The speed at which claims are addressed will be crucial to building confidence in the industry.

This will promote the maintenance of a fair, safe, and stable insurance industry.

Increasing insurance uptake. There will be more advocacy programmes to increase awareness of and education on the strategic role insurance can play in the economy.

Strategic Objective 2: To facilitate a conducive environment for investment and private sector development, whilst promoting decent work conditions and labour productivity.

Outcome 3: By 2027, Somaliland will have strengthened institutions and regulatory frameworks through the development and promotion of development-oriented policies and acts that support productive activities, entrepreneurship, decent job creation, creativity, and innovation.

The Ministry of Trade and Tourism will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Strengthening the legal frameworks that support the business environment, private sector, and production sector, such as frankincense production and tourism, to foster their development.
Improving the enabling environment for businesses through a private sector development programme that:

Fosters the formalisation of informal businesses
Provides adequate fiscal incentives in line with existing fiscal policies
Promotes Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and enables better access to commercial justice for MSMEs
Enables the simplification of regulatory processes for business registration and licensing to lower transaction costs, and improve timeliness

Outcome 4: By 2027, Somaliland will have expanded its programmes and policies that promote sustainable tourism to create jobs and promote Somaliland’s local culture and products.

The Ministry of Trade and Tourism will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Conserving and restoring archaeological sites, which are currently the main tourism assets for the country.
Developing more culture-based tourism products, leveraging the wider Somali culture spread through the diaspora population.
Supporting the design of more tourism products.
Formulating and implementing tourism-friendly legislation.
Implementing research-backed marketing through activities such as strengthening data, research, and statistics and improving tourism movement facilitation (visas, movement facilitation forms, etc.).
Developing marketing strategies based on:

Attending travel and tourist fairs such as World Travel Market (London, UK), Vakantiebeurs (Utrecht, Netherlands), Fitur (Madrid, Spain), and ITB (Berlin, Germany)
Using social media to promote the destination of Somaliland
Conducting joint marketing with airlines already operating in the country
Establishing an agency for destination marketing, similar to other African countries

Outcome 5: By 2027, Somaliland will have diversified its economy through improved trade facilitation and economic cooperation.

The Ministry of Trade and Tourism will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Developing a Somaliland trade policy that will provide an evidence-based strategic direction for export promotion, import substitution, value-addition, and the overall trade balance. This will be aligned with the Industrial Policy and the Tariff Policy to assess the potential impacts of targeting specific markets and sectors. This will contain specific targets for exports, imports, and value-additions.
Deepening economic integration through bilateral MOUs, especially in the subregion. These platforms will facilitate partnerships between Somaliland traders and their partners, especially the MSMEs, which could be used to improve the livelihoods of cross-border communities.
Eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers to regional trade routes. These will complement the gains made from infrastructure development along the Berbera Corridor.
Designing and implementing capacity-building programmes for MSMEs, ranging from entrepreneurship skills and bookkeeping to improving e-commerce skills, with the goal of equipping MSMEs with skills to conduct online business.
Formulating intellectual property law and commercial codes to encourage innovation and protect budding entrepreneurs. This will also encourage more foreign investment and business activity, as the enforcement of contracts is an integral component of business confidence indicators.
Creating platforms to increase the access of information to traders through various mechanisms such as trade fairs, business-to-business meetings, and the use of trade magazines and brochures for publicity.

The Somaliland SEZ Authority will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Strengthening the legal framework, governance structures, management systems, and human capabilities of the authority to attain higher productivity.
Creating 1,200 employment opportunities in five years through the SEZ scheme.
Establishing a collaboration mechanism with key stakeholders (public institutions and the private sector) to foster the functionality of the SEZ.
Boosting trade facilitation through an efficient SEZ by:

Offering fiscal incentives for all operators in the SEZ
Attracting FDI by relaxing restrictions in the SEZ and in Somaliland in general
Improving government processes, such as customs clearance for goods and other re-export products
Developing infrastructure for the SEZ

Outcome 6: By 2027, Somaliland will have adopted Investment and industrial development regimes to promote sustainable development.

The Ministry of Investment and Industrial Development will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Creating and strengthening the enabling environment for investment in Somaliland, based on investment policy guidelines. This includes one-stop shops for investors to improve the clarity and speed of government procedures. Furthermore, The Ministry will strengthen the collaboration amongst national institutions related to investment facilitation
Developing a sound and comprehensive industrial sector policy and strategy, and aligning harmonised procedures, regulations, and guidelines.
Developing and establishing Industrial Zones for all regions in Somaliland.
Prioritising the Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) policy and legal frameworks to encourage PPP projects, especially in infrastructure.
Attracting foreign investments from diaspora communities in strategic sectors including real estate, manufacturing, services, and infrastructure, potentially in the form of diaspora bonds, which are used in countries such as Ghana and Ethiopia.
Promoting investments in critical, climate-smart infrastructure to improve trade and industrial development. This will establish a path for sustainable industrial productivity.
Conducting industry-related data collection, research, and studies to increase access to industrial information for the country.

Outcome 7: By 2027, Somaliland will have increased decent employment for women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value.

The Ministry of Employment, Social Affairs, and Family will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Bridging the skills mismatch between education and the labour market. MESAF will embark on activities geared towards skills development needed to increase employability, especially through TVET programmes, in collaboration with other partners, such as the Higher Education Commission.
Promoting employment protection for those already employed and labour market reforms to ease labour market entry, especially for lower skill sectors of the economy. This will contribute to a more competitive labour force.
Promoting economic opportunities and equitable livelihood schemes for vulnerable groups.

Chapter 7 ENERGY AND EXTRACTIVES SECTOR

7.1 Introduction

The energy and extractives (mining) sector is critically important for Somaliland’s current and future socio-economic development and is represented within two pillars of the National Vision 2030. Energy is a key component of Pillar Two (infrastructure development), with a vision for Somaliland to become a nation with an advanced infrastructure network that facilitates economic and social development.

Extractives has a key role in Pillar One (economic development), which envisions a nation whose citizens enjoy sustained economic growth and reduced poverty levels. A sound energy sector will stimulate economic growth, social development, agriculture productivity, industrialisation, and mining. In this sense, the vision for the broader energy and extractives sector is to contribute to social and economic development through the sustainable utilisation of the country’s energy, minerals, and petroleum resources.

The 2018 Electrical Act sets the legal frameworks for the provision of electricity and electricity-related activities, including the regulation of private sector players, which continues to be a pivotal factor in the energy and extractives sector. Similarly, in the area of extractives, the 1984 Mining Code and Regulations are still the guiding policies in the sub-sector. With respect to petroleum, the Upstream Petroleum Act was passed by the parliament in 2022, whilst other related bills are still under consideration.

Energy is key to modern economic activities and is often regarded as one of the main enablers of business in Somaliland. The growth and expansion of industrialisation relies heavily on the success of government and stakeholder interventions in the energy sector. As there is no national grid or transmission system, all of Somaliland’s power generation is produced close to its point of use. Only local level distribution systems operated by private Energy Service Providers (ESPs) exist. In this context, it should also be noted that power generation, transmission, and distribution are done by the same provider, and that the unbundling of these activities is generally considered to be an important prerequisite to improve electricity provision in the country.

Despite the challenges, recent investments by various actors, particularly in renewable energy installations, have improved service delivery. Similarly, streetlights, including solar powered lights, have enabled economic activity as well as improved security. Investments in solar water pumps at the household and community levels have significantly improved access to water. These small pilot projects demonstrate the potential for continued growth in the energy sub-sector. Key priorities are to increase efficiencies, provide better regulation, introduce a dynamic tariff pricing mechanism, and continue to invest in technical skills and infrastructure.

The extractives sub-sector can potentially have positive impacts in Somaliland on job creation, community development, and local economies. To secure this potential, the Somaliland government promotes the principle of corporate social responsibility when granting exploration rights to private companies. This can take the form of co-financing local investments in community infrastructure, such as health facilities, schools, the provision of education materials, and the drilling of boreholes.

Hundreds of local people are employed either directly or indirectly via sub-contractors in the extractives sector. Local businesses are often sub-contracted to supply food, fuel, vehicles, water, heavy machinery, and security services.

7.2 Situational Analysis

Energy: Policy and Legal Reforms

The energy industry in Somaliland is dominated by the private sector as the government continues to create the enabling environment for them to thrive. Over the period of NDP II, various legal and policy reforms were prioritised.

Key among these are:

The Somaliland Electrical Act, 2018
The establishment of the Somaliland Regulatory Commission pursuant to the Electrical Act, 2020
The Power Masterplan, 2019
The Draft Energy Policy, 2020

Access to Electricity

Investments by the government, development partners, and the private sector significantly increased access to electricity across the country. It is now estimated that 80.7 percent of Somaliland urban households and 20.3 percent rural and nomadic households have access to electricity.

While these figures are slightly below the NDP II targets (85 percent in urban centres and 35 percent in rural centres), the progress is impressive given the 2017 starting point of 77 percent for urban households and 17 percent for the rural areas.

Affordability of Electricity

The general reduction in electricity tariffs over the course of the NDP II period is significant for increasing affordability.

The average tariff reduction is estimated to be around 35 percent across the assessed major towns (Badhan, Borama, Budhodle, Burao, Gebiley, Sheikh, Berbera, Erigavo, Lasanod, and Hargeisa). This exceeds the target indicator in the NDP II of 30 percent. However, the tariff reduction is not uniform across communities. In general, increased tariff reductions in rural areas have been set as a major priority for the government due to disparities in access and affordability compared to the major towns.

Relatedly, transmission losses affected consumer prices and energy affordability. Technical losses have reduced drastically, as reported in a 2020 losses study, from 40 percent in 2016 to approximately 32 percent in 2020. The reduction in inefficiencies is crucial for a thriving energy sub-sector, especially as a private sector dominated industry. ESPs have also invested in new Transmission and Distribution (T&D) systems with support from the government and partners based on the T&D guidelines. Lessons learned in the losses study continue to be relevant as the sector moves forward.

Renewable Energy

The proportion of energy provision using renewable energy sources is estimated to be 16.2 percent, which exceeds the NDP II target of 10 percent. The total estimated renewable energy capacity installed in the country is 24.4 MW out of a total capacity of 150 MW. This is a conservative estimate, as there are many small renewable systems that have been installed by private businesses, public institutions, and households (both rural and urban), that are not factored into this estimate.

Target of investments in renewable energy technology, infrastructure, and research for NDP II was estimated at US$30 million cumulatively. By the end of 2021, mainly due to multiple collaborations with partners, the total amount invested surpassed the US$30 million target.

Improved planning helps in the efficient utilisation of limited capacity. This is vital for both service provision and regulation. To support this, geospatial surveys and planning was accelerated to enable energy actors to successfully plan electricity for each location across the country. This process will be digitalised and available on an online platform that can readily enable authorities to track load demand dynamics more easily.

Extractives: Policy and Legal Reforms

To improve preparedness and the capacity to respond to demands, the following policies and strategies were adopted:

The Petroleum Act 2020
The Upstream Petroleum Policy

Exploration for Oil and Gas

A multi-client 2D seismic project was developed and presented to all international oil companies with production sharing agreements with the government. The first project of the multi-client arrangement was concluded in January 2018, which acquired 3,500 km of 2D seismic data for Genel Energy on blocks SL6, SL7, SL10, and SL13. The second project was concluded in July 2018, acquiring 800 km of 2D seismic readings for RAK Gas on block SL9. In mid-2019, RAK Gas and Genel carried out seepage analysis surveys. These oil and gas exploration surveys covered 17 percent of Somaliland’s land mass, exceeding the 10 percent outcome indicator of the NPD II.

Exploration for Minerals

Mineral exploration in various forms and sizes were conducted over the years. These projects are dispersed across different regions. These projects include:

Small scale jade mining
The Abdulqadir Mining Exploration Survey
The Dhagax Guure Mining Exploration Survey
The Sheiklh (Sule Malable) Mining Exploration Survey
The Laaso Surad Mining Exploration Survey
The exploration and small-scale mining of gold in Sanaag
The Siimoodi Artisanal Gemstone Project

In addition, all geological data from the country has been collected.

Revenue Generation

The revenue generated through the taxation of minerals has increased following a modification and expansion of mineral licenses. The different categories of licenses now include prospecting, dealing, small mining, and quarry licenses. Although COVID-19 affected the production and export of minerals, in 2020-2021, the contribution of the mining sub-sector to government revenue is estimated at US$271,684.75.

7.3 Challenges and Key Issues

The major challenges identified for the NDP III period are the following:

Energy

Expanding the capacity and quality of urban electricity supply for domestic consumption and to support commercial activities and industrialisation.
Improving operational efficiencies to reduce the high cost of electricity for all users in all regions.
Expanding access to renewable energy to improve the energy mix of conventional and renewable sources.

Extractives

Expanding the number of areas explored for minerals and petroleum.
Creating the laboratory capacity to analyse minerals in Somaliland.
Promoting investments by marketing opportunities in the extractives sub-sector in terms of exploration, exploitation, and value-addition (export of polished gems).

7.4 NDP III Outcomes and Priority

Interventions

Strategic Objective 1: Increase access to safe, affordable, and reliable energy and improve efficiencies.

Outcome 1: By 2027, Somaliland’s urban electricity supply will increase to a total of 50 megawatts for a total of 30,000 customer connections.

The Ministry of Energy and Mining will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Strengthening the capacity of the Somaliland Energy Commission (SEC) to regulate the electricity market, in addition to improving the legal, regulatory, and institutional frameworks of the sector. The key policy, legal, and institutional reforms that will be developed and endorsed in the coming five years include:

An update to the National Energy Policy
The amendment and approval of the Electrical

Energy Law No.82 (Act)

Licensing procedures and fees for ESPs to provide electricity
Procedures for setting and approving tariffs
Reviewing the national power master plan
Creating an energy research centre
Further developing overall human capacity in the sector

Mobilising resources to invest in additional renewable energy capacity, mini grids, off grids, and grid extensions. This includes improving the efficiency of existing hybrid mini grids (diesel and solar/wind) by optimising the generation capacity and the possible reduction of the diesel consumption by enhancing installed capacity and hybridisation with a battery storage system. The systems will be interconnected with existing ESPs’ privately owned generation systems. In line with the Power Master Plan, additional efficient diesel generators will complement the renewable energy component.
Working on viable PPP projects, using PPP guidelines and regulations, to increase access to electricity and improve affordability. This will be an opportunity for rural communities to access affordable electricity.

This is the most feasible approach to provide electricity access to marginalised and poor people in rural and peri-urban communities.

Outcome 2: By 2027, 25% of national energy generation will be provided by renewable energy resources

Providing incentives to pilot and scale the use of appropriate renewable energy technology. There is relatively limited application of appropriate technology in the production sector (agriculture, livestock, and fisheries) and this needs to be promoted along value chains. The usage of renewable energy and appropriate technology can be improved in value addition activities such as cold storage and processing. Additional applications of solar power will be considered for daytime water pumping for urban and agricultural water supplies. This will free up diesel fuel costs and permit diesel generators to be re-tasked for electricity generation for other commercial or urban loads.
Investing in renewable energy capacity for the electrification of health facilities and schools in Somaliland.

This intervention will also consider the application of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) for health facilities, schools, and water points. This will require the regulation of quality materials, as well as the technical know-how to install, operate, and maintain such systems.

Expanding the availability of affordable micro and solar home systems as part of initiatives to increase access in rural communities and reduce the cost of energy. Incentives will be provided to the private sector to expand the use of quality pico- and micro-grid home-based solutions, particularly for rural and nomadic communities. Guidelines will be developed to support these grid extensions.
Piloting the use of biomass energy as an alternative use of fuel for cooking and heating, in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.

Outcome 3: By 2027, the average electricity price charged by the ESPs will be reduced by 15% compared to 2021 levels through increased efficiencies in the energy value chain.

The Ministry of Energy and Mining, together with sector stakeholders, will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Establishing a city grid for Hargeisa to serve as a distribution supply point. This will enable various ESPs and their distribution networks to have access to the main distribution power supply point. Additionally, it will enable the interconnection of all current operating ESPs in Hargeisa into a single distribution network, operated by an independent entity.
Supporting other ESPs outside Hargeisa to improve their distribution networks for better system efficiency.
Collaborating with ESPs to implement recommendations from the losses study that could improve the performance of their distribution networks. Among other priorities, this will include smart metering and other measures to increase the efficiency of systems to reduce cost. This will include incorporating unmetered customers in public and community facilities for sustainability.
Using BESS to store and save energy. Despite the initial challenges of increased technical capacity, upfront capital costs, and system management and maintenance, the benefits of BEES outweigh the challenges. Recommendations on the possible applications of batteries in hybrid solutions needs to be revisited.
Developing capacity building programmes targeting specialised skills. One of the main limiting factors across the energy sub-sector is the lack of suitable technicians and engineering firms that can provide installation of and long-term maintenance for energy systems.

Strategic Objective 2: Sustainable and environmentally sound exploration and exploitation of the country’s minerals and petroleum resources for the benefit of all.

Outcome 4: By 2027, 27% of Somaliland’s land mass will have been explored for oil and gas (land mass = 177.000 sq. km).

The Ministry of Energy and Mining will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Working with lawmakers to finalise key regulations, such as on upstream petroleum revenue and production, as well as regulations on health and safety, environmental protection, data management, national content, and petroleum measurement fees, among other key issues.
Continuing community engagement and development to ensure that communities directly benefit from the oil and gas drilling through the community engagement programme developed during the exploration stage. This includes outreach activities such as the election of community committees and community engagement officers, mobilisation workshops for community leaders, and community awareness raising through local media, public debates, radio programmes, and billboards.
Intensifying the marketing of the extractive sub-sector, ranging from petroleum and gas to other minerals. This includes establishing bilateral relations and participating in regional and global oil and gas fairs.

Subsequently, the MoEM will conduct rounds of bidding for licenses for various empty blocks.

Developing capacity building programmes to improve the human resources of the Ministry of Energy and Mining. These will include a mix of targeted long-term trainings as well as short-term and onthe-job training programmes including on geology, gemstone cutting, and gemology.

Outcome 5: By 2027, 18% of Somaliland’s basement area with potential for mineral exploration will have been explored (Total area = 30,000 sq. km).

The Ministry of Energy and Mining will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Enhancing the overall contribution of the extractives sub-sector to the economy through viable public and private sector engagement. To improve the enabling environment by the government, the policy and regulatory environment needs to be improved. MoEM will work towards the approval of both the mining policy and code as building blocks for the sector.
Providing training to develop and implement the mining and minerals regulations to continuously improve the legal, regulatory, and institutional framework of the sub-sector. MoEM will draft and implement supportive regulations on environmental protection, health and safety, licensing, and mining services.
Providing geographic and scientific data to investors to reduce explorative risk. The government will provide comprehensive primary geo-data to investors and support the private sector, when necessary, with additional data requirements. Additionally, the MoEM will work on commercialising these activities to improve sustainability.
Attracting investors in the exploration and exploitation of the unoccupied mining blocks. Where it concerns small scale local miners, the MoEM will:

Develop training programmes for artisanal miners to build their capacity in safe mining practices, improved extractive techniques (including environmental safeguards), and gem handling.
Support training programmes for artisanal miners, including literacy and numeracy skills, business skills, enterprise/cooperative organisations, and access to market information.
Support for artisanal miners in the establishment of cooperatives and small-scale mining businesses.

Outcome 6: By 2027, Somaliland’s capability on minerals laboratory analysis will be enhanced.

The Ministry of Energy and Mining will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Establishing a mineral analysis laboratory to routinely perform multi-element analysis, targeting a wide variety of elements in many types of sample matrices.

In addition, the laboratory will design tailor-made analytical packages and provide a high level of standardised service.

Establishing a minerals registration system and a geo-data bank which will be available to different stakeholders depending on needs and user access arrangements.

Outcome 7: By 2027, increase the number of investments in mining and value addition.

The government aims to promote exports in gemstones that have been cut and polished, rather than only raw materials, by:

Establishing a Gemstone Value Addition Centre, where private miners will be able to bring their gemstones for cutting and polishing services. The centre will also provide gemstone identification services.
Deploying complementary measures, including product diversification, unlocking trade restrictions, and setting local content requirements and fiscal policies.
Conducting product promotion and marketing to attract local and international investors. The MoEM will host mineral exhibitions, with a focus on gemstones, for the benefit of interested investors.

Observations

Outcome 1 targets improvement in access to electricity.

This activity is estimated to cost US$2.2 million. As part of improving the energy mix and provide power from renewable sources, an estimated US$45 million is needed to realise

Outcome 2. This is the largest proportion (77 percent) of the investment needed for the electricity component. In

Outcome 3, interventions are geared towards affordable electricity through reduced tariffs.

Outcomes 4 and 5 indicate progress made in the exploration for oil, gas, and minerals. The estimated cost for the exploration of oil and gas constitutes the highest for the sector, amounting to US$97.2 million, while the exploration of minerals is projected to cost US$2 million over the planned period. For a thriving extractive industry that localises earnings, improved capacity on laboratory analysis will be needed, estimated to cost US$990,000 under Outcome

Similarly, investments will be needed to increase value additions in the mining industry, for example in gemstones.

The interventions under Outcome 7 are estimated to cost US$210,000.

The following outcome targets include:

Increasing the urban centre installed energy generation capacity by 37 percent over the planned period, from the current 135 MW to 185 MW in 2026. This is expected to lead to an additional 30,000 customer connections. The MoEM indicated that currently it cannot provide reliable data about the installed capacity in rural areas.
Increasing the proportion of this generation capacity coming from renewable energy from 16 percent (of 135 MW) to 25 percent (of 185 MW), coming mainly from already committed investments in new solar energy systems and increasing the availability and sale of micro-solar home systems through twelve private sector suppliers.
Expanding the areas explored for petroleum and gas from 30,000 to 48,000 hectares, as well as for minerals, from 2,373 to 5,400 hectares.
Boosting the local economy by creating the capacity to analyse mineral samples in-country in a local laboratory by 2023 and promoting a local gemstone polishing industry through the establishment of a Gemstone Value Addition Centre.

Chapter 8 PRODUCTION SECTOR

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Situational analysis

The production sector consists of the livestock, agriculture, and fisheries sub-sectors and is important for Somaliland’s food security.

Food security is an outcome of people’s ability to secure access to and utilise adequate quantities of food, either by producing it, purchasing it, or a combination of both. Similarly, at the national level, food security can be achieved through a combination of self-sufficiency (growing food within the country) and self-reliance (importing food from the world market). Food security in the Somaliland context is intimately linked to the availability and access to water, particularly in rural areas where agriculture and livestock are the main livelihood sources.

Most small farmers and pastoralists are unable to feed their households due to their narrow production base and unfavourable terms of trade for their livestock. Their livelihood base is not sufficiently diversified to insulate them and their households from external shocks, most often drought.

Therefore, Somaliland relies on imports as its main source of food supply. With high global demand and low domestic food production, Somaliland is facing upward pressure on food prices in the country with deteriorating terms of trade and a larger food import bill to pay. The urban and rural poor, disabled people, elderly people, the unemployed, and IDPs are the most negatively affected.

Furthermore, high food prices are adversely impacting fishermen, small farmers, and pastoralists. They are net buyers in value terms because they sell their produce at low prices at harvest time to finance essential needs, repay loans and buy back the same common commodities at high prices later in the season when they run out of their stocks. The dollarised market has other negative consequences which hardly documented.

The interventions from the production sector have therefore to be seen in the wider context of food and water security. The Somaliland Food & Water Security Strategy (2011) was formulated by the Government of Somaliland through a consultative and participatory process under the guidance of the Ministry of Planning and National Development, with technical support from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the World Food Programme (WFP), and other development partners.

Although more than ten years old, the basic premises of the Somaliland Food & Water Security Strategy have not changed, and based on its situational analysis three out of seven strategic goals are directly relevant to the production sector:

Increase agricultural production and productivity (crops, livestock, and fisheries)
Develop export markets for livestock and fisheries, including added-value products
Improve nutrition and food safety

Livestock

Somaliland has a large livestock population estimated at 18.6 million, consisting mainly of camels, sheep and goats, and cattle. Livestock is a valuable asset for the national economy, contributing in most years to more than 80 percent of foreign exchange earnings. It plays a crucial role in rural poverty reduction with significant effects on the livelihoods of people in rural areas. As such, there is a strong case to invest in the development of the livestock value chain.

The nomadic and agro-pastoralist systems characterise the country’s livestock industry. The nomadic pastoralists keep small herds of sheep, goats, and camels for subsistence.

In nomadic livelihoods, pasturelands are mostly communal. On the other hand, agro-pastoralists keep smaller herds of mostly cattle, goats, and a few camels, and grow crops in rain-fed farms. The dominant land use is pasture-based livestock production on communal land in varying scales of intensity. The main livestock products include milk, ghee, meat, hides, skins, manure, and draught power.

Policy and Legal Reforms

The operations of the livestock subsector are guided by the following national laws, policies, and strategic plans:

Meat Inspection and Control Act (Law No. 57/2012)
Livestock Production Law No. 34/2006
Somaliland Animal Production Strategy (2018-2022)
National Livestock Policy 2006-2016 (outdated)
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for nine priority diseases, including quarantines (2015)
Dairy Act, 2013 (draft)
Somaliland Food and Water Security Strategy, 2013
The National Veterinary Code (Law No. 34/2006), reviewed in 2015 (draft)
The National Livestock Policy, 2006, reviewed in 2015 (draft)
Animal Welfare Code (passed through ministerial decree) in 2015
Institutional Procedures and Regulations of the Ministry of Livestock, 2008
Six disease contingency plans, 2015 (draft)
Assessment Report of the Somaliland Livestock

Sector Human Resource Requirements and Plans in 2012

Rangelands

Somaliland has diverse ecosystems, including coastal plains, escarpments, plateaus, and woodlands. Goats and camels thrive more in the woodlands (Hawd) and escarpments, whereas sheep, cattle, and donkeys flourish in open plains. Rural households often keep a few donkeys for domestic transport. The number of cattle shrunk in the past ten years because of successive droughts and dwindling indigenous grass species.

The productivity of the Somaliland rangelands has been declining over the decades due to climate change, livestock population increases, poor natural resource management, uncontrolled land grabbing, and limited policy enforcement. The government destroys illegal enclosures from time to time, but with limited success.

Fodder Production in Private Enclosures

The agro-pastoralists conserve fodder in their enclosures while competing with the nomadic pastoralists in the common grazing lands during wet seasons. The landowners either leave the grass in the field for the animals to graze on during dry spells or cut and pile it in their homesteads. The farmers also store sorghum and maize stalks for the same purpose. During recent droughts, when pastures became scarce and fodder reserves were exhausted, the herders fed animals with boiled grains and other complementary feeds.

Landowners cut grass with sickles and pile it on higher grounds on the farm or carry it to the homestead. The grass is often cut when very dry, but ideally should be cut when still green. The quality of the fodder is affected by excessive heat, rain, and strong winds. When taking it to other locations, the fodder is heaped on trucks with ropes, rather than baled, which is more efficient.

Grazing Reserves

The establishment of grazing reserves in strategically chosen locations is an important measure taken during droughts to increase resilience. The areas can also be used as livestock holding grounds.

According to data from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MoECC), a total of 116,700 hectares of grazing reserves have been brought under community management. This is an area where coordination and cooperation between MoLFD and the MoECC are of crucial importance. The ministries simultaneously achieve important targets for the livestock sector and improved environmental management.

The grazing reserve in the Aroori plateau, located between the towns of Burao and Odweyne, is a prime example of indigenous plant species regeneration. Closing strategic locations across the country would enhance the gene preservation and regeneration of indigenous plants.

Livestock Exports

Livestock exports are important for income generation, government revenue, foreign currency earnings, and the exchange of other commodities, including food.

Livestock exports represent, in most years, more than 80 percent of the value of Somaliland’s exports. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Yemen, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are the main destinations for Somaliland livestock exports. Saudi Arabia is the main destination for small ruminants (sheep and goats) as 70 percent of the exports takes place during the Muslim Hajj season. Yemen and Oman are two major destinations for cattle exports.

Only male animals are exported whilst the females are reserved for breeding and domestic use.

Based on health grounds, importing countries imposed several bans on livestock exports from Somalia’s ports. Saudi Arabia was responsible for most of the bans, based on claims that it found Rift Valley Fever (RVF) in Somali livestock. Livestock exportation data from 2010-2021 shows a steep decline since 2016, mainly due to large livestock mortality from droughts. For example, 3,175,650 sheep and goats were exported through Somaliland’s ports in 2015, compared to only 864,179 in 2021.

Heavy dependence on the three month-long Hajj season for livestock exports puts pastoralists in a difficult income situation, as the sale of animals is the main source of household income. Alternative markets outside of Hajj season must be explored to spread out pastoralist income opportunities throughout the year.

Although there are significant external factors that affect the export of live animals, the MoLFD should:

Rigorously implement all international animal health requirements (vaccinations, quarantines, certifications, risk-based disease analysis, etc.) for the export of livestock.
Build and maintain effective infrastructure, including quarantine stations, livestock holding grounds, and community managed grazing reserves (in collaboration with the MoECC).
Promote public and private partnerships to ensure the availability of water and fodder at key spots along livestock trading routes.

Moreover, the MoLFD, with support from development partners, should commission extensive marketing research to identify opportunities for the export of live animals, meats, and meat products.

The Domestic Livestock Market

Although less important in volume than livestock exports, there is an important domestic market for meat consumption, mainly in urban areas. Depending on the year, the domestic livestock market is estimated to be about 20-50 percent of the live-animal export market. As a result of its size, the domestic livestock market can only absorb the livestock export market to a small degree. The seven main urban centres’ slaughterhouses, where a majority of animals are brought for slaughter, need substantial improvements. Data from urban slaughterhouses is readily available, whereas reliable records in the semi-urban and rural areas are not available as most animals are slaughtered in the homestead. Animals slaughtered for domestic use are mostly consumed on the same day. Butchers sell the meat spread on tables in open markets with minimum sanitary standards. The MoLFD should set sanitary standards and inspect meat markets.

Despite the sharp decline in livestock exportation in recent years, the price of meat in the local markets remains beyond the economic means of poor urban households.

Red meat is the only commodity in Somaliland that is not imported. This creates an opportunity for chicken and fish consumption, as they are relatively cheaper products.

Dairy Products

Nomadic pastoralists keep mixed camel herds for milk production and continually migrate in search of water and pasture. Agro-pastoralists, on the other hand, mostly reside in the western regions and rear dairy cattle of East African Zebu type. The herders send the daily milk yields of their herds in plastic containers to their agents in the markets.

The plastic containers, mostly with small necks, are often not properly sterilised. For improved preservation, the milk is pasteurised or sterilized by heating, or sometimes antibiotics are added. The MoLFD should inspect milk in the local markets for antibiotics that cause antibiotic resistance. The ministry has registered 15 milk cooperatives in urban centres.

Milk consumption is high, both in urban and rural locations, as milk is often the only accessible and affordable drink and is traditionally important for pastoral communities. The high demand for milk is stymied by supply bottlenecks and a lack of capacity in the dairy process industry. At the same time, water and electricity, which are crucial for dairy processing, are expensive in Somaliland and are not always reliably accessible.

The prevailing demand for milk is supplemented by the importation of powdered and bottled milk, mainly sourced from Saudi Arabia, Yemen, New Zealand, and Holland, among others. In the period from 2019-2021, the country imported 35,601,103 kg of powdered milk and 23,072,179 kg of bottled milk, which extracted millions of USD from the country (Ministry of Finance Customs Office, 2022).

Businesspeople and diaspora groups are increasingly establishing commercial dairy camel farms on the outskirts of cities. The milk from these farms is transported in standard metallic containers to restaurants and distribution centres twice a day. With increased urbanisation, the demand for milk and other dairy products remains high and the current supply cannot satisfy market demands. Hence, the importation of powdered milk and other dairy products.

An estimated 50-60 percent of the milk produced in Somaliland comes from camels. Cow milk contributes about 35 percent of total production, while goat and sheep’s milk make up 10 percent. The processing of dairy products into yogurt and cheese is limited. There is also a small industry that processes milk from imported powder milk.

Hides and Skins

The export of hides and skins, although potentially important, has dropped from approximately 13.5 million total exports in 2011 to less than two million annually in recent years. Value addition in hides, skins, leather, and leather products would foster the diversification of Somaliland exports. According to a recent study, the hides and skin sub-sector employs over 1,190 individuals (88 percent of which are male).

The exportation of hides and skins from Somaliland has drastically declined since 2019 and only limited quantities are now exported to Gulf countries. Chinese companies were historically the major buyers of Somaliland hides and skins, but they moved to Tanzania following the closing of the Dacarbudhuq tannery due to environmental concerns.

Traditionally, hides and skins are mainly cured through salting and drying (dry salting). Hides and skins are often of low quality due to defects accumulated before, during, and after the slaughtering of animals.

The development of a policy framework for leather production should, among priorities, emphasise improving the quality of hides and skins and upgrading the existing animal slaughter facilities. Other aspects should include the adoption of salt recovery technologies such as those being used in tanneries in Ethiopia, to make the industry more environmentally friendly, and the intensification of value addition beyond the wet blue stage to produce finished leathers as well as leather products.

Disease Control and Prevention

Measures

The disease control and prevention measures implemented by the MoLFD consist mainly of vaccinating sheep and cattle, the mandatory quarantine of live animals for export, general disease control, treating parasites, and oversight of veterinary medicine imports.

Disease control and vaccination interventions are conducted across Somaliland twice per year. With the financial and material assistance of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), and other development partners, the MoLFD carries out periodic vaccination and treatment campaigns.

Somaliland lacks a vaccine production institute to be able to produce inexpensive vaccines and prevent transboundary animal diseases of economic significance from impacting national herds.

Egg Production

Somali society traditionally does not appreciate white meat. Nevertheless, twelve small to medium poultry farms have recently been established in the country. On average, a poultry farm holds between 300 and 60,000 chickens, mostly for laying eggs. European breeds are kept on farms, which have a difficult time adapting to the local weather and existing endemic diseases. The core limitations of the poultry industry include the high feed cost, lack of local availability of chicks, limited experience of farmers in poultry rearing, and absence of local agencies that produce low-cost vaccines for the control of endemic poultry diseases.

Some households keep a few hens of the local breed, mostly for egg production. If well managed, small-scale poultry rearing can be a good source of supplementary income for households. The local breeds are characterised by low production and productivity, and established farms with local breeds are for egg production. Therefore, imported chilled chicken is available in supermarkets. The ministry should encourage the establishment of farms for broilers.

Agriculture

Sorghum is the dominant crop in Somaliland, taking up about 70 percent of the rain-fed farmlands. Another 25 percent is covered by maize, mainly grown as food for human consumption. Other crops are cowpea, sesame, watermelon, millet, groundnut, and beans. Around 20-25 percent of the Somaliland population depends directly on the agriculture sector for their livelihoods and means of employment, particularly in rural settings. Crop production contributes to only 10 percent of cereal consumption in Somaliland.

The Ministry of Agriculture’s National Agriculture Strategic Plan (NASP, 2021-2023), defines the following strategic goals:

Increase agricultural production
Improve access to agricultural markets and marketing services
Promote natural resource management Policy and Legal Reform

National Agriculture Strategic Plan (NASP) 2021-2023
National Agriculture policy (draft)
Seed policy (draft)
National pesticides policy (draft)
Draft agriculture cooperatives policy
Dryland Farming

The agro-pastoralists in the dryland areas grow a six month maturing sorghum variety (Elmi Jama) for human food and fodder for livestock. In addition, a short cycle variety has recently been introduced in the Odweyne district. To cope with unpredictable climatic patterns, farmers also grow maize, cowpeas, millet, and beans for food, plus sesame, watermelon, groundnuts, onions, and tomatoes as cash crops. Dryland farmers are also steadily adopting fruit trees such as citrus, guava, lemons, and mangoes through improvised drip irrigation during the sapling and flowering stages.

Most subsistence farmers use appropriate farming techniques passed down from generation to generation. It is a low-input, low-output farming system, which has not changed much over time. Technology transfer has shown very little success, despite heavy investments by NGOs in farmer training. Both the total area under cultivation and the yield per hectare fluctuate heavily from year to year, mainly as the result of rainfall patterns.

Main Crop Production Areas

Rain-fed farming is suitable in pockets across the country. Maroodi Jeex, Awdal, and Togdheer are the main food baskets of Somaliland, where farmers practice both rain fed and small-scale irrigated farming. Agro-pastoralists in the Sanaag and Sahil regions also grow sorghum, mostly for animal fodder. Farmers in those regions also grow cash crops along the dry rivers and streams through irrigation from shallow wells.

Commercial Farming

Investment in agri-businesses seems to have increased during the last five years, although no reliable data is available. This seems to have taken place without any noticeable assistance from either the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD) or aid organisations. Commercial farming could be a key driver to market-oriented sustainable agricultural development, which reduces widespread poverty in rural areas. Based on basic technical know-how, these farmers produce quality fruits and vegetables, largely for major markets in large cities and towns.

Greenhouses for commercial vegetable production are expanding in both dryland and irrigated farming areas. These enterprises use hybrid and genetically modified seeds and apply both chemical and organic fertilizers and pesticides.

Commercial farming is often done without sufficient research on the soil type, appropriateness of seeds, climate, market demand and conditions, and quality of water for irrigation. Farmers also often do not consider the shelf lives and preservation of farm produce when the markets are unfavourable. Nevertheless, there are successful commercial farming enterprises in the Arabsio and Burao areas.

Agricultural Research and Extension

The NASP expresses MoAD’s commitment to ensuring that:

Agricultural production is increased through farmer-focused training and extension to enable the farmer to utilise appropriate farming techniques and technologies
Enhanced institutional capacity exists to plan, develop, and provide agricultural support packages that are sustainable
The focus will be on quality farm produce and improved marketing, leading to national food security

Finding appropriate technologies and disseminating them to farmers under agro-socio-ecological conditions like in

Somaliland is a complex challenge anywhere in the world.

This is even more challenging due to the face that there are currently no ongoing broad-based agricultural research and extension interventions in the country.

Research: The MoAD manages the dryland Agriculture Research and Training Institute (SIAR) at Aburin Agricultural Research Station, which has been rehabilitated with funds from the Somaliland Development Fund as a farmer’s training and on-farm varietal evaluation centre. The institute is located about 42 kilometres outside of Hargeisa city, within Somaliland’s prime dryland agro-ecological zone. Farmers from across the country take theoretical and practical short training courses at the SIAR and serve as junior extension workers in their respective localities. The MoAD and partners should commission a study exploring the relevant technology for the local farming systems. It would take time and needs functional links with agricultural research stations operating in similar agro-climatic zones. In this context, the MoAD must pursue stronger collaborative institutional links with relevant Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research institutes, a global partnership that unites international organisations engaged in research about food security.
Extension: The agricultural extension department has limited capacity in terms of effective boots on the ground, so conventional ways of getting valid cropping messages to farmers through a national network of field-level extension workers are not feasible. Therefore, in collaboration with development partners, the MoAD transfers appropriate farming and natural resource management techniques through Farmer Field Schools (FFS) and demonstration farms. to be promoted to spur the market.

The MoAD must find innovative, demand-driven, cand ost-effective ways to reach and support farmers.

Agricultural Inputs and Credit

Both supply and demand for agricultural inputs – like certified seeds, pesticides, implements, equipment, etc. – are very limited and dispersed. Local dealers sell poor-quality imported farm inputs from overseas due to limited control and quality guarantee mechanisms. Genetically modified and untested vegetable and horticulture seeds from diverse sources are replacing indigenous seeds. On the other hand, farmers store seeds of cereal and legume crops from their harvest, purchase them from open food markets, or receive them through donations. Since farmers cannot easily access credits, traders often pre-finance the farmers and take the products at prices that may not be fair to the producers.

Although the ministry and its development partners promote climate-smart agriculture, including the use of organic pesticides, farmers often use globally banned chemical products and apply them to crops at different stages, including a few days before harvesting. Also, farmers use animal manure for enhancing soil fertility.

Agricultural Markets

The cash crops from the local farms are mostly consumed in the main towns of Somaliland. Farmers recognise that local harvests cannot satisfy market demand, and as a result, similar commodities are imported from Ethiopia and Somalia. The farmers send their products to their marketing agents, or traders purchase the harvests at the farm gate.

The vegetables and fruits are transported to the markets in small crates, carton boxes, and sacks on trucks. The peasant farmers face numerous problems, such as poor access to markets, high transportation costs, unstable market prices, lack of processing facilities (value addition), and ineffective farmer organisations.

Non-public Stakeholders

The MoAD collaborates with international and local partners to realise the NASP milestones. About 20 partners support the ministry in enhancing the technical skills of the farmers and staff, natural resource management, water for irrigation, climate change, tillage hours, seeds, etc. The partners also invest in strengthening farmer organisations.

The engagement strategy of most NGOs focuses mainly on emergency management and implementing resilience programmes, which may include farmer group training, distribution of inputs, water-harvesting, construction of soil bunds, and/or support of income generation activities through market gardening.

The MoAD must step up its efforts to coordinate stakeholders in the sector and jointly identify potential interventions for upscaling.

Fisheries

The fishery sector is recognised as a vital economic driver for job creation and economic growth in Somaliland. Although meat consumption is high in the urban areas, the consumption of fish is limited, and fish consumption needs.

The MoLFD is mandated to regulate and promote the Somaliland fishery sector. However, the sector is still in the early stages of development, and the legal and regulatory frameworks that ensure effective governance are still being introduced, developed, and enforced.

The Somaliland Fishery Law is the only legal framework for the fishery industry. FAO and other development partners work with the MoLFD in reviewing and formulating its policy framework.

Legal Frameworks

The legal frameworks governing the fishers are fragmented and the implementation and enforcement have gaps. The Somaliland Government has introduced the following legal instruments:

Somaliland Fishery Law (Law No. 84/2018); it was recently revised and amended and will be submitted to the Cabinet.
Registration & Licensing of Fishing Vessels (No. 1/08/2012). The ministry worked on a fishery vessel registration exercise in 2022 and 455 fishery vessels were registered and are active in Somaliland waters. The ministry issues licenses to foreign fishing vessels for limited periods with specified fishing equipment.
Somaliland company law gives licenses to fishing groups operating as companies.
A fishery boat management regulation was developed in 2022.
Cooperative guidelines were developed in 2022, as well as bylaws for cooperatives.

The MoLFD issues identification numbers and cards to the boats and fishermen, and licenses for the local and foreign fishing companies and cooperatives. The SLCG ensures compliance with the regulations for every sea-going boat and its crew. In addition, the government collects taxes from fishing activities.

Equipment and Facilities for Fishing Groups and Fishmongers

The Somaliland artisanal fishery sector predominantly operates in the inshore areas. Most fishermen use motorized boats equipped with drift nets and lines for catching the fish. About 250 small and medium-scale boats of 7 m and 8.5m long, equipped with 15 and 25 hp Yamaha engines, are used for fishing. The small boats are useful for the daily catch within a few kilometres from the shore, whilst the medium-scale boats, mostly with Volvo engines, can spend over a week at sea and sail up to 50km from the shore. In addition, individual fishers go to the sea on paddled canoes to catch small quantities of fish.

Fishing boats are insulated or equipped with coolers to preserve the fish on the boats while at sea. Fishers take sufficient quantities of ice flakes, packaged in 50 kg bags, depending on the fishing trip. The boat owners employ fishermen (4-5 per boat) for each fishing trip.

Fishing jetties were established and are operational in coastal Berbera and Maydh towns. The ministry also manages a workshop in Berbera town for repairing boats and fishing gear, which are relatively expensive in Somaliland.

The boat owners order the fishing gear and spare parts from Bossaso, Mogadishu, or Dubai, where they are cheaper.

Cold Chain Facilities

There are limited cold storage facilities in Somaliland’s coastal towns. The fishmongers store fish stocks in freezers of 500 kg capacity whereas six enterprises have cold chains and icemaking plants, mostly in Berbera town, for short-term storage. The enterprises serve the fishermen and the fishmongers in the Berbera district with ice cubes and storage facilities. A kilogram of ice costs SlSh 1000 (US$0.12 USD) in Berbera.

In addition, the Fishery Centre Enterprise, constructed by Fairfishing in Berbera and currently managed by the ministry, has a freezer room to freeze the fish to -40 oC for indefinite periods. However, the room is seldom used due to expensive and unreliable electricity in Berbera.

Fish Species in Somaliland Waters

The fish species in Somaliland waters are classified into pelagic (migratory) and demersal (sedentary). The Pelagic species include the tuna family (yellowfin tuna, frigate tuna, longtail tuna, sailfish tuna, skipjack tuna, etc.) and Spanish mackerel. The common demersal species are scavengers, groupers, snappers, grunts, sharks, turtles, threadfin breams, lizardfish, goatfish, rays, and sea breams.

Despite Somaliland society historically consisting of nomadic pastoralists with plenty consumption of red meat, fish consumption has been steadily growing in the urban areas due to the expatriate and diaspora returnee populations, as well as due to health benefits, nutrition, and media influences. Yellowfin tuna, long-tail tuna, sailfish tuna, sharks, and kingfish are the most preferred fish species in the consumer markets for their high unit value and slow decomposition. The fish’s body mass and consumer preference determine the price of the fish in the market. Although

Somaliland’s 850 km sealine is endowed with rich fishery resources, local fish consumption is relatively limited.

Seasonal Fish Production and Marketing

Access to the sea and availability of fish is determined by the southwest and northeast monsoons. Between May and August (sometimes mid-September), the southwest monsoon makes the sea cold and rough for the small boats. In this season, access to the pelagic fish species (the preferred) becomes scarce in Somaliland waters, as they migrate to places with higher ambient temperatures.

Between September and April, pelagic fish species are abundant in the Gulf of Aden because of a higher ambient temperature and the availability of prey.

Opportunities exist for investors to partner with local fishing companies or invest in developing the fishing industry. No official fishery stock assessment was conducted for the last 30 years to determine the status of the fishery stock in Somaliland waters and determine the potential of the industry, which FAO currently estimates at 40,000 tonnes per year. However, the annual registered catch over the last few years has been around 3,000 tonnes, or less than 10 percent of the estimated potential.

The fishmongers send the fish stocks on improved vans with large quantities of ice cubes. Around 80 percent of the fish catch ends up in Hargeisa and Burao cities, while smaller quantities go to Borama, Erigavo, Wajaale, Gabiley, Odweyne, and Las Anod towns. The ministry and development partners have established fish markets in Berbera and Burao towns with the necessary facilities.

The fishmongers sell a kilo of fish at SlSh 13,000( US$1.5) and resell it at SlSh 18,000 (≈US$2) to the traders at the end markets, who in turn sell each kilo at around SlSh 29,000 (US$3.4) to hotels and restaurants, and SlSh 40,000 ($US4.7) to individual customers.

Foreign Fishing in Somaliland Waters

The MoLFD issues fishing licenses to large foreign vessels for a limited period in the Somaliland Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Somaliland charges US$0.46 per kilogram of fish on licensed foreign vessels. Due to limited monitoring capacity, the ministry, however, is concerned that foreign vessels of all sizes are illegally encroaching into the Somaliland territorial waters. Illegal fishing has huge impacts on the marine habitats and sustainability of fish species from destroying coral reefs and using trawling equipment.

Despite small units of navy guards in the coastal towns, Somaliland is ill-equipped to monitor and protect its marine resources. In the recent past, between 2017 and 2019, foreign trawlers were banned from Somaliland waters to protect the coral reefs. The ministry currently only issues a very limited number of licenses to foreign operators.

Commercial Fish Processing

Large-scale fish processing is still developing in Somaliland. Few companies have emerged in the past two decades to produce, preserve, and market for commercial purposes. However, those companies have either closed their businesses or managed only ice plants and cold storage facilities in Berbera town.

8.3 Challenges and Key Issues

The major identified challenges in the production sector for the NDP III period are the following:

Livestock

Improving rangeland management and preservation, including in local communities as indigenous plant species are being replaced by exotic species, such as prosopis juliflora and parthenium weed. Trees are also cut indiscriminately for firewood and charcoal production in many places.
Investing in a meat processing industry, as livestock is exported on the hoof. The recipient countries often send back livestock shipments from Somaliland because of enzootic diseases such as brucellosis. Exporting chilled meat would add value and increase earnings in foreign currency, as well as reduce the risk of rejected shipments and high mortality of livestock enroute.
Improving sanitary measures for livestock and the handling of livestock products, like meat and milk. For example, it is important to avoid the spread of disease when livestock from different locations converge in unsanitary conditions. Regulations and inspection need to improve to impose better hygiene and sales conditions in markets.

Agriculture

Improving the subsector’s policy, legal, and regulatory framework. The ministry has a three year strategic plan (2021-2023), a draft national agriculture policy, a seed policy, a plant protection policy, and a farming cooperatives’ policy. Furthermore, the ministry should review the Somaliland Agriculture Land Ownership Law No. 08/99 in line with the recently approved land policy.
Addressing in a more systematic way land conservation, management, and erosion control, together with other relevant government institutions, like MoLFD, MoECC, and MoRD. Soil fertility in agricultural areas has declined over time due to poor farming practices, inadequate natural resource management, and wind and water erosion.
Mobilising additional resources so the MoAD is better placed to pursue its national mandate of creating an enabling environment for sustainable agricultural production. This would enhance the capacity of the ministry to identify, formulate, and enforce sectoral policies and guidelines and deliver necessary services to farmers, including training, certified seeds, and on-farm trials.
Promoting private sector investments in activities like crop production, agro-processing, horticultural production in greenhouses, and the availability of quality agricultural inputs, equipment, and facilities. To increase crop production, farmers should be able to access quality and regulated certified seeds, farm machinery, botanical pesticides, affordable fuel for tillage, and irrigation facilities, among others.
Promoting practices that reduce crop losses from pests and diseases or from inadequate on-farm storage facilities.
Promoting better access to markets. Despite the extensive mobile phone network in Somaliland and other modern communication technologies, local farmers either have limited market information or are bonded to pre-financing traders in the end markets. In addition, farmers lose a significant percentage of yield value due to market saturation with unfavourable prices immediately after the harvest.

Fisheries

Improving the availability of information about the status of Somaliland’s marine ecosystem i.e., coral reefs, sponges, and seaweeds, which are the main habitat of many organisms. This information is important for investors, fishermen, and other stakeholder who wish to invest in the fishing sector.
Establishing a standby rescue system for stranded fishermen and missing properties in the sea. The fishermen (fish harvesters) do not have diving kits to search for missing properties (e.g., anchors) and persons in distress. Fishing groups now employ private boats for rescue operations and hire expensive kits from local vendors for such incidents. The municipality occasionally contributes fuel for the rescue operations, while the Somaliland Coastguard may tow the boats back to shore.
Promoting the availability of essential tools, gear, and equipment for fishermen (like fish detecting instruments, GPRS, overcoats, life jackets, fire distinguishers, communication equipment, and first aid kits) and fishmongers at the markets (like proper gutting and filleting knives, weighing scales, and cutting boards). Storms and cyclones may capsize the fishing boats far into the sea. When stranded in the sea, the boats do not have communication facilities to appeal for assistance whilst the rescue mission cannot easily locate the distressed crew.
Promoting measures that will allow the availability of cost-effective cold-chain facilities and rental space accessible to fishmongers, while guaranteeing the stability of a sustainable electricity supply.
Expansion of the Berbera fishery jetty, which currently can handle only a few boats at any given time. This results in long queues for access to the landing site which can cause the fish to perish if not unloaded and frozen on time. Also, an unhygienic landing site may contaminate the fish.
Additional investments to improve transport infrastructure. The traders deliver fish on improvised vans, which do not meet the fish delivery standards, compounded by poor road networks and other infrastructure. A significant percentage of fish stocks are lost before consumption due to poor handling and inadequate cooling systems while in transit, making postharvest losses unnecessarily high.
Working towards meeting Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) standards in the fishery sector. This would allow it to export fish to neighbouring countries, Europe, or the United States. Somaliland’s fishery sector currently supplies only the local markets and exports only insignificant amounts of ornamental fish to Djibouti.
Promoting eating and preparing fish to challenge the cultural attachment to red meat and limited cooking skills. Cultural factors discourage many people from eating fish and has caused several companies to leave the market within a short period.

8.4 NDP III Outcomes and Priority

Interventions

Strategic Objective 1: To improve resilience and livelihoods of rural communities by promoting sustainable production in livestock and agriculture with sound natural resource management.

Outcome 1: By 2027, livelihoods in rural and semi-rural areas will have improved due to better resilience in pastoralist and agro-pastoralist communities.

In collaboration with development partners, the Ministry of Livestock and Fishery Development will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Improving access to effective animal health services through quality drugs, disease surveillance, treatment, and vaccination campaigns.
Investing in livestock holding grounds (LHG), quarantine station farms, strategic water points, and fattening farms to improve the resilience of the sector towards drought.
In collaboration with MoECC, establishing community managed grazing reserves and seed banks for the preservation of resilient and nutritious indigenous grassland varieties.
Capacity building for veterinarians and animal health workers in animal health and communications skills.

This will improve access to effective animal health services through the utilisation of quality drugs, disease surveillance, and treatment and vaccination campaigns.

Promoting public health protection measures against zoonotic diseases. This would improve the safety of meat and milk for consumers in both rural and urban settings. The ministry will inspect the meat and milk at the abattoirs and distribution (market) centres.

The Ministry of Agricultural Development and its development partners will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Proactively leading coordination of all intervening organisations working in Somaliland with a focus on enhancing the resilience of rural communities by improving their ability to adapt to climate change.
Ensuring on-going research programmes have a sufficient focus on appropriate technology that have the potential to improve rural communities to adapt to climate change.
Increasing farmer field school (FFS) groups, if warranted by recommendations, and undertake a field study on joint stakeholder FFS experiences in Somaliland.

Outcome 2: By 2027, the promotion of sustainable natural resource management will lead to a more sustainable use of land and water resources in the production sector.

The Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development, together with its development partners, will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Conducting at least one fish stock assessment to determine the sustainable exploitation of fish and other marine resources (fishing quotas).
Establishing marine protected areas in collaboration with the MoECC.

The Ministry of Agricultural Development and its development partners will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Promoting the development and sustainable utilisation of agricultural land resources. Farmers will be sensitised and trained on climate-smart agriculture and sustainable land use practices.
Promoting the development and efficient use of water resources. Farmers will be trained on the efficient use of water for irrigation such as drip irrigation and solar-powered systems.

Strategic Objective 2: To develop sustainable market-oriented climate-smart value chains in the production sector, involving all stakeholders.

Outcome 3: By 2027, the meat, dairy, feed, and fodder value chains will have considerably improved. In collaboration with development partners, the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Addressing regulatory gaps for livestock, livestock products, and the export of live animals to facilitate competition. Implementing and enforcing the laws, regulations, and standard operating procedures will help access markets. The following are other documents that are to be developed within the NDP III timeframe:

Emergency preparedness and response (EP&R) laws, regulations, and guidelines.
A more comprehensive pharmacy and poisons act, bringing together the veterinary and medical services.
A pesticides act addressing veterinary, agricultural, and environmental concerns.
A veterinary code of ethics.
An aquatic animals and products act.

Capacitating all actors in the livestock value chains (meat, dairy, fodder) in good production practices. This will complement the continuous professional development of livestock extension workers towards overall improvement of knowledge and skills in the subsector, including breed selection and improvement.
Establishing demos for good animal production practices, fodder banks, and feed lots through climate-smart practices. The seed banks will be of improved varieties. This will lead to increased fodder production, seeds, and techniques.
Supporting actors in the fodder value chain regarding value addition of fodder, (baling, concentrates, milling, grinding, etc.), including the provision of inputs for pilot schemes to engage in such activities.
Rehabilitating and improving infrastructure in the dairy value chain (cold chain, processing).
Establishing a livestock marketing agency. The agency will prioritise trade facilitation initiatives across the value chain, dissemination of market information, and the development of market systems. The agency will work with all stakeholders to strengthen certification, inspection, and quality control, especially regarding requirements of export markets.
Strengthening extension advisory services to the private sector to improve farm management and overall farming practices.

Outcome 4: By 2027, MoAD will have increased institutional capacity to effectively support farmers to increase marketed production.

The Ministry of Agricultural Development and its development partners will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Developing a financially sustainable, innovative, and facilities to strengthen the fishery value chain: producer-oriented support approach, together with all value chain stakeholders. The MoAD will study the agriculture value chains, explore innovative solutions, and develop financially sustainable producer support models.
Aligning the MoAD’s institutional structure and capacity with a more producer-oriented support approach. The ministry will review its internal structures for effectiveness and devolve the technical operations closer to farmers.
Enhancing the MoAD’s human resource capacity. The ministry has an adequate number of specialised staff whose technical skills shall be upgraded. Special emphasis will be given to the staff at the regional offices.
Developing the necessary MoAD physical infrastructure and equipment provision. The office facilities and necessary equipment will be provided to the regional and district offices and, where necessary, at headquarters.
Increasing access to quality inputs for both rain-fed and irrigation farmers. The MoAD will ensure the quality of seeds, pesticides, and other farm inputs. The farmers will be encouraged to use natural pesticides and will be advised on the safe use of agrochemicals. The MoAD will also inspect agrochemical pesticides in local markets and certify traders in this context.
Encouraging and regulating the growth of greenhouses. The number of greenhouses has increased in Somaliland over past ten years. The MoAD will promote greenhouses and develop regulatory frameworks. Farmers will also be advised on appropriate irrigation systems.
Developing a conducive environment for agricultural marketing investment. Somaliland businesspeople and foreign investors will be encouraged to invest in agribusinesses.
Establishing a marketing information system for the effective provision of market information to farmers and other market players. The ministry will develop effective marketing information systems which will be easily accessible to farmers, traders, and other agribusiness players.
Developing marketing sales promotions for agricultural products. The annual exhibition will be held in all Somaliland regions. In addition, the ministry will explore e-markets for agricultural produce.
Improving physical market infrastructure. In collaboration with municipalities, farmer facilities will be improved, such as warehouses, cold chains, etc.

Outcome 5: By 2027, the Somaliland fishery sector will have grown substantially in a sustainable manner. The Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development and its development partners will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Expanding and upgrading necessary infrastructure

Extension, expansion, and rehabilitation of existing fishing jetties and landing sites and the construction of new jetties.
Supporting increased capacity of existing cold storage facilities in seven coastal areas and establishing new facilities in two areas, plus facilities for ice-making.
Promoting the establishment of commercial fish processing plants (canning, drying, sorting, smoking, and fish meal).
Construction of fish market centres in Erigavo, Hargeisa, and Wajaale.
Supporting the establishment of operational fishing gear shops in Berbera, Zeylac, and Maydh.
Improving the mechanical workshop for marine engine maintenance in Berbera and establishing two mobile workshops in Zeylac and Maydh.
Establishing a Fishery Training Centre for training young fishermen.
Improving commercial fishing knowledge and disseminate to all relevant stakeholders.

Capacity building of key actors in the fish value chain (fishermen, fishmongers, mechanics, etc):

Training local fishermen in modern fishing gear techniques (hooks, long lines, trolling, etc.)
Training of trainers in maintenance and repair of marine engines, cold storage facilities, solar installations, etc.

Strengthening and streamlining the policy, legal, and regulatory framework in the fishery sector and its implementation:

Improving the legal framework for the establishment of fishery cooperatives.
Updating the fish quality control act to include specific requirements related to the fish value chain.
Improving the capacity to monitor and protect against illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing, among other issues, through a vessel monitoring system.
Improving and encouraging local fish export and certification.
Improving and modernising the fishery licensing system.

Promoting market access (including export markets) by engaging in trade facilitation, dissemination of market information to all operators, marine products certification, and the establishment of a food safety control system (HACCP).

Chapter 9 INFRASTRUCTURE SECTOR

9.1 Introduction

Public Works, Land, and Housing

Infrastructure is key to facilitating and accelerating socio-economic development as envisaged in Somaliland Vision 2030. The country aims to be a nation with an advanced infrastructure network that enables economic and social development. Therefore, improved infrastructure is critical to Somaliland’s competitiveness to facilitate local, regional, and global trade. The priority has always been an internal road network that connects the different parts of the country, which will also indirectly support economic activities such as being a transit trade hub, access to health facilities, and linking production to potential markets.

It was in pursuit of the above objectives that, in addition to the Berbera-Wajaale road, the Hargeisa bypass was conceived, together with partners. Other strategic road networks include connections between Erigavo, Burao, and Las Anod. This will then establish good, paved road links between all the regional capitals and major cities.

Closely linked to the road network are developments in the maritime transport infrastructure. The Berbera Port and its economic zone are intertwined with the existing road network and planned road investments. The Berbera Port is quickly becoming the nucleus of economic opportunities in Somaliland. This ranges from being a major source of government revenues to being a key hub in the international livestock trade. The development of other jetties, like the one in Maydh, expands opportunities for more rural communities. To realize its full potential, Somaliland also needs a thriving aviation industry. Developments at Egal International and Berbera airports will ensure that connectivity to Somaliland is easy for its citizens and businesses. The recent resumption of domestic flights to Erigavo signals opportunities for domestic air connectivity.

The basis for a modern digital economy is a transformative telecommunication sector which adopts to the fast-changing digital world. As envisioned in Vision 2030, a good communication network will support the government’s drive towards a modern digital world. This is expected to support e-economy, e-government, and e-learning. The government’s main role is to create the enabling environment for the private sector to thrive. The recent developments on the fibre optic cable deployment will further boost the industry and ensure that internet access and internal supported economic activities will increase. Connectivity to the international fibre optic cable will also help increase internet access to every home, business, school, and government department.

9.2 Situational Analysis Policy and Legal Reforms

Policy and legal instruments approved and enacted to improve the infrastructure landscape are limited. These policies, and a host of new ones, will continue to guide the sector in the foreseeable future. Key among them are:

Four sustainable urban master plans developed for Las Anod, Erigavo, Borama, and Gabiley districts.
Land Policy (2022)
Fixed Asset Registry Policy
E-Government Strategy (2021-2024)
The Ministry of Public Works, Land and Housing (MoPWLH) archives the original copies of all town plans in the country and maintains an asset register of public assets. There are currently 15,428 assets registered in the asset registry. The MoPWLH licenses an increasing number of engineers and skilled technicians, as well as the registration of building contractors, real estate developers, and quarries. Currently, the MoPWLH has registered 1,465 contractors and 1,550 engineers. The contractor licensing requires the owner to have engineering qualifications.
The ministry has developed construction permit application guidelines and trained the ministry and district engineers in implementing the guidelines for the approval and oversight of building permit applications. The ministry has designed and supervised 182 projects since its inception in 1994.
MoPWLH works closely with the Ministry of Transport and Roads Development (MoTRD) and local governments to identify primary and secondary roads to plan and manage cities’ traffic volumes. This is taken into consideration when conducting town planning.
The MoPWLH has completed the feasibility studies and detailed design of 400 government employee houses. The MoPWLH has allocated public-owned land for the construction of affordable housing and is currently exploring potential funding sources.

Road Transport

Community fundraising has been a critical source of finance for constructing paved roads in rural and urban areas. Examples of such funding models are the roads connecting Borama and Dila (35 km), Hargeisa and Ina Guuhaa (about 30 km out of 80 km), Hargeisa and Balligubadle (about 15 km out of 80 km), and Erigavo and Ina Af-Madow (about 150 km out of 280 km).
The Roads Development Authority (RDA), together with key partners, has delivered several vital roads. Since 2013, Somaliland, together with the SDF, has invested in the rehabilitation of 149.5 km of paved roads, which included 130.3 km of paved road between Hargeisa and Sheik and rehabilitating 19.2 km of paved road between Kala-baydh and Dila.
The upgrades to the Berbera Corridor, which links the Berbera Port to Ethiopia, are significant developments. Road upgrades will be completed by the end of 2022 with investments from the Abu Dhabi Fund (US$90 million), the Prosperity Fund of the UK

Government (US$33 million) for the Hargeisa Bypass, and the European Union, which has upgraded the road from the bypass to Gabiley. The RDA has been a key partner in this process. Berbera Port, Berbera Airport and the Berbera Corridor Road connecting to Ethiopia are nearly completed.

The Erigavo road, constructed with government funds and an extensive community fundraising effort, both in Somaliland and from the diaspora, is expected to be completed at the end of 2022. Despite this progress, infrastructure remains one of the biggest challenges for businesses in Somaliland, particularly transportation.

Maritime Transport

There is a new container terminal at Berbera Port, a quay of 400 m, and three Ship-to-Shore (STS) gantry cranes which can handle the largest container vessels in operation today and increases the port’s container capacity from the current 150,000 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) to 500,000 TEUs annually. The terminal includes a modern container yard with eight Rubber-Tyred Gantry Cranes (RTGs). A new port one-stop service centre is also being built and will be ready in 2022. The port can handle up to two million TEUs a year and multiple large container vessels simultaneously.
Recent investments, albeit small, in regional jetties have the potential to develop an interconnected marine transportation network which will open potential markets, promote value chains, and improve local economic development in many rural areas.
The Maydh Jetty in Sanaag has also been upgraded, which will improve interconnectivity by sea between Berbera and Sanaag and parts of the Togdheer regions. It is expected that with complementary investments in the road to Erigavo, this upgrade could spur economic potential benefiting about 750,000 people and providing opportunities for economic diversification with investments in the fisheries sector.

Air Transport

Air access has improved in recent times, with four international airlines currently operating in the country providing daily flights from Mogadishu, Djibouti, Addis Ababa, and Dubai. The United Nations and the European Commission have weekly humanitarian flights linking neighbouring countries.
Berbera International Airport reopened for international air travel in November 2021. The airport upgrades complemented the expanded port of Berbera, and both play an important role in the potential success of the SEZ in Berbera, which will transform Berbera into an integrated maritime, industrial and logistics hub in the Horn of Africa.
The government has rehabilitated the Erigavo airport with an unpaved runway and currently there are local flights to and from Hargeisa. There are six major Somali-owned and operated fleets. Telecommunications Infrastructure
A mobile phone penetration rate of only 45 percent and fierce competition has led mobile network operators to offer some of the world’s cheapest mobile rates.
The telecommunications industry invested heavily to improve connectivity, with 3G and 4G already rolled out across Somaliland. The port city of Berbera is to be connected to the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy), a medium of internet connectivity carrying telecom traffic for all African operators from the Eastern and Southern African markets to connecting cable networks in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
The telecommunications industry remains competitive in the region as international calls made from Somaliland are some of the cheapest in Africa. Somaliland is also one of the most active mobile money markets in the world, with 26 percent of subscribers using mobile money to pay bills – one of the highest user rates in the world.
The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MoICT) established a spectrum management monitoring system for the first time. The spectrum management system regulates radio frequency to promote efficient service, mitigating radio spectrum pollution and maximizing the benefit of usable radio spectrum.
In 2021 an innovation zone was launched. The main objective of the innovation zone is to train public servants, as the government transitions to providing e-services and rolls out its digital transformation strategy. The facility is expected to develop into an e-learning, e-health, and e-commerce platform, and supports a data exchange platform and capacity building. It is expected, at later stages, to provide advanced trainings on topics such as programming, digital marketing, and cybersecurity.
A significant development in early 2022 is the public-private partnership with three leading telecommunication providers agreeing to share the landing and operation of submarine cables to enter the country. Each telecommunication provider will own 31.67 percent of the new joint company, while the government will own five percent. Currently, a total of 1,200 km of optic fibre cable has been laid and four out of six regions are connected.
Following the laying of foundations to reopen postal services in the country, the international postal service resumed in March 2019 following an agreement with Djibouti. International post will be channelled through the Djibouti Postal Agency (La Poste de Djibouti). The Djibouti Postal Agency agreed to represent Somaliland at all the regional and international conferences that Somaliland cannot attend due to lack of recognition.

9.3 Challenges and Key Issues

The major challenges identified for the NDP III period are the following:

Improving the large physical infrastructure deficit to support the population in different facets of their lives. The land, sea, and air access routes need to be strengthened for a more frequent, efficient, profitable, and sustainable means of transport services.
Strengthening the ICT infrastructure to support the transformation of digital services. The expansion of the fibre optic cable network and the provision of quality and affordable internet services form the cornerstones of this challenge.
Strengthening physical planning, which will serve as the catalyst to increased access to decent and affordable housing with green and socio-environmentally friendly surroundings.
Reviewing and updating the legal and regulatory framework in the infrastructure sector. A robust regulatory framework will boost investor confidence, delivering safer and better regulated and maintained public and private infrastructure.

9.4 NDP III Outcomes and Priority Interventions

Strategic Objective 1: Expanding the building and adequate maintenance of safe and sustainable transport, housing, and ICT public infrastructure, according to the requirements of the country.

Outcome 1: By 2027, transport services by land, sea, and air are safer and more frequent, efficient, profitable, and sustainable.

The Ministry of Transport and Roads Development will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Having modern paved roads is critical for development. A good, paved road has a positive impact on fuel use efficiency, reduced vehicle maintenance cost, and an overall increase in road safety, especially with road signage. The MoTRD has identified the following road networks as priorities to be paved in the next five years:

Lawyaddo-Fardaha-Borama road (270 km)
Burao-Oodweyne-Hargeisa Road (190 km)
Erigavo-Maydh (Tabca) road (78 km)
Las’anood to Kalabaydh road (40 km)
Borama-Baki Road (37 km)
Berbera-Las-iidle Road
Hargeisa-Salahley Road (71 km)
Hargeisa – Balligubadle Road (65 km)
Dhubato-Cadaadley Road (40 km)

In addition, the Wadamago-Qoralugud-Buhodle Road (90 km) will be upgraded but remains unpaved.

Conducting a feasibility study, as part of the Berbera Corridor development, for the Berbera-Hargeisa-Aware-Shilabo railway, road, and natural gas pipeline. Based on the findings of the study, a financing mechanism will be determined.
Improving the coordination and management of transport services in Somaliland. The issuing of vehicle circulation books and driving licenses will be decentralised to the regional level.
Establishing policies and guidelines related to providing government transport services and vehicles, their effective management, and improved coordination.
Registering all maritime vessels operating in the country as well as the licensing of skippers.

Furthermore, the Civil Aviation and Airports Authority will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Upgrading the Hargeisa Airport, which serves as the main entry port but has limited facilities that need updating. A new tower and flight information centre will be built, supported by a runway lighting system to improve air navigation and safety.
Improving domestic aviation and overall connectivity by air, a runway and terminal will be built at Burao and Erigavo airports.
Conducting feasibility studies of Las’anood Airport, Borama Airport, and Kalabaydh Airport to consider airport expansions to other cities. Pursuant to the findings of the study, a master plan will be developed on overall airport developments in the country.
Developing a national air transport policy to build the foundations of a thriving aviation industry in consultation with industry players. The policy will guide the airspace management systems and facilities needed. Following the policy, all existing rules and regulations will be reviewed and updated to conform to IATA and ICAO standards. All airport operation and security manuals will then be updated accordingly.
Establishing an aviation academy to support the education and training of national aviation professionals.

Outcome 2: By 2027, a more widely available robust ICT Infrastructure resulted in an expansion of quality internet-based e-services. The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Expanding universal access to ICT services through various mechanisms, including promoting and establishing incubators, innovation, parks, and ICT training centres. The government will also create and register one or more top level domains.
Accelerating digitalisation of its services (e.g., e-procurement) with secured networks by building off existing and expanded optic fibre cable networks. To improve on efficiency, a national data centre will be established to host all data related to government e-services and others. The secured, fast, and reliable internet will also be a catalyst for the development of private sector services and to expand online education through e-learning platforms and systems.
Developing the required policies, laws, and regulations for interconnectivity. Interconnection is the nucleus of modern telecommunications, be it internet service providers or mobile telephone operators. To realize the full potential of telecommunications in the economy, interconnectivity between operators is key.
Establishing and reinforcing postal and delivery structures to ensure Somaliland has the necessary structures for local and international postal service delivery and related services. The traditional role of the postal service has been expanded to include other emerging services. Whereas the traditional sending of letters has dwindled worldwide, parcel delivery services have boomed, in part because of e-commerce. An important step will be the inclusion of all regions in a GIS based address system, making it easier for smaller private sector operators to step into niche markets.

Outcome 3: By 2027, improved physical planning has led to increased access to decent and affordable housing with green and socio-environmentally friendly surroundings.

The Ministry of Public Works, Land and Housing will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Integrating spatial planning into urban development in Somaliland. The MoPWLH recognises that the development of urban centres needs to be guided by spatial plans, considering public services and infrastructure, economic activities, and environmental concerns. A basic urban planning manual was developed in 2010 with technical support by UN-Habitat.

The MoPWLH intends to develop a national spatial development plan, six integrated urban development plans, and 23 spatial master plans for electoral districts. Besides being important safeguards for future developments in the country and large population centres, these spatial plans are also instruments that can play a role as part of a finance mobilisation strategy.

Conducting research on low-cost housing, building materials, and technologies to maximise the benefits of using scarce resources. Decent and affordable housing (shelter) is a basic human right and the government is committed to providing a facilitating environment.
Creating a national housing database which will feed into policies on housing allocation, amongst others. Relatedly, civil engineers at all levels of government administration will be trained on surveying using Geographic Information System technology. The increased capacity within both central and local government will then be utilised to develop and maintain an efficient land information system.
Providing housing for government employees. The ministry expects to oversee the design and construction of 600 new housing units and the rehabilitation and maintenance for another 500 existing units.
With respect to additional public infrastructure, the Ministry MoPWLH expects to:

Design and supervise the construction of 500 new government buildings and supervise the renovation and maintenance of another 100 government buildings across all regions
Design and supervise the construction of ten bridges in urban centres, pending the approval

of urban development plans

Outcome 4: By 2027, a stronger legal and regulatory framework in the infrastructure sector has led to the delivery of safer, better regulated and maintained public and private infrastructure of higher quality. The Ministry of Transport and Road Development will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Developing, reviewing, or amending the following policies and legal instruments:

Road transport

National Road Safety Policy and Strategy
National Transport Policy
Transport Cooperation Code
Motor Vehicle Inspection Act
Roads Act
Carriage of Goods by Roads Act

Maritime transport

Maritime Transport Act
Marine Insurance Act

The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Developing, reviewing, or amending the following policy and legal instruments, including their respective regulatory frameworks:

Telecommunications Act
Cyber-security Act
Data Sharing and Privacy Act

The Electronic Transactions Act will also include the development of improved regulations for the management and utilisation of the national frequency spectrum resources, and the establishment of the national postcode and postal addressing systems.

The Ministry of Public Works, Land & Housing will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Developing, reviewing, and/or amending the following policy and legal instruments:

Housing and urban development:

National Urbanization Policy
Comprehensive National Housing Policy
National Leasing and Office Space Accommodation Policy
Eligibility criteria for the allocation of government employee housing

Adoption of spatial plans as enforceable legal instruments:

National Spatial Plan
Integrated urban development plans (6)
District special master plans (23)

Land management

Comprehensive Land Law
Urban Land Management Law

The attendant regulations to both laws will be developed, including components on land registration and public land management. These regulations will complement domestic resource mobilisations to ensure there are proper valuations for the purpose of property income taxes.

Chapter 10 GOVERNANCE SECTOR

10.1 Introduction

Good governance is critical for economic, political, environmental, and social development. It directly concerns management of the development process, involving all stakeholders. Functional democracy, with strong public participation, is a crucial element in governance as it promotes sustainable development policies and programmes.

Accountability is a fundamental pillar in a democratic institution. For this reason, public resource governance is the broad objective when pursuing proper management of the human, financial, and material resources of a country.

A secure environment is a pre-condition for sustainable socioeconomic development. This involves ensuring the safety and security of citizens and property. Effective rule of law ensures that the justice system is resolving disputes in an appropriate manner, protecting citizens’ rights, and ensuring equal access to public services and due process.

Democratic governance is based on the rule of law and respect for human rights, and contributes to long-term, sustainable economic and social development. Diplomatic and international cooperation and engagement are extremely difficult for an unrecognised polity. Achieving de jure recognition remains the ultimate goal for Somaliland, so that Somaliland becomes a fully-fledged member of the international community.

10.2 Situational Analysis Policies and Legal Reforms

Knowing the importance of the legal and policy frameworks, and of complying with the related regulations, the Ministry of Interior was instrumental in the formulation and enactment of the following laws and policies that are being implemented:

Decentralisation Policy and Expansion Strategy
Lands Management Policy 2017
Ministry of Interior Human Resource Strategy
Amendments and supplements to the Anti-Narcotics

law, Law No. 21-2021

Amendments and supplements to the Police Force Act, Law No. 63-2013
Amendments and supplements to the Autonomous Regions and Districts Law, Law No. 23-2019
Money Laundering Prevention Act. Law No. 87-2019
Somaliland Urban Waste Management and Sanitation Law No. 83-2018
Somaliland Coast Guard Act 2018
Airport Security Duties Act No. 61-2013
Code of Conduct and Public Safety Law. 51/2012
Anti-Piracy Law. 52/2012
Small Arms Control Act Polit Law No. 32/2010
Citizenship Act. 22/2002
Urban Land Management Act Exc. Law No. 17-2001

Progress in terms of the legal and policy front includes:

Replacing the Police Law No. 63/2013 (2017) with a consolidated Somaliland Police Force (amendments and additions) Law (No. 63/2013, 2019)
Police regulations are under process to ensure the efficient operability of the police law
A police strategic plan has been drafted to promote an effective, efficient, professional, and accountable police force
Sector ministries completed the review of legal gaps that need to be addressed to expand the local government’s responsibilities in service delivery in education, health, and water, and forwarded these to the IMC for review
A by-law requesting all districts to implement participatory planning and accountability reporting Security Various security entities are involved in this sector. Their working relationship, the level of their coordination, and the synergy of their activities are key for sustainable security.

Ministry of Interior (MoI)

The MoI is the chair of the security sub-sector and membership includes all law enforcement agencies. To reduce possession and counter the availability and trafficking of small arms and light weapons, the MoI continued with the registration of small arms and light weapons in an improved small arms registration system.

Security is a factor to be considered in elections in all circumstances. Due to election related risk, the MoI conducted risk assessments before the combined elections of the parliamentary and local councils to ensure that the elections were conducted in a peaceful environment. The MoI worked closely with the commanders of the security agencies to supervise and coordinate the overall security of combined elections of the parliamentary and local council elections in 2021.

Inter-clan conflict over revenge killings, land, and water disputes remains an internal security challenge in Somaliland. The MoI devoted considerable resources and time in resolving or mitigating inter-clan conflicts. The MoI has successfully resolved prolonged clan-conflicts of Cel-Afwayn and Fadhi Gab in the eastern regions.

To make police services available to all the people in Somaliland in a democratic manner, reflecting respect for the Somaliland constitution and laws, the Somaliland Police Force Reform Policy was implemented. As a result, there was an improvement in police service to the public. In addition, amendments and additions to the Police Force Act were written in 2019.

Regional security cooperation and integration are crucial for Somaliland, both politically and economically. In this context, the Counter Piracy Coordination (CPC) Office had more engagements, collaboration, and cooperation with international and regional maritime forums by attending meetings and conferences concerning maritime security of the Western Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden, and the Red Sea in the past five years. The CPC Office continued to share and receive information on maritime security with national and international agencies to prevent piracy threats in the coastal waters of Somaliland.

Police Force

The Somaliland Police Force (SLPF) has grown over the years into a functioning force that keeps relative peace, maintains high levels of personal commitment, and closely works with communities along with their traditional leaders to resolve disputes and render justice. Furthermore, the SLPF enjoys a level of public recognition and support across Somaliland’s communities. The Police Academy was established in 2020, along with the Mandheera Police Training School, to provide training to enhance the performance of the SLPF.

A notable successful operation for the Somaliland police, in cooperation with other security institutions, was for the 2021 election. More than ten thousand police officers were deployed during voting registration and election process (pre-election, during the election, and post-election).

The police made notable progress in the following areas:

Community policing, counterterrorism
Riot control
Training in various fields
Construction of over 30 police stations
Modernising communication systems
Improving criminal investigation capabilities
Recruitment of police officers from the National Service Program

To have both short and long-term capacity-building interventions for the police forces, a training needs assessment was conducted. Similarly, to measure the capacity of the police force to counter and combat the ongoing terrorist threat, a counter-terrorism assessment was commissioned by the SLPF.

Coast Guard

The Somaliland Coastguard (SLCG) was established in 1995 as part of the Somaliland National Armed Forces. The long coastline is divided into four sectors, which consist of Berbera, Maydh, Zeila, and Laqoray. Each sector has several observation posts, with a total of twelve along the coastline.

Protecting and guarding the 850 km coastline is a significant task for the SLCG. Capacity-building support and improvements in infrastructure and equipment that are critical for coastal security were provided to the SLCG. As such, the capacity of the Somaliland Coastguard was enhanced, allowing them to actively patrol the sea to prevent illegal fishing, smuggling, and piracy, in addition to providing training to newly recruited officers.

An advanced communication system for the coastguard was established for communication between sea stations and headquarters, along with the installation of an AXIOM international database system. Improvements were also made to maritime infrastructure and facilities.

Immigration and Border Control

The Somaliland Immigration and Border Control (SIBC) has made a considerable effort to protect the borders from the illegal movement of people, weapons, drugs, and contraband while striving to promote lawful entry and exit. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the SIBC introduced COVID-19 guidelines for those entering and leaving the country.

Capacity-building support was provided to the SIBC to improve their capability to meet their mandates and responsibilities. Assistance offered to the SIBC includes:

Establishing telecommunication channels
Installing solar systems at Wajale, Lowyo’addo, and Berbera immigration offices
Building the Immigration Training Academy (Haleeya)
Establishing an information management system at the border entry and main offices
Recruiting more officers and staff

The Fire Brigade

The National Fire Brigade was not included in NDP II. However, the following are some of their achievements since they were established:

Setting up an emergency 24/7 call centre
Rescuing 577 people from dangerous situations
Saving financial assets, with an estimated value of US$ 9,927,729
Saving a total of 439 animals and 223 vehicles from dangerous situations

Ministry of Defence (MoD)

A functional review of the MoD was carried out. As a result of the functional review, additional departments were established: Policy & Planning, Mine Action, Pensions & Welfare, Public Communications, and Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration (DDR).

Knowing the dangers associated with land mines and their effect on people’s lives and movements, the MoD undertook various interventions to mitigate this threat. These activities include clearing land mines in most of Somaliland’s regions. Furthermore, the MoD conducted an awareness campaign on the threats and hazards of land mines in most of Somaliland’s regions.

The National Army, in its role to defend the country and preserve its territorial integrity, undertook military security operations in eastern Somaliland, countering hostile forces. It also actively participated in intervening in clan-based conflicts, election security, the response to COVID-19, and distributing relief aid to famine and drought-stricken areas.

Other notable achievements of the National Army are recruiting female officers and soldiers for the first time and the passage of the Military Pension Law by Parliament in 2019.

Democratisation and Decentralisation

In the case of Somaliland, democratisation and decentralisation are seen as effective models of governance that can contribute to sustainable peace and prosperity. Since the introduction of multi-party democracy in 2002, Somaliland made notable progress on democratisation and decentralisation, and it is imperative to build on these successes to further consolidate gains. Somaliland’s National Electoral Commission (NEC) organised elections in 2021. The NECalso attained a certain level of cohesion and discipline, gaining them trust and confidence from political parties and the general public.

Elections in Somaliland largely depend on external funding. However, recently, the share of the international financing in the electoral process has declined. In that context, the

government of Somaliland is increasingly providing the lion’s share of election expenditure. In the 2015 presidential elections, the government covered over 50 percent of election costs. Subsequently, in the combined parliamentary and local council elections in 2021, the government covered more than 70 percent of the costs.

A consolidated law covering the president, the House of Representatives, and local council elections, as well as the Voter Registration Act, was passed in 2020 and became known as the General National Elections and Voter Registration Law (Law No. 19/2020).

The Ministry of Constitutional Affairs (MoCA) has also organised several activities to educate young people and the public on the Somaliland constitution to prepare them for citizenship and to take part in civic life. These activities include:

Awareness-raising campaigns on the Somaliland constitution across the country for 34,500 people, comprising of civil servants, police, security departments, and the general public. These civic education campaigns were disseminated through national television, radio, social media networks, private media, and the website of the MoCA.
More than 60,000 copies of the Somaliland constitution were distributed to communities, the first time that a paper copy of the constitution was made available to the public. Moreover, 3,000 young people in Somaliland learned about the Constitution of Somaliland and citizenship via a centre for constitution and civic education. The centre provided courses on the constitution and citizenship to national service students from 2019 to 2021 under a civic education programme on election processes called “Responsible Citizens”.
Many provisions in the constitution end with the phrase “shall be determined by a special law” and most of these special laws are still pending. In this context, the MoC conducted an assessment survey on Somaliland’s constitution to identify outstanding “special laws”.

Decentralisation

The MoI is responsible for the implementation of the Somaliland decentralisation process. The MoF, MoE, MoH, and MoW work along with the MoI to realise political, administrative, and fiscal decentralisation. The role of the MoI and these ministries is to initiate and formulate regulations, policies, and strategies, as well as provide technical support to and monitoring of the implementation process.

Local governments, on the other hand, are responsible for implementing national policies and strategies through local development plans, taking into consideration their unique local needs, priorities, and resources. In recent years, improvements in the financial and accounting policies and procedures of local governments have increased their revenue base. This has enhanced the ability of the councils to deliver basic services to the citizenry. In line with the broader Public Finance Management Strategy, basic public finance management systems were introduced in seven districts, which improved the efficiency and transparency of local governments’ public resource management. Four of these systems are linked to the central government’s public finance systems to improve the accuracy and timeliness of the financial reports of both the central and local governments.

More than ten districts have District Development Frameworks (DDFs), which are five-year plans that identify the basic needs and priorities of these districts, their local economic opportunities, and contain a scoping of its natural resources. The consultative process of producing the DDFs has enhanced the capacity of the planning departments in those local governments in terms of creating participatory development plans. Another benefit of the public consultations is that they have strengthened the relationship between local governments and the public, local leaders, civic groups, and international agencies. To ensure the implementation of these development plans, the MoI developed Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) tools to monitor local government activities.

Under the first decentralisation policy (2013-2020) in 2014, the Somaliland government and the UN Joint Programme on Local Governance (JPLG) piloted a service delivery programme in three districts, which assumed limited responsibilities in the education, health, and water sectors.

In 2021, under the JPLG Programme, eight districts undertook specific responsibilities in the provision of education and health service, such as paying the salaries of security personnel and cleaning staff for primary health facilities and schools. In partnership with the JPLG, INGOs, and the public, local governments undertook the construction, expansion, or rehabilitation of roads, primary schools, and maternal and paediatric health clinics.

An awareness campaign was developed to improve the understanding of local officials and the public about the decentralisation policy and its time frame, the role of the Boundary Commission, and the periods of the local council elections.

A Local Government Institute (LGI) was established in 2018 to enhance the capacity of local government civil servants. Since then, the LGI has provided short and long-term training courses to improve the skills and competence of local governments’ civil servants. Moreover, during the 2021 local government election, the MoI carried out induction training for all the newly elected councillors on i) the roles and responsibilities in law 23, ii) decentralisation and local governance and their relevance for local council development, and iii) the computerised financial system for all electoral districts.

Rule of Law and Human Rights

Somaliland continues to recognise the importance of promoting the rule of law to achieve these development goals. This sub-sector covers rule of law and human rights and the institutions that are responsible to administer, manage and ensure fair access to justice equitably through the protection and promotion of human rights.

Justice

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of Somaliland, which was established in 1997 under Act 81/96, promotes justice and the rule of law. Since its establishment there has been steady progress in the functionality of the judicial and rule of law systems that include the following achievements:

Reforms of existing legislation, regulations, and legal codes
Expanding the court systems, penitentiary facilities, and law enforcement services, particularly in the urban centres
Improvement in public trust in and utilisation of the formal justice system

To expand the justice service to rural areas, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Centres were established in four regions (Maroodi Jeh, Sool, Sanaag, and Togdher). ADR centres link the traditional means for dispute resolution with the formal justice systems, as a majority of the people in Somaliland continue to rely on customary law Educational and vocational training has been provided to the inmates of four prisons. The number of male inmates who received such education and training was 314. Out of that number, 132 inmates finished their coursework in late 2020. In 2022, a vocational training programme was established in the Gabiley Female Prison. So far, 30 female inmates benefited from this programme, which is expected to continue into 2023.

Since 2018, at least 20 officers were trained in prison management each year and then deployed in different jails and other facilities in the country. In addition, 80 female custodial corps officers were trained in 2021 and 2022 in prison management and the protection of the human rights of inmates. To improve prison conditions, several prisons were either built or rehabilitated:

The following prisons were newly constructed: The Baki, Odwayne, Burao, and Borama prisons, a new prison in Hargeisa, and the Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre in Geel Lowkor in the Sahil region
The following were rehabilitated and expanded: Gabiley, Hargeisa, Mandera, and Berbera prisons.

Human Rights

The Somaliland National Human Rights Commission (SLNHRC) is a statutory body established by an act of parliament (Law No. 39/2010) entitled “The Somaliland National Human Rights Commission Act”. The act was entered into force in December 2010 and identifies the establishment of the SLNHRC, its broad mandate, functions, and institutional structure. Since its inception, the SLNHRC has taken the following interventions:

Improving human rights education
Monitoring of detainees and detention centres for the protection and promotion of basic human rights
Enhancing the rights of vulnerable people through periodic assessments and reporting on their situations
Advocating for the freedom of expression and due process
Training of 300 law enforcement officers on human rights and in specific areas such as observing and respecting freedom of expression rights, due process, and the fundamental human rights enshrined in the

Constitution

Supporting 450 people who complained about human rights violations through counselling, mediation, and referring them to related agencies
Opening offices in Awdal, Sahil, Burao, Las Anod,

and Erigavo to expand the work of the SLNHRC

Securing the release of 30 detainees, in cooperation with other rights actors
Publishing the annual report on the human rights situation in the country since 2017

Parliamentary Relations and Constitutional Affairs

The Ministry of Parliamentary Relations and Constitutional Affairs (MoPCA) was established in 1995 by presidential decree No. 59/95.

MoPCA has conducted studies and assessments on several issues and topics during the NDP II period related to the rule of the law:

A study of the penal code and public opinion
A study on Islamic jurisprudence
A study on adultery in the Islamic context
A study on stealing and Islamic view on this issue
A study on the Islamic view of imprisonment
Research on the penal code

Similarly, the MoPCA has reviewed Somaliland’s Criminal Law and Civil Law to update them and make them more comprehensive.

Public Resource Management

Several institutions are tasked with different facets of public resource management whose interventions should lead to better opportunities for all Somalilanders.

Finance and Accountability (MoFD, NAO, NTB)

The Ministry of Finance Development (MoFD) ensures, with good public finance management principles, accountability for all revenue and expenditures of the state. The second Public Finance Management Reform Programme (PFM Programme) was launched and aims to build on the first programme. Through the Budget Committee, the PFM Programme ensures both internal controls and budget allocations anchored in the NDP as well as Vision 2030.

A fundamental part of public finance management is procurement, which is handled by the National Tender Board, a central procurement authority for all major purchases of public goods and services. All these processes are then subjected to an independent external audit by the National Audit Office. The National Audit Office is tasked with ensuring value for money for government. These processes by different institutions are geared towards accountability and probity.

The reforms under the first PFM Programme improved the budget calendar, management, financial controls, and financial reporting mechanisms of the Government of Somaliland. This includes, among other things, the national budget policy and processes, including fiscal transfers to the local authorities.

The Budget Policy Committee, chaired by the MoPND, has improved transparency and equity in the national planning and budgeting process, ensuring that annual budgets are aligned with the overall National Plans and communities are engaged in the process. To better inform the public about government expenditures, the budget classification now uses the Classification of Functions of Government (COFOG) international standards.

For a more transparent procurement process, a National Tender Board Act was enacted to ensure value for money.

The authority has started working on several policy issues, such as the Public Procurement Policy, regulations for public procurement, and an overall strategy for the NTB, which will steer the direction of procurement in the country.

The Civil Service

The human resources of any country are its most important factor for development. Somaliland’s civil servants are recruited by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and supported, through lifelong learning, by the Civil Service Institute (CSI). The broad objective is to provide all Somalilanders the opportunity to serve the country. This should be achieved through a more merit-based recruitment and promotion system.

The CSC, through the CSI, supports the capacity development of civil servants in different disciplines. It also develops internal policies and strategies geared towards a more effective civil service. The payment and grading policy are being developed, as well as the civil service pension scheme. The civil service law was amended, and a five-year strategic plan was approved, guiding the recruitment and development of civil servants.

Good Governance

Somaliland’s institutions must comply with the ethos of good governance, which forms the bedrock of effective development. This is administered by the Somaliland Good Governance Commission (GGC), which is responsible for creating and maintaining a culture of good governance and a system of public administration that is free from mismanagement and corruption. The GGC carried out the following activities:

Developing and implementing public awareness campaigns on corruption and its impact on society and the economy
Promoting coordination and collaboration of public institutions regarding accountability and transparency
Prioritising the clarification and separation of certain government institutional mandates to prevent confliction

Improving Standards

A quality control laboratory was established in Berbera in 2022 for testing drugs and cosmetics with investments through the national budget. A food laboratory was also established in Berbera. Before 2022, Somaliland lacked the required quality infrastructure mechanisms to check the quality of imported goods.

The National Quality Control Commission (NQCC) created technical committees, which are comprised of members from academia, the business community, local industries, independent experts, and consumers. They developed 24 standards in total.

Somaliland National Printing

The National Printing Agency (NPA) is mandated for state printing, both for accountability and ensuring the security of government information. For this reason, the Gazette and other government publications are mandatory to be printed by the NPA. However, there has been a low level of utilisation of the NPA.

The Government of Somaliland invested over US$1 million in the printing agency, which was used to construct a new building and purchase new printing machines to help take on more sophisticated tasks. Over the NDP II period, the NPA started printing the road tax sticker and Somaliland Central Bank cheques.

Foreign Relations and International Cooperation

On the diplomatic front, Somaliland organised missions to the UK and US to promote the strategic position of Somaliland and its quest for international recognition. Some outcomes include:

Winning the support of some UK MPs, which led to the UK Parliament debating the case of recognition of Somaliland on 18 January 2022
Cultivating support in the US Congress that led to the visit of some US Congressional delegations to Somaliland to increase US engagement directly with Somaliland
The US Congress-Somaliland Partnership Act to counter Chinese influence in the region
Engaging with the international community – Somaliland has mission offices in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, the UAE, Yemen, the UK, USA, and Germany, among others

10.3 Challenges and Key Issues

The major challenges identified for the NDP III period are the following:

Ministry of Interior

Formulating an institutional development strategy for the MoI, detailing the organogram of the MoI with clear management structures, and improving the working space of needed human resources as required by the strategy.
Strengthening communications and information sharing, as well as equitably managing limited resources to improve efficiencies.
Providing transport, equipment, and infrastructure support to the different security apparatuses, especially the Coast Guard to fight illegal fishing. This also includes capacity building and riot control equipment or the police and an improved communication system for counterterrorism.

Ministry of Defence

Strengthening civilian authority over the National Army by improving coordination between the MoD and the National Army.
Strengthening the sharing of operational information and intelligence among security institutions to improve the coordination of activities and lateral communication, especially at the operational level.
Strengthening the development of national capacity for explosive hazard management.
Increasing the security presence in Eastern Somaliland, especially in view of the upcoming economic activities in the region on oil exploration.

Fire Brigade

Strengthening the response mechanism of the Fire Brigade.
Integrating town planning in terms of the street layout and addresses to improve access to operational areas.
Nationwide public awareness of fire safety.

Somaliland Immigration and Border Control

Increasing resources and funds.

Democratisation

Institutionalising formal conflict management in democracies, such as in parliament and the judiciary, to resolve political disputes in a just and timely manner.
Regular and sustained voter or civic education to foster a democratic culture.
Institutionalising election management bodies that can hold regular and timely elections.
Organising a reliable population census and defining constituencies to allocate parliamentary seats.
Enacting a balanced media law, which protects the freedom of expression but also ensures that the media act in a responsible manner and are held accountable.

Decentralisation

Holding timely local elections to avoid councils acting beyond their mandates.
Full devolution of service to local governments as envisioned by the constitution to provide basic education, primary healthcare, policing, and water. Some of these responsibilities remain with the central government.
Addressing the persistent challenge of developing and enacting a comprehensive legal framework covering all aspects of decentralisation to allow gradual and meaningful political decentralisation.
Classification of the district and municipal councils.

The gaps and overlaps in the respective authority of these officials needs clarification.

Ministry of Justice

Eliminating overlapping and ambiguous mandates.
Harmonising the three legal systems: the Sharia law, customary law, and formal justice systems.
Introducing alternatives to imprisonment (parole, probation, diversion, rehabilitation).
Increasing the knowledge of custodial corps personnel.

Somaliland Human Rights Commission

Increasing collaboration between human rights stakeholders, including law enforcement agents.
Increasing community knowledge and awareness of human rights and related laws.
Improving conditions to ensure staff retention of experienced personnel.
Implementing human rights-related laws, such as the law on rape, fornication, and other related offenses (Law No. 78/2020).
Addressing gaps in legislation, like the anti-discrimination law and compensation in instances where human rights are violated. Generally, there is no national human rights policy in Somaliland.

Ministry of Parliamentary Relations and Constitutional Affairs

Increasing funding for both the activities of the MoI as well as investing in more workspace. Public Resource Management
Promoting a more decentralised procurement structure with increased capacity for procurement at the sector level. Additionally, the funding mechanism of the tender board could be improved as the limited resources affect their operations.
Strengthening the policies and laws to improve domestic revenue mobilisation of the country, including on automation and the amalgamation of inland revenue and customs.
Jointly assessing the performance of the development coordination architecture and introducing reforms to boost its efficacy.
Implementing the most important statistical surveys to ensure continuity of data availability and the identification of comparative trends.
Improving the performance of NDP III monitoring and evaluation under guidance of the MoPND’s Central

Statistics and M&E departments.

Developing a pay policy which addresses the low salaries of civil servants.
Improving technical capacity and equipment at the NPA, which will improve business from government and related institutions.
Strengthening and harmonising policy and legal frameworks in government to promote good governance.

Foreign Affairs and International

Cooperation

Attracting more professional and competent personnel to develop and implement a realistic foreign policy strategy
The deadlock in the Somaliland-Somalia dialogue, leading to continued non-recognition of Somaliland by the international community.
Collaboration with regional powers to spearhead Somaliland’s cause for recognition.
Organising and setting directions for diaspora involvement in both economic development and organised movements for the advancement of the independence cause in host countries.

10.4 NDP III Outcomes and Priority Interventions

Outcome 1: By 2027, Somaliland will have a stronger institutional framework that promotes inclusive governance, accountability, and public transparency.

Security

The Ministry of Interior will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Making the National Civil Registration System more comprehensive to include vital events (births, marriages, divorces, and deaths).

Democratisation and Decentralisation

The Ministry of Interior will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Increasing women’s representation in local councils and local government administrations to enhance women’s involvement in the local decision making process.
Rolling out the Financial Management Information System (FMIS) to districts graded A, B, and C to improve their financial and accounting systems and operations.
Rolling out the Service Delivery Model (SDM) to all electoral districts to enhance their service provision abilities as part of the decentralisation policy and strategies.

Public Resource Management

The Ministry of Planning and National Development will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Strengthening the existing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) unit in the ministry to ensure that the national development priorities align with the SDGs.
Establishing the Somaliland National Bureau of Statistics with the mandate of data and information management, conducting the census, and other socio-economic surveys needed for the country’s development.

The Good Governance and Anti-Corruption Commission of Somaliland (GGACC) will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Promoting and ensuring adherence to the principles of good governance to achieve improved public trust in government institutions and effective service delivery.

Outcome 2: By 2027, Somaliland government institutions will have a more efficient workforce allowing a more effective delivery of their mandates.

Security

The Ministry of Interior will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Increasing in-service professional training for security agency personnel to improve their performance, community relations, and accountability.
Strengthening the capacity of traditional elders in clan affairs and conflict management to promote social cohesion and a peaceful environment.
Improving the skills and knowledge of senior security officers through professional trainings that focus on leadership, management, planning, and decision making
Building capacity of staff on gender and human rights related issues.

The Somaliland Police Force (SLPF) will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Improving the SLPF’s capacity in community policing. The Somaliland National Fire Brigade will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:
Increasing and expanding the firefighting and rescue capacity of the Somaliland Fire Brigade.

Rule of Law and Human Rights

The Ministry of Parliamentary Relations and Constitutional Affairs will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Enhancing the capacity of staff through professional training to improve their knowledge and skills to effectively discharge their core functions.

Public Resource Management

The Ministry of Planning and National Development will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Organising and coordinating the training of PSU staff members in all MDAs, including the ministry itself, regarding NDP III planning and monitoring related issues, based on the PSU needs assessment survey conducted in 2019.

The Civil Service Commission will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Building the capacity of civil servants through training to improve their professionalism and obtain new skills and qualifications to carry out their responsibilities.
Developing and implementing an effective training needs assessment and training impact assessment in collaboration with all CSC development institutes.
Introducing a coaching and mentorship programme in the civil service to provide employees with the opportunity to develop and become more competent in their roles.

The National Audit Office will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Enhancing the technical knowledge and skills of NAO staff to understand public procurement processes, relevant procurement tools and techniques, and regulations.
Installing IT systems to help NAO’s audit teams to move through the workflow efficiently and effectively, from formulating the annual audit plan to closing the audits and follow up.
Adopting standard approaches and processes that ensure high quality, impactful, and timely audits.

The National Tender Board will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Training staff and MDAs in basic and specialised procurement skills to develop public procurement professionalization in the NTB.
Decentralising procurement services to enhance access and accountability.
Amending and implementing the Somaliland Public Procurement Act 82/2018.
Developing the e-Government Procurement System to improve efficiency, transparency, and responsiveness of public service provision.

Outcome 3: By 2027, Somaliland will have a stronger justice system with better guarantees for the protection of human rights.

Rule of Law and Human Rights

The Ministry of Justice will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Rolling out access to justice and legal aid services to remote areas of the country, with special consideration for vulnerable social groups.
Improving the human rights protections of prisoners, ensuring they are treated in a respectful and dignified manner.
Expanding government sponsored formal and informal education and skills trainings to prisoners.
Building the capacity of duty bearers by providing them with regular trainings on human rights principles and standards.
Strengthening the level of compliance with human rights principles and standards in public and private institutions.

The Somaliland Human Rights Commission will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Capacitating duty bearers on human rights principles and standards, improving their knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding the respect for human rights.
Organising frequent inspection visits to public and private institutions (police stations, prisons, and mental health centres) to monitor their compliance with human rights principles and standards.
Enhancing public awareness and knowledge on human rights through various platforms.

Outcome 4: By 2027, increased national and international coordination and cooperation will allow Somaliland’s government institutions to be more efficient and effective.

Security

The Ministry of Interior will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Establishing pre-conflict resolution and management mechanisms to prevent repeated and protracted conflicts.
Delineating the mandates of national maritime agencies on the prevention of transnational organised crime committed at sea, including illicit traffic in narcotic drugs, wildlife, smuggling of migrants, firearms, and violent threats, including piracy, armed robbery at sea, and terrorism.
Identifying and countering threats originating outside the country through more effective coordination with existing regional and international partners.

The Special Police Force will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Creating effective partnerships with other Somaliland agencies and institutions to develop a more coherent approach to security and justice issues.

The Somaliland Coast Guard will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Providing essential support services to other relevant agencies on the number of illegal and unregulated fishery activities.

Public Resource Management

The Ministry of Planning and National Development will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Strengthening coordination to ensure improved alignment between the national budget and NDP III priorities. NDP III implementation requires strong coordination between MoPND and the Ministry of Finance Development.
Strengthening Somaliland’s development coordination architecture, such as the High-Level Development Coordination Forum (HLDCF) and the Sector and Inter-sector Coordination Forums, to pursue alignment with the NDP III and avoid duplication and gaps in development and humanitarian efforts.
Facilitating and improving the overall coordination with development partners. MoPND will strive to:

Develop a toolkit that serves as a one-stop shop for development partners in Somaliland,regarding registration, legal frameworks, communication, and other relevant information that creates an enabling environment for their operations.
Develop a national aid information management system database to register aid flows, which will improve accountability and transparency and assist national planning and decision making.

Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Building on progress made on Somaliland’s quest for international recognition.

Outcome 5: By 2027, improved physical infrastructure and work surroundings will allow government institutions in the governance sector to better execute their mandates.

Security

The Ministry of Defence will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Improving the essential infrastructure and equipment of the national army and provide professional training for the effective discharge of their functions.
Building the capacity of maritime personnel by providing professional training and improving maritime domain-related infrastructure and facilities for the effective discharge of their mandates.

The Ministry of Interior will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Improving the working conditions of the MoI by investing in infrastructure (buildings, furniture, equipment).
Establishing a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) with adequate response capability to conduct emergency maritime search and rescue.

The Somaliland Police Force will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Expanding physical infrastructure to address the challenges of the SLPF, including communication equipment to better support the accurate and timely deployment of resources.
Constructing new model immigration referral centres and safe houses in Hargeisa, Burao, Berbera, Erigavo, Karin, Maidh, Hiis, Zaila, Borama, and Las Anod.

The Somaliland Fire Brigade will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Establishing new fire stations with all facilities, including satisfactory access to paramedics for emergency treatment for firefighters.
Establishing a fire academy and training school.
Equipping the Somaliland Fire Brigade to improve the efficacy and safety of its fire fighters. This includes country-wide radio communication, GPS trackers for equipment, hand-held thermal image cameras, personnel location equipment, fire engines, fire trucks, and fireboats, utility and tanker trucks, Caterpillar tractors, bucket trucks, crane trucks, and firefighting helicopters and drones for forest fires.

Rule of Law and Human Rights

The Ministry of Justice will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Improving prison conditions by constructing new prisons, rehabilitating existing prisons, and providing necessary equipment.
Expanding justice services by investing in regional infrastructure (MoJ regional offices).
Establishing a juvenile rehabilitation infrastructure by constructing and equipping additional centres.

Public Resource Management

The Civil Service Commission will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Expanding CSC offices at regional and district levels to decentralise service delivery.

The National Quality Control Commission will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Constructing two laboratories in Berbera and Wajaale for the testing of livestock and livestock products, as well as a facility for testing agricultural products and a facility for testing electrical products.

Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Building the diplomatic institute for MoFAIC staff to produce Somaliland diplomats and foreign service civil servants who promote Somaliland’s national interests abroad.

Outcome 6: By 2027, improved information and knowledge management contributes to better institutional performance.

Security

The Somaliland Police Force will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Establishing a criminal record data centre.

The Somaliland Coast Guard will contribute to this outcome

through the following priority interventions:

Establishing a fully secure data centre for onshore and/or marine operations.

The Somaliland Immigration and Border Control will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Ensuring Migration Data Analysis System (MIDAS) connectivity of all border posts to the central HQ server in Somaliland. This will facilitate access to critical data by border force agents to crack down on illegal activities while contributing to national security.

Rule of Law and Human Rights

The Ministry of Justice will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Improving information and data management in judiciary institutions to achieve operational efficiency in justice services.
Enhancing public awareness and knowledge of human rights to promote a culture of human rights.

Public Resource Management

The Ministry of Planning and National Development will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Conducting research on development related topics including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, and the economy to inform the national development interventions in the country.
Strengthening the national statistics systems for public institutions to ensure improved data collection, storage, and sharing. This also includes capacitating civil servants to operate and manage the national statics systems.
MoPND’s Central Statistics Department (CSD) will be engaged in conducting the following data surveys, in collaboration with various national and international partners:

The Population and Housing Census with technical assistance from UNFPA. The CSD oversees the Population and Housing Census per Somaliland’s Amended Statistics Act No. 60/2013. The pre-census stage is currently being undertaken to determine the capacity of the CSD and establish the required mechanisms to implement the full census programme in the country.
The Household Survey, the Labour Force Survey, the Agriculture Survey, and the Business Survey to collect data and information critical in planning and achieving the national development priorities.

Coordinating the implementation of the NDP III midterm review and its end of term review, ensuring they are conducted in a timely manner and according to jointly agreed TORs. This includes a process and feedback mechanism that ensures that major findings, recommendations, and lessons learned will contribute in a constructive way to the national development process.

The Civil Service Commission will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Making the Human Resource Information Management System (HRIMS) available for public servants. Outcome 7: By 2027, there is an improved public awareness and better general understanding related to key matters of importance for the general public.

Security

The Ministry of Interior will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Raising awareness about the dangers and misconceptions regarding irregular migration.
Improving public awareness on the possession of illegal small arms and light weapons.

The Somaliland Fire Brigade will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions in the security sub-sector:

Increasing public awareness of the important rules of fire safety to promote health and safety in the workplace.

Democratization and Decentralisation

The Ministry of Information, Culture and National Guidance will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Conceiving public awareness campaigns and programmes to educate the public about national development priorities using various media and social networks to expand coverage and reach the population.
Establishing a national cultural heritage archive to protect and promote Somali cultural heritage.

The Ministry of Parliamentary Relations and Constitutional Affairs will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Improving access to civic education to the public by utilising various media and social network outlets and by creating interactive civic education programmes, as well as through traditional means such as poetry, drama, and role-playing.

Public Resource Management

The Good Governance and Anti-Corruption Commission of Somaliland (GGACC) will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Improving public awareness of the principles of good governance.

Outcome 8: By 2027, an improved institutional, policy, legal, and regulatory framework will have created a stronger foundation for public institutions in the

Governance sector.

Security

The Ministry of Interior will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Formulating a National Security Strategy that outlines a plan of action to confront security challenges facing Somaliland, defining the role of each security organ and providing a mechanism for coordination, to ensure the safety and security of all Somalilanders.
Developing a policy to implement the army pension system.
Establishing the Somaliland Maritime Authority (SMGA) under the MoI.
Adjusting the maritime policy, legal, and regulatory framework, in line with the NSF.
Developing the civil registration policy.
Reviewing and amending the Small Arms Act and the Citizenship Act.
Assessing and reviewing legislative gaps in the security sector:

The Traditional Act
The Anti-Trafficking and Smuggling Act
The Fire Brigade Establishment Act
Legislation regarding refugees and asylum seekers

The Somaliland Fire Brigade will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Rolling out preventive fire security programmes in the private and public sector.

Democratization and Decentralisation

The Ministry of Interior will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Ensuring DDFs are properly aligned with NDP III, taking into consideration the guidelines set by MoI and MoPND.

The Ministry of Information, Culture and National Guidance will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Strengthening the legal and regulatory framework to regulate the Somaliland media without infringing on freedom of expression.

Rule of Law and Human Rights

The Ministry of Justice will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Developing a national crime prevention strategy to limit crime by reducing opportunities and motivation.
Developing and/or reviewing the following legal and policy frameworks:

Non-custodial legal and policy frameworks (parole, probation, diversion, and rehabilitation).
The National Justice Policy
The Legal Aid Act
The Custodial Corp Act
The Ma’dun Act
The Public Notary Act

Carrying out a Legislation Impact Assessment.

The Somaliland Human Rights Council will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Improving internal systems, processes, and procedures of the SLHRC.

The Ministry of Parliamentary Relations and Constitutional Affairs will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Continuing with reviewing and reforming Somaliland’s legal instruments (laws, penal codes, etc.) in collaboration with the Law Reform Commission (LRC) and parliament.

Public Resource Management

The Ministry of Planning and National Development will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Ushering various regulatory frameworks to facilitate the achievement of the country’s national development priorities, including the National Planning Policy, the Monitoring and Evaluation Policy, the National Planning Act, and the Somaliland NGOs Act. All of these are in the draft stage and need to be approved.
Drafting, enacting, and executing the National Strategy for Development Statistics (NSDS), the Data Dissemination Policy, the National Development Coordination Policy, and the Data Regulation and Privacy Policy.
Developing a five-year strategy for the MoPND to guide the delivery of its mandate and medium-term interventions to contribute to national development.

The Civil Service Commission will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Improving employment conditions in the civil service to boost productivity and improve employees’ morale.

The Auditor General will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Reforming the existing legal framework to guarantee the institutional independence of the Auditor General and National Audit Office.

The National Quality Control Commission will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Developing the National Quality Policy during the plan period to provide strategic direction – and later certification schemes – for Somaliland’s industries.

This will ensure guidelines on quality are in line with national policies. Strengthening Conformity Assessment services (standards, testing, and inspection) will be scaled up to ensure minimum standards are enforced in the economy.

Establishing a metrology service for a more harmonised system of measuring and testing. It is a critical component of the industry, especially to boost competitiveness in export markets. To implement standards, the initiation of ISO17025 will be done as a matter of necessity. This specifies the requirements for the competence, impartiality, and consistent operation of laboratories.

Outcome 9: By 2027, appropriate interventions will have led to improved public safety and national security on the land, sea, and air.

Security

The Somaliland Coast Guard will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Improving preventive action on human trafficking and the smuggling of weapons, drugs, and contraband.

The Somaliland Fire Brigade will contribute to this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Creating passive protection emergency responses related to fire extinguishing and rescue.

Chapter 11 EDUCATION SECTOR

11.1 Introduction

percent of children in ECE are over pre-primary age.

The right to education, as enshrined in Article 21 of the UN Charter on Human Rights, affirms the ultimate obligation of all states to provide education to its citizens as a fundamental human right, especially free education in the elementary and fundamental stages. Somaliland’s Vision 2030 envisages that education will be among the fundamental pillars on which the modern knowledge society will be built. The government reaffirms its commitment in always providing accessible and quality education.

Education and training provide equality of opportunities for individuals to participate in local and national development. The overall education strategy is to improve access to quality education and training within a holistic approach. There are policies, acts, and related regulations which guide the sector towards achieving these objectives, yet the policy and legal frameworks at times still need strengthening.

There are also many non-government providers of education and training at all levels, such as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), charity-based organisations (ChBOs), and community-based organisations (CBOs). The contribution of these partners in the sector has been immense.

Quranic schools, under the Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs, are an important pillar of religious education in Somaliland.

Moving forward, the education sector, during the plan period of 2022-2026 will have a broad strategic thrust that aspires to both vertical and horizontal development of the sector in improving access, affordability, and quality to better serve the development needs of the population and the country alike.

11.2 Situational Analysis

The Ministry of Education and Science (MoES) successfully implemented the Education Sector Strategy over the last five years (2017-2021), and the formulation of the next Sector Strategy, exactly coinciding with the NDP III period, is in its approval stage.

The Education Sector Situational Analysis of 2021 confirmed that progress has been achieved in the key areas of access, equity, and quality across all sub-sectors of education. In addition, gains have been made in governance, administration, planning, human resources, infrastructure, and finance, as well as in other key institutional structures that support education delivery. As access to education is closely linked to the expansion of available appropriate infrastructure, they are jointly presented below.

Early Childhood Education

Access to ECE and Infrastructure

There are currently 263 pre-primary schools across Somaliland, serving an estimated Early Childhood Education (ECE) population of approximately 265,000 four- to five-year olds. In the past five years, 26 public pre-primary schools have been constructed and furnished, of which 15 are managed by the Pharo Foundation on behalf of the MoES. The Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) has increased slightly over the past five years to 1.25 percent, or 3,037 students. About 1.7 Equity in Early Childhood Education

Formal pre-primary education is predominantly an urban phenomenon. Quranic schools have the highest coverage in both urban and rural areas.

Primary Education

Access to Primary Education and Infrastructure

Since 2016, the number of primary schools rose from 1,145 in 2015/2016 to 1,240 schools in 2020/2021, representing an 8.3 percent increase. Primary education enrolment has grown from 255,716 in 2015/16 to 280,561 in 2021, representing an increase of 9.7 percent. Primary education improvements also include revisions of textbooks and improving textbook availability and accessibility.

Due to continuous efforts to increase enrolments, the primary education GER has increased from 29 percent in 2018/19 to 32 percent in 2020/21, representing an increase of 3 percent. Nevertheless, this means that only just over 3 out of every 10 children of primary school age are in fact attending primary school.

As the availability of classrooms is one of the major constraints to drastically increasing enrolment, immense efforts in building new infrastructure are needed during the NDP III period to ensure a substantial increase in the GER.

Equity Aspects of Primary Education

Efforts have been made to improve equity, and as a result more girls and other children from vulnerable groups, such as children with special education needs (SEN), refugee children, and nomadic children have enrolled in basic education. However, this has not translated to an improved

Gender Parity Index (GPI), which is the ratio of female to male enrolment. The NDP II target of a GPI of 0.94 in 2021 has not been achieved, with the primary education GPI decreasing from 0.89 in 2015/16 to 0.81 in 2020/21. These efforts need to be increased considerably during the NDP III period. In this context, it is important to note that in the academic year 2020/21 only 19 percent of primary school teachers were female.

Children with special needs’ access to primary education has moved from 0.46 percent in 2015/16 to 1.78 percent in 2018/19, before falling to 0.8 percent in 2020/21. It was estimated that there were 1,179 children with special needs in primary schools in the 2015/16 academic year, of which 45 percent were female. This rose to 2,777 (45 percent female) in 2018/19, before falling to 2,453 in the 2020/21 academic year.

The number of refugee children accessing mainstream primary education increased from 1,412 in 2015/16 to 1,855 (51 percent female) in 2020/21.

Quality Aspects of Primary Education

There have been improvements in primary education teacher development and management. The Somaliland National College of Teacher Education (SLNCTE) has been established and is functional. As of 2021 the College graduated and certified approximately 229 pre-service qualified teachers. Primary teachers have benefited from training that focused on child friendly spaces, early childhood training, school-based mentoring, and early grade literacy and numeracy.

The number of primary teachers increased from 7,819 in 2015/16 to 9,206 in 2018/19 before reducing to 8,977 in 2020/21. A total of 1,820 unqualified teachers who are currently serving government schools are undergoing training to upgrade their knowledge and pedagogical skills at SLNCTE. Teachers who complete the two-year in-service programme and pass the subsequent teacher examinations will be awarded a diploma in Primary Education. This qualification will allow them to be registered as qualified and certified teachers.

The national average “pupil-to-qualified-teacher” ratio has improved from 47 down to 40, although there are still considerable variations between rural and urban areas.

The primary schools’ “pupil-to-textbook” ratio has also improved from 2.9 in 2015/16 to 2.5 in 2020/21. However, there are noticeable disparities between rural and urban areas, as well as between public and private schools.

The latest Education Management Information System (EMIS) data of 2020/21 indicates that a low primary education repetition rate of 1.3 percent (1.4 percent female) has been achieved and a low primary education dropout rate of 3.5 percent (3.9 percent female) has been attained. A retention rate of 89 percent from grades one to five has been attained and a good primary average promotion rate of 95.5 percent has been attained as well.

Secondary Education

Access to Secondary Education and Infrastructure

During the NDP II period, the number of secondary schools increased by 28 percent, from 164 in 2015/16 to 210 in 2020/21, while the absolute number of children enrolled in secondary education in this period went up from 51,011 to 66,170 in 2020/21, representing a 29.7 percent increase (Somaliland in Figures, 2014 and Education Statistics Yearbook, 2020-2021). It is not surprising that there is a straight forward positive correlation between the proportional increase in infrastructure and the proportional increase in enrolments, meaning that any ambition to increase the GER in education must be accompanied by a similar ambition in increasing funds for infrastructural development.

It is also noteworthy that the growth in secondary school enrolments surpassed population growth, and as a result, the GER of Secondary Education increased from 14.5 percent in 2015/16 to 16 percent in 2020/21.

Equity Aspects of Secondary Education

The number of children with disabilities enrolled in secondary education has reduced from 659 in 2015/16 to 357 in 2020/21. This represents a reduction of 302 children, or 55 percent, which is of concern. As opposed to primary education (see above), the GPI of secondary education has increased from 0.68 in 2015/16 to 0.78 in the 2020/21 academic year, representing a 0.1 increase and only narrowly missing the Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) target of 0.8.

The percentage of female secondary teachers has increased from two percent (80) in 2015/16 to 7.5 percent (172) in 2018/19 before steeply declining to 3.7 percent (90) in 2020/21. The ESSP target of eight percent has not been achieved.

Quality Aspects of Secondary Education

Overall, the number of secondary school teachers has increased from 1,958 in 2015/16 to 2,257 in 2020/21. This represents an increase of 299 teachers, or 15 percent, which is only half of the proportional increase in enrolment and new infrastructure, and the availability of qualified teachers may therefore become a growing bottleneck, possibly leading to a negative impact on class size.

The national secondary schools’ Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) has increased from 26:1 in 2015/16 to 30:1 in 2020/21. This ratio masks likely disparities between schools situated in urban and rural areas.

The national secondary school’s Pupil-Classroom Ratio (PCR) has increased from 42.2 in 2015/16 to 48 in 2020/21, representing an increase of 5.8 children. The official MoES secondary school PCR is 45 children in a classroom of 9 m x 8 m.

In secondary school ten different subjects are taught, and each student is therefore supposed to receive the ten books for his/her form, or an ideal Pupil-Textbook Ratio of 10:1. However, the MoES reports in the 2020/21 Statistics Yearbook a Pupil-Textbook Ratio of 2:1 in government schools. Private secondary schools (83 out of 210) rely mostly on student-owned textbooks. The availability of properly equipped laboratories and libraries is also a key concern in most secondary schools.

A low repetition rate of 1.1 percent has been achieved in secondary education, as well as a low national average dropout rate of 4.15 percent (5.3 percent for girls). There is a relatively good transition rate of 94 percent from form two to form three, i.e., from lower secondary to upper secondary school. There has also been a good average secondary promotion rate of 94 percent across all forms (one to four).

Non-formal Education

Alternative Basic Education

As stated earlier, about 70 percent of primary school age children are not accessing formal primary education due to a variety of reasons. Alternative Basic Education (ABE) is a complementary initiative to bring formal basic education services to marginalized children and those with diverse needs to promote access to free basic education for all.

Enrolment figures from the 113 ABE schools show an increase from 4,085 learners (44 percent female) in the 2015/16 academic year to 9,096 learners (51 percent female) in 2020/21, or an increase of 122 percent. The ABE curriculum has been reviewed and made outcome-based in line with that of the formal primary education curriculum, but there are concerns about rollout and implementation practices, particularly as the number of ABE schools are unknown and unregulated.

Adult Learning

Quality Aspects of TVET

In 2021 there were a total of 55 Adult Learning Centres (ALC) and 26 Family Life Education Centres (FLEC) with a total of 9,136 enrolments (90 percent female).

A total of 15 FLECs and ALCs were renovated over the course of NDP II. According to the 2018 Joint Review of the Education Sector (JRES), 90 literacy and numeracy non-formal education facilitators were trained on teaching methods, educational psychology, measurement, and evaluation.

Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET)

Policy and Legal Reforms

The government, in collaboration with its partners, has developed a comprehensive TVET policy, strategy, and other guiding instruments such as a qualification framework, occupational standards, operational manuals, and an internship and employment policy. These instruments are expected to improve the institutional and organisational capacity of TVET stakeholders. 17 new TVET competency-based curricula for different trades were developed during the period covered by the ESSP for 2017-2021. There is a draft vocational qualification framework in place which sets out the hierarchy of qualifications. Under the new qualifications’ framework, a strategy for prior experience/competence recognition and certification is being developed. The Somaliland National Education Board (SLNEB) has a functioning TVET Unit, which sets, administers, and certifies all TVET exams, and trainees that pass exams are also certified by the SLNEB.

Access to TVET and Infrastructure

Two new technical secondary schools were constructed in Berbera and Beer, in addition to the already existing TVET schools, namely the Hargeisa Technical Institute, the Burao Technical Institute, and the TVET school at the Kuwait Educational Complex. Countrywide TVET enrolment has slightly increased from an estimated 5,000 in 2015/16 to 6,115 in 2021. TVET provisions are mainly free and provided primarily by international NGOs.

Private TVET centres provide the bulk of technical and vocational training. However, it is difficult to determine the number of TVET centres and their trainees because registration is not mandated. Most of these institutions are small private enterprise-based businesses where trainees or workers acquire skills on the job while earning small wages. Overall, the 2018/19 EMIS data indicated that there were 53 TVET centres across all of the regions of Somaliland, comprising mainly of government and NGO types.

Equity Aspects of TVET

TVET courses in Somaliland are largely separated by gender. EMIS 2021 reports show that only male students participated in mechanical, construction, welding, and plumbing courses. Conversely, courses on tailoring and cooking were largely comprised of female students.

Comprehensive criteria and admissions requirements for the TVET programme are important to ensure that the quality of graduates meet the ever-increasing demand for skilled workers.

EMIS reports indicate that there are 393 qualified TVET trainers. The MoES has created a functioning TVET Instructors Training Unit, however there are no continuing professional development opportunities for TVET instructors, hampering career development.

All TVET courses offered between 2016 and 2021 were popular in demand and led to high employment levels after graduation. A TVET tracer study has shown that 84.6 percent of the vocational graduates were employed or self-employed within 6 months after graduation. It is worth mentioning that relevant TVET centres need to be upgraded to a polytechnic level to substantially reduce the dependence on foreign skilled teaching staff.

Higher Education

Access to Higher Education and Infrastructure

For the last two decades, the number of higher education Institutions in Somaliland has risen from one university in 1998 to thirty-four universities in 2021, with only eight of them being public. It is estimated that between 50,000 to 53,000 students are enrolled in higher education institutions. The average annual intake of all universities is about 13,770. Review of university access figures indicates that most learners are enrolled in private universities as compared to the public universities.

Equity Aspects of Higher Education

Equity in higher education has improved with the provision of scholarships to promising students from disadvantaged backgrounds. At the beginning of every year, the government provides 95 scholarships to needy first year students who qualify to enrol in public universities. This scholarship lasts until they complete their first degree. The government also expects all universities to provide some scholarships based on their overall intake of first-year students (eight percent for public universities, six percent for private universities, and ten percent for international universities based in Somaliland). Overseas scholarships are provided by Ethiopia (370 per year) and Taiwan (33 per year).

The gender balance in participation in higher education has improved. It is estimated that in higher education institutions located in big cities such as Hargeisa, Borama, and Burco, the proportion of females is between 45 percent to 50 percent. In the institutions located in the other regions, the share of female students ranges between 30 percent to 37 percent. It should be noted, however, that universities do not register the origin of their students in terms of urban or rural. However, there are critical concerns about the low number of female lecturers in both public and private universities, estimated at two percent for the academic year 2020/21.

Quality Aspects of Higher Education

There is increased collaboration between the five public universities in the areas of research and community engagement programmes. Universities have strengthened the quality of their courses by engaging more qualified lecturers and by enhancing the professional and academic development of their young graduates. There are also concerns about funding, governance, access, equity, and quality of education.

Institutional and Governance Aspects

Education Service Delivery Model

The decentralised Education Service Delivery Model (SDM) has been piloted initially in Berbera, Burao, and Borama since 2014. The Education SDM was rolled out in Gabiley and Hargeisa in 2017 and 2018 respectively. The initiative is now being rolled out in Zeylac, Odweyne, and Sheikh. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the MoES and the implementing partners (district councils).

The MoES has created Decentralised Education District Committees (DEDC) in the 23 electoral districts. There are currently 412 primary schools located in the districts who are involved with rolling out the Education SDM.

Curriculum Development

The capacity of the National Curriculum Institute has been built with the support of the MoES’ partners. The key achievements are as follows:

Development of a competence-based curriculum framework in 2015, followed by the revision of the primary education curriculum in 2015, and the curricula for ABE in 2020 and ECE in 2021.
The development of a pre-service teacher training curriculum in 2019 and the in-service teacher training curriculum in 2021.

Consequently, the Somaliland curriculum is widely used in both public and private schools (pre-primary to secondary).

The estimated coverage was reported to be above 95 percent. Most stakeholders acknowledged that the new curriculum meets the needs of the nation, community, and learners, even as there is still scope for improvement.

Somaliland National College of Teacher

Education

The first phase of construction of the Somaliland National College of Teacher Education was completed in 2016, whilst the second phase is currently underway. The MoES has deployed governance and administrative staff to the College. The College continues to provide training to teachers at all levels.

Education in Emergencies

The Education in Emergencies (EIE) cluster has clear functional terms of reference for the provision of education in emergency situations. Through these platforms, the MoES has synergised and harmonised technical and financial resources from partners to avoid overlap and duplication of resources. The MoES has established district education development committees to respond to and support schools in coping during education emergency situations.

The ministry and its partners developed and implemented the Education Cannot Wait (ECW) Multi-Year Resilience Programme (MYRP), which is ongoing and covers much of the emergency interventions in the education sector. Furthermore, a comprehensive EIE contingency plan has been developed and used for the past three years, and four EIE assessments were conducted in the last two years.

The continuity of education during the peaks of COVID-19, through recorded and broadcast lessons for primary, secondary, and ABE, along with the integration of special sign language curriculum, is testimony to the relevance of EIE.

Also:

Conflict-affected area schools were rehabilitated, reopened, and are now functional to provide learning.
Teachers, headteachers, and Community Education Committees (CEC) affected by community conflict were provided psychosocial training.
Remedial classes were established to recover lost lessons resulting from community conflicts.

A joint drought response plan was developed by the ministry and its partners to mitigate the impact of drought on teaching and learning. In 2021 the droughts affected 103 schools in Sool, Sanaag, and Togdheer. These schools received a three-month temporary feeding programme, which improved child retention and wellbeing. The 103 schools also received water tanks to improve the capacity of water storage, along with the provision of water trucking for three months to maintain access to clean water.

Islamic Education

According to Somaliland in Figures (Nov. 2022), in 2020 there were 2,441 Quranic schools in Somaliland, with 7,195 teachers (25 percent female) and 192,970 students (43 percent female). The first unified curriculum for Quranic schools was created in 2020, with a scheduled review once every five years. With regards to Sharia institutes, where Islamic scholars are educated, a mapping exercise of existing syllabi took place in 2022, which resulted in an estimation of the number of courses needed. The first unified curriculum will be created in 2023. There are currently 93 Sharia institutes in the country.

11.3 Challenges and Key Issues

The major challenges identified for the NDP III period are the following:

Increasing access to education and participation at all education levels. Any serious attempts to increase enrolment ratios must be accompanied in almost all education levels by an equally ambitious matching construction programme to increase infrastructural capacity. In most levels of education, it must also be accompanied by a matching drive to educate and prepare enough quality teaching and management staff.
Persistent challenges in educational equity and inclusion, especially for disadvantaged regions and people such as nomads and IDPs. The drive to increase the number of female students should be accompanied by an increase in female teaching and management staff as well, as their recruitment levels are very low.
Improving the quality of education at all levels, from pre-primary school to higher education, remains an important challenge for many years to come. Non-formal education is meant to improve overall numeracy and literacy skills in line with supporting livelihoods. TVET education needs to be more demand-driven to meet the skill set requirements of the job market.
Improving overall institutional capacity in terms of governance, management, and leadership capacity to deliver quality education.

11.4 NDP III Outcomes and Priority Interventions

Strategic Objective 1: To achieve access for all to quality education in soundly governed institutions, at all levels of education and vocational training (as stated in the goals and objectives of the ESSP, 2022-2026).

Outcome 1: By 2027, a significant increase in educational access and participation will have been achieved at all levels.

Pre-primary Education

The outcome target for the pre-primary education GER has been set by the MoES to increase from five percent in 2021 to 20 percent in 2026. An increase of 15 percent of the pre-primary school age population in 2026 (±307,000) is approximately 46,000 children of four to five years old.

The Ministry of Education and Science will achieve this through the following priority interventions:

Constructing and furnishing 50 new pre-primary schools, each consisting of two classrooms and an adequate playground and ensuring regional equity and inclusivity of special education needs children whilst continuing to operate the existing 31 public pre-primary schools.
Introducing a two-year quality pre-primary education that will realise the objectives of this level of education. Plans will be in place to improve access and participation in the programme for children.
Developing a comprehensive ECE advocacy and fundraising strategy spearheaded by the MoES and supported by partners.
Conducting comprehensive mapping of ECE sub-sector provisions during the first year of ESSP implementation and conducting a feasibility study to explore ways of integrating different categories of ECE provisions.
Integrating access to pre-primary education with issues of school-based child protection, safety, and nutrition.

Primary Education

The outcome target for the primary education GER has been set by the MoES to increase from 32 percent in 2021 to 50 percent in 2026. An increase of 18 percent of the primary school age population in 2026 (±1,128,500) is approximately 203,000 children of six to 13 years old.

The Ministry of Education and Science will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Constructing and furnishing 200 new primary schools and expanding 50 rural schools by adding four classrooms. This includes multi-purpose solutions where a school can be used for both ABE and formal primary education. Rural areas with low enrolment levels will be prioritised. In addition, 300 gender segregated pupils’ toilets and 100 girl-friendly spaces will be constructed in existing primary schools where the need is greatest.
Developing guidelines of establishing double shifts in all schools to better utilise existing resources, including staff and infrastructure. Adapting learning timeframes to the needs of rural and nomadic children/adolescents.
Providing a school feeding programme to 200 additional formal primary and ABE schools, targeting the neediest primary school children in marginalised areas.

Secondary Education

The outcome target for the secondary education GER has been set by the MoES to increase from 18 percent in 2021 to 35 percent in 2026. An increase of 17 percent of the secondary school age population in 2026 (±492,000) is approximately 83,800 children of 14 to 17 years old.

The Ministry of Education and Science will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Constructing 50 new secondary schools consisting of four classrooms, a library, a laboratory, and staff space, giving priority to rural areas in disadvantaged regions. Existing infrastructure will be expanded, renovated, and refurbished in selected regions.
Conducting a feasibility study on secondary education demand in both urban and rural areas. The study should explore the introduction of alternative secondary schools, where possible learning lessons from the primary ABE model.
Conducting bi-annual student re-entry campaigns after dropout and providing support, including to married female students.
Conducting a feasibility study on the establishment of sustainable boarding schools in rural nomadic areas and strengthening the existing ones. Subsequently, constructing three pilot low-cost secondary boarding schools in nomadic areas.

Non-formal Education

The MoES has set an ambitious target of increased participation in FLECs and ALCs from 9,136 in 2021 to 35,000 in 2026.

The Ministry of Education and Science will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Constructing 14 new Family Learning Centres (FLECs) and 14 new Adult Learning Centres (ALCs), while continuing to operate the existing ABE centres, FLECs, and ALCs.
Conducting quarterly advocacy and community publicity campaigns of ABE centres, FLECs, and ALCs to increase enrolment rates.
Developing guidelines to utilise existing primary, secondary. and other public/community facilities for adult literacy and numeracy programmes. There will be emphasis on personal and livelihood skills to attract more adults.
Introducing a hardship allowance for all ABE teachers in rural areas.

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)

The outcome target for TVET learners has been set by the MoES to increase from 2,769 students in 2020/21 to 25,000 students in 2025/2026. The Ministry of Education and Science will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Constructing additional TVET secondary schools in areas that have the least access to TVET (Borama, Erigavo, and Las Anod), and ten new public TVET centres in regions that do not have adequate access.

Concurrently, the MoES will rehabilitate, maintain, and continue operating the existing 53 public TVET centres and five technical secondary schools.

Creating clear pathways into different levels of TVET by operationalising the TVET Qualification Framework. This will include recognising prior learning to attract mature students.
Conducting annual TVET fairs and awareness and promotion campaigns in all regions to boost enrolment.

Higher Education

The National Commission for Higher Education will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Ensuring access to higher education, irrespective of income status, by mobilising more funds to provide scholarships to students. The goal is to ensure that no one is left behind due to financial constraints.

The subjects for which the scholarships provided by higher education institutions and the National Commission for Higher Education (NCHE) are made available will be increasingly aligned with national priorities and needs.

Outcome 2: By 2027, significant improvements in educational equity and inclusion will have been achieved at all levels.

The Ministry of Education and Science will achieve this outcome through the following interventions, amongst others:

Pre-primary Education

Providing special funding mechanisms to local governments in category C and D to invest and expand ECE schools in their areas of jurisdiction.
Upgrading 760 existing ECE schools, plus training 240 new teachers in special needs education skills and establishing a targeted scholarship for the 3,000 most vulnerable children (MVC) to participate in pre-primary education.
Improving the design of 50 new public pre-primary schools to make them SEN friendly and targeting half of them to be built in disadvantaged regions and districts.
Adapting a new curriculum and conducting annual awareness and education campaigns to change cultural issues and attitudes towards educating children with disabilities. Additionally, providing disability gadgets and appropriate teaching and learning materials.

Primary Education

Constructing more classrooms at the primary level, toilets to improve sanitation, and sanitation kits, especially for girls in rural areas, to improve the friendliness of schools for girls in disadvantaged areas. These improvements, as well as the design structures of the classroom, will ensure the spaces are SEN friendly.
Providing free primary education at all public primary schools and annual school capitation grants to all primary schools. Similarly, establishing a targeted fund for MVC to cover the indirect cost of education for unique learners. In addition, take-home rations will be provided for nutritional purposes.
Adapting the new primary curriculum and supporting teaching and learning materials for SEN children in primary education. To support this initiative, teacher training courses will have an integrated component of special needs education teaching.
Establishing remedial learning classes for 20,000 children to promote MVC’s survival and progression rates in primary education.

Secondary Education

Adapting 100 existing and all new secondary school designs to facilitate inclusive education in 150 schools.
Conducting quarterly awareness raising and sensitisation campaigns for families and communities to change cultural attitudes hindering access to secondary education by the most vulnerable groups, particularly girls and SEN learners.
Developing a framework to guide education intervention in vulnerable areas and groups. In addition, the MoES is going to equitably distribute qualified teachers to ensure the learning of children in disadvantaged areas is supported, especially in mathematics, sciences, and English.
Creating incentives to attract pupils will include scholarships for disadvantaged people, provision of medical and necessary equipment to support SEN children, and girl-friendly spaces in schools.

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)

Conducting a gender, regional, and people with disabilities survey targeting potential trainees. This will fill the knowledge gap in understanding the key issues affecting these disadvantaged groups. This will be followed by sensitising communities on cultural attitudes hindering access to TVET for girls, IDPs, people with disabilities, and those in rural areas.
At the policy level, providing monetary and non-monetary incentives, medical support, and adaptive learning needs.
Constructing new TVET secondary schools and centres in regions and rural areas that do not have access to TVET provisions. This will include female-friendly spaces.

Higher Education

The National Commission for Higher Education will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Establishing mechanisms and incentives to promote the employment of female lecturers, like preferential treatment related to scholarships and study leave. The foundation of such schemes will further the development of policies and procedures to mainstream gender issues.

Outcome 3: By 2027, a significant increase in educational quality and efficiency will have been achieved at all levels. The Ministry of Education and Science will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Pre-primary Education

Deploying two (one male, one female) ECE experts to provide support to the MoES, SLNCTE, and public ECE schools.
Organising one ECE study tour for key stakeholders to a regional country with best practices.
Providing technical, physical, and financial resources to SLNCTE to develop a two-year diploma course and enable them to train 240 new ECE teachers and provide in-service training for 760 existing teachers. Furthermore, an ECE teacher competency system will be introduced, and a competency-based assessment deployed.
Disseminating and operationalising the new ECE curriculum across all ECE schools with new learning materials distributed to ensure the usage of the new ECE teacher training curriculum.
Establishing free child health and nutritional programmes (school feeding) and promoting child protection and safety in all pre-primary schools.

Primary Education

Constructing separate WASH facilities and 100 girls’ friendly spaces, targeting schools that need it most.
Providing Continuous Professional Development (CPD) to primary teachers targeting the subjects of pedagogy, maths, English language, and sciences.

This will include affirmative action to increase the number of female teachers. To motivate teachers, a hardship allowance will be provided to primary teachers in hardship-designated areas.

Conducting a quarterly school-based supervision and mentoring programme to all primary schools, targeting schools that are least performing in national examinations.
Procuring and distributing ICT equipment (and associated solar panels in areas without electricity) to broadcast pre-recorded lessons to 300 schools.
Procuring and providing supplementary reading and arithmetic materials to children in primary one to primary three.

Secondary Education

Developing a comprehensive and structured CPD programme/courses for secondary school teachers and operationalise it at the school cluster level. This will include in-service training to secondary school teachers, as well as new teachers, especially in subjects with teacher shortages. It will also target new female teachers.
Creating and operationalising secondary school clusters as the basis for sharing resources and good professional practices. A resource centre will be created for each secondary school cluster. Furthermore, clear and better partnerships will be developed between public and private secondary schools through the cluster system.
Reviewing and rolling out the secondary education curriculum to make it competence-based. This will improve the integration and adoption of ICT in secondary school teaching and learning. Students will also have access to laboratories and computers.

Non-formal Education

Conducting a comprehensive assessment of the status of all categories of NFE (ABE, FLECs and ALCs) through the MoES, in collaboration with relevant partners.
Increasing the resources and capacity of SLNCTE to train adult learning facilitators. Recruitment, training, and deployment of more adequate qualified teachers and instructors to teach ABE, FLEC, and ALC centres.
Developing a curriculum framework and implementation strategy for FLECs and ALCs, including the training of teachers on implementing the ABE curriculum and developing standardised adult literacy and numeracy teaching and learning materials.
Conducting effective quarterly mentoring, supervision, and monitoring visits to all NFE schools and centres to ensure that NFE programmes are of sufficient quality. This includes linkages between literacy and numeracy programmes and TVET skills development.

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)

Improving the system’s governance, management, and leadership capacity to deliver quality TVET education, starting with developing a competency-based TVET curriculum for different trades and levels. This will feed into the TVET qualification framework and occupational standards. Provide operational financial support to TVET technical secondary schools and TVET centres.
Assessing the capacity of physical infrastructure, facilities, and equipment countrywide and renovating the existing TVET institutions’ physical infrastructure.
Enhancing the capacity of Hargeisa Technical Institute to serve as a TVET instructor training institute. Conducting a needs assessment for TVET instructors and Training of Trainers (TOT) culminating in a more targeted training of new TVET diploma instructors’ over a five-year period.
Implementing market demanded enterprise-based and institution-based TVET, including the introduction of highly specialised technical skills for the most needed trades in selected TVET centres. Subsequently, developing the industrial attachment framework for TVET trainees and TVET instructors.

Higher Education

The National Commission for Higher Education will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Reviewing the curriculum for higher education and adjusting appropriately in line with the needs of the country for all higher education institutions. This is important to ensure it is better aligned with labour market requirements.
Preparing the students for the requirements of the competitive domestic and international labour markets through compulsory pre-admission accelerated English language course for all incoming students. This will also improve the chance of students to benefit from the plethora of knowledge on the internet, mostly in English.
Conducting tracer studies for graduates of different programmes as part of monitoring the quality and relevance of the programmes and their employability, and employee satisfaction.
Establishing a more stringent higher education institutions (HEIs) quality assurance system. This will include the accreditation of academic staff and a review of operational procedures, all with the intention of enhancing the quality of education and structures available to the students. Furthermore, mechanisms at the regulatory level will ensure that there is continuous improvement of the capacity of higher education academic staff. These steps will also help in research and community outreach programmes by higher education institutions.
Improving textbooks for all programmes of higher education by procuring sample textbooks for each course.

Outcome 4: By 2027, significant improvements in governance and institutional capacity will have been achieved at all levels.

The Ministry of Education and Science will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Pre-primary Education

Promoting awareness, understanding, and interpretation of ECE policy and minimum standards. Subsequently, developing procedures and guidelines to enforce the application of ECE minimum standards in both ECE infrastructure and programme delivery.
Providing capacity development for the MoES ECE Unit and other professionals involved in ECE in the areas of leadership and management.
Promoting greater collaboration and coordination between the MoES and the Ministry of Religion and Endowment (MoRE).
Collecting and analysing detailed data on the ECE subsector and producing regular reports, thus facilitating periodic assessments of ECE.
Training and mentoring the headteachers and deputies of 253 primary and 253 pre-primary schools in ECE leadership.

Primary Education

Conducting a comprehensive review of all school level governance policies and guidelines. This will also include the appointment (and training) of headteachers and their deputies and the management and coordination of practices between schools, regional offices, and national level offices.
Enhancing the capacity of school CECs and DEDCs in matters relating to effective school leadership, including public finance management. This will include the capacities of formal and non-formal education departments as recommended by ABE.

Secondary Education

Developing, translating, and disseminating secondary school governance policy. This will provide the basic guidelines on issues such as criteria for selecting and deploying secondary school headteachers and deputies.
Providing technical and financial support for SLCTE to develop the curriculum for a school leadership course. Based on this, designing a MoES-validated secondary school leadership and management course for secondary headteachers and their deputies, and training Regional Education Officers (REOs), District Education Officers (DEOs), and QASS on governance policy.
Developing a performance management framework for headteachers and their deputies.

Non-formal Education

Reviewing the NFE Policy Framework and Implementation Guidelines.
Building the capacity of the NFE department to ensure that there is effective supervision and monitoring of all NFE facilities.
Improving the certification and accreditation of all categories of NFE graduates and determining the best measure of adult literacy rates using consistent definitions.

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)

Disseminating, translating, and implementing TVET policy, strategy, and occupational standards. Additionally, developing an accreditation system of TVET institutions.
Enhancing the leadership and management capacity of TVET centre managers and staff, as well as support services from the MoES at the central and regional level.
Developing and implementing guidelines to promote linkages between TVET institutions and relevant industries so that they can pursue a joint economic development agenda.

Higher Education

The National Commission for Higher Education will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Finalizing and approving the Higher Education Act. This will set the foundation for the overall regulatory framework, in line with the broader objectives of the education sector strategy. The Act and its associated regulation will guide all higher education institutions in the country. In addition, it is envisaged that the higher education subsidy guidelines will be developed and approved.
Creating a conducive working environment for the Higher Education Commission to perform its duties by building new infrastructure to house the Commission. Relatedly, a Higher Education Management Information System, supporting NCHE’s management needs, will be put in place. This will improve the overall capacity of the regulator of the Higher

Education sub-sector.

Increasing opportunities for Technical and Vocational Education at the tertiary level to improve specialised skills for the population and increase their employability. In furtherance of this objective, functional polytechnic colleges will be built.

Strategic Objective 2: To increase awareness and the practice of Islam, and to promote Islam as a religion of tolerance and peace through education and religious institutions.

Outcome 5: By 2027, there will be improved access to Islamic Centres, Quranic education, and other community services provided by them.

The Ministry of Religion and Endowment will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Constructing and furnishing 17 additional Quranic schools and upgrading teachers employed in 2,458

Quranic schools in the country.

Constructing and furnishing 17 Sharia institutes and hiring and training 500 teachers to be employed in 110 Sharia institutes.
Developing an Islamic Institutions Information Management Database for improved administrative management of Quranic Schools, Sharia institutes, and Mosques.
Developing the Islamic/traditional-based Healing Centres (Cilaajs) Act and the Sakaat Act.

Observations

The education sector will, in line with international guidelines and across all levels of education, continue to pursue four main outcomes related to i) access, ii) equity and inclusion, iii) quality and efficiency, and iv) improvements in governance of the sector.

A summary of the cost estimates table is as follows:

With regards to the cost of interventions at different levels of education, primary education constitutes the largest share with 45.6 percent of the total education sector budget, followed by secondary education at

27.2 percent.

Based on the indicated estimates, Outcome 4 on governance and institutional capacity building is the highest priority of the sector, as it is expected to have an overall impact on all levels and other outcomes. It represents 32 percent of the total sector budget, followed by the budget on access to education and quality and efficiency at 29 percent and 28 percent respectively.

Chapter 12 HEALTH SECTOR

12.1 Introduction

A healthy nation is a wealthy nation. To improve the overall outcomes of wellbeing and economic development, Somaliland Vision 2030 aspires for a nation whose citizens have equitable access to quality healthcare. This is paramount as the nation, then and now, continues to grapple with health challenges in terms of relatively high child and maternal mortality, high mortality rates from preventable diseases such as TB, as well as non-communicable diseases. To achieve the objective of quality healthcare, a combination of community health services and well-regulated private healthcare, supported by a well-trained health workforce, will be delivered to the citizens of Somaliland.

Despite continuous challenges, access to healthcare has increased substantially over the years, largely thanks to the collaboration between the government and its partners and the invaluable role played by private healthcare providers.

The latter are especially more active in the urban areas. Due to the disparity in health outcomes, the rural population had priority focus during the last five years where basic infrastructure that delivers essential health delivery packages has been established. Newly constructed health centres continue to operate in places where no other health facilities had previously existed. District and regional hospitals were upgraded to deliver better clinical services.

In addition, medical stores are operating in all six regions, which contributed to improving quality and timely distribution of essential supplies to all districts.

On human capital, as emphasised by Vision 2030, the total health workforce has largely increased, yet significant disparities among the regions and between urban and rural areas remain. This is a major constraint in service delivery, as an expanded health workforce could increase both the access to and quality of services when the healthcare-worker-to-patient ratio improves.

12.2 Situational Analysis Policy and Legal Reforms

Several policy and legal instruments were approved and enacted to improve health service delivery. These policies will continue to guide the sector in the foreseeable future.

Key among these are:

National Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) Policy 2020
National Health Policy 2021
Mental Health Policy
Nutrition Sub-sector Strategy 2019
Health Sector Strategic Plan 2017-2021

The Essential Healthcare Package Services (EHPS)

The EHPS policy aims to expand affordable essential health services to improve overall health outcomes, including in hard-to-reach areas, with a focus on vulnerable segments of the population, particularly mothers, children, and people with low socioeconomic status. Currently, the Ministry of Health Development (MoHD), in conjunction with partner organisations, provides highly subsidized primary healthcare services in every district of the country. MoHD also focused on improving service quality at the secondary healthcare level that is provided at district or regional hospitals. The emphasis is on ensuring that every citizen can access affordable and quality secondary healthcare services throughout the country.

Maternal and Child Mortality

Maternal mortality was considerably reduced from 732 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2017 to 396 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020 (SLHDS 2020), slightly surpassing the ambitious NDP II target of 400. Over the last five years, a considerable reduction of infant mortality and under-five mortality was also observed, coming down from 85 per 1,000 live births to 72 per 1,000 live births and 137 per 1,000 live births to 91 per 1,000 live births respectively.

The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) among women in Somaliland is 5.7. The recent Health and Demographic Survey reports that only 13 percent of children aged 12-23 months were completely vaccinated, which includes BCG (tuberculosis), polio (3x), pentavalent (3x), and measles.

Malnutrition

Malnutrition (Global Acute Malnutrition and Severe Acute Malnutrition) poses a serious public health problem throughout the country and is further aggravated by recurrent droughts. The following statistics collected during the recent nationwide demographic health survey clearly show the current situation:

As a measure of chronic malnutrition, 21 percent of children under the age of five are stunted or are a lower-than-average height for their age, which is below the Africa region average of 30.7 percent (Global

Nutrition Report 2021).

As a measure of acute malnutrition, 13 percent of children under-five have a lower-than-average weight for their height, which is above the Africa region average of 6 percent (Global Nutrition Report 2021).
69 percent of newborns are breastfed in the first hour of their life, whereas 30 percent of Somaliland children aged 0-5 months are exclusively breastfed.

Major Communicable Diseases

Tuberculosis (TB): TB remains as one of the major public health problems in Somaliland, though the disease incidence has been dropping progressively. According to MoHD data, TB infections have fallen from 285 per 100,000 people in 2016 to 200 per 100,000 people in 2020.
HIV/AIDs: Data collected at sentinel sites for pregnant women indicates that the mean HIV prevalence has been dropping since 2004, when it was at 1.4 percent, reaching 1.01 percent in 2010 and 0.67 percent in 2014. The decline, which is statistically significant, continues through the most recent sentinel survey of 2018, when it was 0.15 percent.
Malaria: The seven districts of Baki, Borama, Lughaya, Zeila, Gabiley, Hargeisa (rural), and Berbera account for over 90 percent of all malaria cases in the country. Human activity in urban areas has led to an increase in favourable mosquito breeding spots in typically small, shallow, open, and sunlit water pools. Nonetheless, the country has had nearly zero deaths from malaria for the last five-to-ten years.
Hepatitis B: Hepatitis is a major public health challenge in terms of morbidity and mortality. To combat the disease, hepatitis B vaccination has been introduced in routine immunization programmes. There has been additional focus on hepatitis B vaccination for high-risk populations, including health workers, and screening for both hepatitis B and C among clinical at-risk groups and vulnerable populations.

As a result, the infection rate has dropped from 150 per 100,000 people to 51 per 100,000 people, which is well under the NDP II target of 130 per 100,000 people.

Other major communicable diseases: These include diarrheal diseases, acute respiratory infections, and a few neglected tropical diseases (leprosy, schistosomiasis, and leishmaniasis). Access to sanitation facilities continues to be a major challenge, with only 38 percent of households having access to an improved sanitation facility and only 41 percent of households using improved sources of drinking water. Water, health, and sanitation (WASH) programmes should be strengthened to include the provision of safe water, the expansion of adequate water treatment and storage in the home, improved handwashing facilities and practices, and the use of adequate sanitation facilities.

Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs)

Cardiovascular issues, diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory problems are continuing to rise and put a heavy burden on the health system, as well as on individuals and households. Lifestyles are critical in the prevention of the majority of NCDs. Tobacco use and smoking in all its forms, khat consumption, low physical exercise levels, especially in schools and for women, a high intake of salt and sugar, and a poor diet in general are the common risk factors for most of NCDs. Mental health disorders are widespread, namely schizophrenia, depression, and psychosis, due to substance abuse, such as khat, and other socioeconomic factors. As part of a new initiative, community-based programmes in strong partnership with civil society organisations have been launched and a national strategy has been developed to tackle these issues.

12.3 Challenges and Key Issues

The major challenges identified for the NDP III period are the following:

Strengthening the participation and inclusion of all stakeholders in the design and formulation of policy instruments for different themes. Public health laws and regulations need to be aligned with the most updated policies of the sector. This will require a major review of most existing legal frameworks.
Addressing the weak coordination structures (or lack thereof) to improve health service delivery. Functional national, regional, and district level coordination forums need to be established.
Addressing human capacity constraints, both in terms of the number of healthcare workers and the types of specialists needed in the sector. These include anaesthesia, physiotherapy, pharmacy, and biomedical engineers. This is exacerbated by the limited opportunities for professional capacity development and compensation.
Developing a realistic financing strategy for the health sector, aimed at mobilising funds from different sources. The sector is underfunded due to limited budget allocation.
Improving the quality of healthcare in most settings, as well as expanding the provision of essential services, particularly to the nomadic population and remote rural communities.
Strengthening the Health Information Management Systems, with emphasis on data collection and analysis at all levels to support evidence-based decision making, policy development, and health research.
Combatting the widespread use of sub-standard drugs, irrational medicine use, and the misuse of health technologies.

12.4 NDP III Outcomes and Priority

Interventions

Strategic Objective 1: To increase access to acceptable quality healthcare services.

Outcome 1: By 2027, improve coverage of the Essential Package of Health Services (EPHS). The Ministry of Health Development, with support from its partners, will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Strengthening services for Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH). Reproductive and maternal services constitute the provision of services and interventions involving women before and during pregnancy. Newborn care consists of the first 28 days of life. Children are considered years 0-5 and adolescents between ages 10 to 19 (WHO).

Improving information management for evidence-based decision making to improve performance at all levels.
Supporting and expanding integrated maternal, neonatal, and childcare services. This includes antenatal care, Basic Emergency Obstetric Care (BemOC), postnatal care, immunizations, nutrition, and all related support services. This also means increased coverage of Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care services (CEmONC).
Promoting community involvement in all interventions.
Tackling major adolescent health issues including STIs, road injuries, mental health, and substance abuse.

Strengthening nutritional services.

Supporting preventive services against malnutrition in children under-five, with an emphasis on the first 1,000 days of life and provide care and appropriate treatment for acute/chronic malnutrition.

Preventing and controlling communicable diseases.

In principle, the strategy regarding communicable diseases is to increase awareness on prevention and early detection of infections to reduce the risk of transmissions. The following interventions are based on this principle.

HIV/AIDS

Ensuring people know their status by encouraging universal HIV counselling and testing.
People living with HIV (PLWHIV) will be provided with life-long treatment through a range of interventions as well as enhanced HIV/TB collaborative services.
Reducing the number of HIV infections by targeting

Behaviour Change Communication (BCC), enhancing the provision of post-exposure prophylaxis for target populations, eliminating vertical transmissions, and improving testing and treatment.

Tuberculosis

Increasing TB treatment coverage through:

Improving access to TB diagnosis and care, including for children
Increasing the utilisation of community health workers for TB screening
Establishing a cross-border TB patient monitoring system
Expanding and strengthening on-going in-service training for all health workers on TB control

Ensuring the uninterrupted supply of quality-controlled drugs at all facilities, taking a community-based approach to Directly Observed Treatment (DOT) of resistant TB cases.
Increasing annual case detection of MDR-TB and improving the management MDR-TB through the supply of the quality assured detection equipment in all National TB Programme (NTP) facilities as well as increased training and expanded treatment capacity.

Malaria

Ensuring universal access to appropriate malaria prevention and improving case management interventions. This will help reach the target of the country-wide malaria elimination drive of at least 10 malaria-free districts.

Hepatitis

Raising awareness of viral hepatitis through campaigns from both public and private healthcare providers.
Monitoring health sector responses to viral hepatitis by monitoring trends of transmission, stopping mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B, and preventing healthcare related transmission of hepatitis B and C.
Reducing the burden of non-communicable diseases, including mental health:

Developing the NCD Policy and Strategy, with attention to multisectoral aspects, and reviewing the overall regulatory frameworks in the sector.
Establishing a National Cancer registry and

National Oncology Centre.

Capacity building for healthcare workers across all NCDs, with an emphasis on mental healthcare providers.
Enhancing the health referral system and improving collaboration with the private sector.

This will further boost emergency response capabilities.

Strengthening the health referral system and health service quality.

Enhancing the referral system to ensure better access to quality secondary health services in cooperation with private sector health facilities.

Outcome 2: By 2027, a more resilient health system has been built guided by the sector’s Health System

Conceptual Framework

A resilient health system is one where the health actors, institutions, and population can adequately respond to a crisis while maintaining core services. It requires an integrated approach ranging from policy and coordination to collaboration between actors.

Building the health system includes the following building blocks:

Leadership and governance
Health information system
Health workforce
Medicine and technology
Infrastructure
Health financing

The Ministry of Health Development, with support from its partners, will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Leadership and Governance

Developing sound policies, strategies, and plans for the health sector.

Strengthening the existing policies, strategies, and plans for the sector, ensuring they are anchored in the overall National Health Policy.
The policy development will be inclusive and encompassing, involving the private sector and partners in the health sector.

Strengthening the health legislative and regulatory framework.

This must be done in line with the new policies and will require amendments to existing public health laws.
The laws must also systematically address oversight by accrediting and licensing healthcare professionals and health service delivery

institutions.

Improving coordination and partnership and fostering effective decentralisation.

This will be done by revitalising coordination forums at all levels and creating an enabling environment for effective decentralisation.

Improving public-private partnerships (PPPs) and private sector regulations.

MoHD will strengthen the capacity of the relevant PPP Unit to support the development of public-private partnerships.
MoHD will also systematically address oversight by speeding up the accreditation of healthcare professionals and the licensing of health service delivery and training institutions.

Health Information System

Improving and innovating the health information system.

The current District Health Information System (DHIS2) will be improved by fully or partially integrating all vertical health programmes into the platform. Also, digitized data entry will be made possible at the health facility level and in some of the districts. This will improve data quality, management, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination mechanisms at all levels.

Conducting critical health research activities.

With sufficient data, through the Health Information system, critical health research activities will be undertaken at the national level to inform policy and preventive and curative interventions.

Strengthening and improving the sector’s monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system.

A results-based monitoring framework will be established that allows for annual reviews of operational benchmarks and mid- and end of term evaluation activities. This will feed into the overall NDP III evaluations.

Health Workforce

Sustaining the production of adequate health workers.

Regular and coordinated health workforce planning, involving regional and/or national

Ministries of Health, Education, and Finance.

Developing realistic and needs-based plans for health workforce development.
Ensuring pre-service education institutions have sufficient capacity for graduate students with the requisite clinical, technical, and management skills.
Continued expansion in the surgical skills and capacity of specialists in surgery and related disciplines through local training and other possible avenues.
Recruit specialised diaspora and local medical doctors, nurses, and midwives through the MIDA FINNSOM Reproductive Health Programme to support the provision of services for mothers and children.

Improving management of human resources.

MoHD will improve the recruitment, deployment, retention, motivation, regulation, and performance assessment of health workers.
Furthermore, it will promote continuous professional development and improve the full and timely payment of salaries.

Medicine and Technology

Strengthening the national drug regulatory authorities.

Developing and reviewing the relevant policy and legal instruments to ensure all medicines conform to standards. This will strengthen the national drug regulatory authorities and ensure appropriate health technologies are adopted.
Upgrading and ensuring the effective use of the national logistics management information system (LMIS) will be pivotal to improve the availability of essential medicines distributed to all facilities.
Effective tools for supply chain management will be developed, while also ensuring the availability of adequate well-trained staff in supply chain management.
Developing regulations on the production, use, and sale of traditional medicine.

Ensuring the availability of essential medicines at all levels.

The formal list of essential medicines will be reviewed and updated so it will be consistent with public health priorities.
Measures will be in place and monitored to ensure that medicine stocks are effectively and efficiently stored and distributed to all functioning health facilities.

Ensuring the availability of appropriate health technologies.

Conducting a health system technology assessment to identify appropriate, affordable, and accessible technology at all levels.
Developing capacity for biomedical technicians for repair and maintenance.

Infrastructure

Ensuring the presence of functioning health infrastructure across the country.

The construction of new health facilities based on population needs, health priorities, and equity considerations.
Continuing the maintenance and rehabilitation of health infrastructure, including buildings, equipment, and vehicles.
Purchasing new ambulances to strengthen the health referral system.

Improving management systems for infrastructure and medical equipment at all levels.

Conducting a health infrastructure assessment and developing a health infrastructure improvement plan based on its recommendations.
Reviewing and updating the design and standard protocols for building new health facilities, with a special focus on medium-term operation and maintenance efficiency and effectiveness requirements.

Health Financing

Developing a financing strategy for the health sector.

The formulation of a more detailed government approach in response to the Abuja Declaration (April 2001) of African governments pledging to allocate at least 15 percent of their national budget to healthcare.
The health facilities will also strengthen revenue raising, pooling, and strategic purchasing for healthcare.
Furthermore, advocacy tools will be developed for mobilising domestic and external resources including targeted taxation, private sector contributions, community initiatives, and diaspora contributions.

Outcome 3: By 2027, Somaliland will have enhanced health promotion and community engagement.

The Ministry of Health Development, with support from its partner organisations, will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Enhancing health promotion, communication, and community awareness through a holistic approach.

Conducting the required medical and clinical interventions: screening, individual risk assessments, and immunization services.
Carrying out essential health education, social marketing, and skill development.

Strengthening national efforts on hygiene and sanitation and ensure access to safe drinking water.

Strengthening community efforts by reinforcing existing interventions for safeguarding health by improving the control of harmful physical environmental factors, with focus on human waste.
Promoting access to safe drinking water through better testing and treatment techniques to ensure access to good quality drinking water.

Improving communication mechanisms on public health issues.

Continued awareness raising on better health lifestyles, using appropriate and effective channels such as at healthcare facilities, religious structures, schools, women and youth associations, within academia, and through private sector. These mechanisms will be continuously assessed for efficacy.
Advocacy programmes and community engagements to conduct voluntary screenings, individual risk assessments, and immunization campaigns.

Promoting the safe management and disposal of medical waste.

Assessing existing medical disposal practices in healthcare delivery facilities, with a view to improve the existing disposal of medical waste.

This includes pathological waste, infectious waste, sharps (needles, syringes, etc.), and pharmaceutical and chemical waste.

Strategic Objective 2: To improve the management of, and response to, catastrophic public health emergencies.

Outcome 4: By 2027, a stronger Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response system (PHEPR) responds more effectively to public health emergencies.

The Ministry of Health Development, with support from its partner organisations, will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions.

Strengthening and sustaining the national and regional capacity to prepare, mitigate, and prevent health emergencies.

Pursuing international health regulation guidance and promoting health security operations and cross-border issues.
Enhancing existing collaborative emergency programmes with the relevant stakeholders.
Building health workforce leadership capacities and technical skills on emergency preparedness and response.

Strengthening the national surveillance capacity to detect, respond to, and contain epidemics and outbreaks.

Establishing an effective national Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) framework. Additionally, reinforcing existing mechanisms for responding and controlling health emergencies at all levels.

Establishing a functioning national referral laboratory.

Enhancing the skills of lab staff as well as strengthening public health laboratories with modern and better equipment.
Bolstering partnerships with relevant stakeholders to develop a sustainable, reliable, and effective laboratory network.

Enhancing risk management system for outbreaks and community engagement.

Strengthening leadership and governance on community involvement in programme design, implementation, and monitoring. Subsequently, involving community participation in all phases related to outbreak prevention, response, and mitigation.
The community involvement will be guided by policy and operational guidelines, which will include appropriate health education using culturally acceptable messaging.

Observations

The government is committed to improving health outcomes with support from its partner organisations, based on internationally accepted guidelines and standards. Providing basic health services and building a strong and resilient health system constitute the bulk of the expenditure in this sector. The “Cost estimates per outcome and MDA” table shows that the total cost to provide the Essential Package of Health Services, under Outcome 1, is estimated at US$157.1 million, while building resilience in the sector, under Outcome 2, will cost US$180.8 million over the five year period. Together, they account for 90 percent of the total estimated budget.

Health promotion and education is key to preventative healthcare. An estimated US$16.1 million under Outcome 3 is expected to be spent over the plan period.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the importance of disaster response and preparedness for public health. For this reason, an estimated US$29.1 million, under Outcome 4, will be needed to build this structure for continued response to the pandemic and any future health disasters.

Regarding the outcome targets, the positive results obtained during the NDP II period, because of providing the EPHS, are expected to improve at approximately the same steady pace. However, efforts will be considerably increased to improve the number of fully immunized children between 12 and 23 months according to WHO standards.

Chapter 13 WATER, SANITATION, AND HYGIENE

13.1 Introduction

the contract of the Hargeisa City Distribution Network, budgeted for 23 million euros. Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are essential for human health. In recognition of this, as well as the adverse water situation in the country, the Somaliland Vision 2030 prioritises waterworks and distribution systems, as well as solid and liquid waste disposal systems for households and all establishments. The National Water Policy and National Water Act guide the government and partners in addressing the acute water situation in the country, especially in the eastern regions where communities are more affected by droughts. Sanitary facilities remain a challenge in rural areas, as well as in expanding urban areas. Urbanization has also exerted more pressure on existing infrastructure.

The government and its partners continue to invest in the WASH sector, guided by the Integrated Water Resources Management and Investment Plan (IWRMIP) 2020-2050, which systematically sets out to improve the overall water supply in the country. As a country in a semi-arid region with frequent droughts, the importance of the IWRMIP cannot be overemphasised, as underground water remains the main source of drinking water in Somaliland.

Livestock rearing is an important source of livelihoods for most rural communities and the nomadic population, and a crucial economic activity for the country. It is therefore imperative to involve rural communities in a sustainable water management system which integrates the provision of water for people and livestock.

Despite recent gains, sanitation and hygiene remain a challenge against a backdrop of scarce water and insufficient sanitation infrastructure, even for public facilities like schools and hospitals. This exacerbates the situation for women and vulnerable communities like Internally Displaced People (IDPs).

13.2 Situational Analysis Water: Policy and Legal Reforms

The National Water Act (2011) mandates the Ministry of Water Resources Development with the overall responsibility of water resources development and management.

Subsequently, its regulation, complementary policies, and procedural manuals were developed to support the effective implementation of water development. Key among these are:

The National Water Act (No. 49 of 2011)
National Water Regulation
National Water Policy
Rural Water Management Manual
Operations and Maintenance Manual
Urban Water Management Manual

Water Infrastructure Development in Hargeisa

Water development in Hargeisa showed significant progress, bringing the proportion of the population with access to improved water sources to an estimated 35 percent (out of 1.2 million people). The following developments can be highlighted:

In 2018, the Hargeisa Water Agency (HWA) signed
In 2018, HWA constructed four reservoirs of 900m3 each, plus 62 km of transmission and distribution pipes.
In 2018, HWA constructed a new high-capacity booster station at Geed-Deeble. Between 2019 and 2021, the wellfield collector pipe was completed, connecting 17 boreholes with the booster station.

Water Infrastructure Development in Other Areas

The other major towns that had their water supply expanded in the aforementioned period are Wajale, Erigavo, Burao, and Las Anod. Total additional water infrastructure developed in the NDP II period:

164 new boreholes drilled
155 boreholes rehabilitated
176 mini-water systems established or rehabilitated
79 shallow wells constructed or rehabilitated
65 earth dams constructed or rehabilitated

Sanitation and Hygiene: Policy and Legal Reforms

To improve sanitation and hygiene, the following policies and strategies were adopted:

The National Water Act (2011, amended in 2018)
Somaliland Waste Management and Sanitation Law (No. 83 of 2018), as amended

Sanitation and Hygiene Outreach

The distribution of hygiene kits in conjunction with hygiene promotion through the mass media has taken place in all regions, reaching more than 400,000 households while also targeting Internally Displaced

Persons (IDPs).

Open defecation is still a common practice in the rural areas, leading to serious public health risks. The “Community-Led Total Sanitation” approach, through awareness campaigns and technical assistance in the construction of pit-latrines, has been an important instrument during the NDP II period in helping entire villages become free of open defecation. Villagers use their own resources in building the latrines.

13.3 Challenges and Key Issues

The major challenges identified for the NDP III period are the following:

Water

Rehabilitation and expansion of water source infrastructure in strategic areas.
Coordination of interventions between the government and WASH partners to optimise scope and impact by reducing duplication and improving economies of scale.
Effective policy coordination with stakeholders on drought mitigation measures.

Sanitation and Hygiene

Eliminate infrastructure deficiencies in public institutions, such as education and health facilities, and ensure that all have gender-segregated facilities.
Community-led initiatives to increase ownership and awareness and promote the construction of latrines.
Policy and legal reforms to strengthen synergies between government institutions.

13.4 NDP III Outcomes and Priority

Interventions

During the plan period, the government and stakeholders will strive to build on the successes of past years and tackle the constraints and lingering issues in the sector. Broadly, these are the strategic objectives of the sector.

Strategic Objective 1: Provide adequate, safe, and affordable water to the population of Somaliland

Outcome 1: By 2027, there will be strengthened institutional capacity and adequate regulation enforcement capacity in line with the amended National Water Act.

The Ministry of Water Resource Development will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Approving and implementing the National Water Strategy.
Addressing regulatory gaps in line with the amended Water Act.
Raising knowledge and awareness of key decision makers concerning required policies and regulatory frameworks to address climate change, along with the implementation of climate-adaptive measures.
Building institutional and technical capacity for better service delivery and effective coordination, information management, and quality assurance.

The Hargeisa Water Agency will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Developing manuals and the training of technical staff to improve operation and maintenance.
Institutional and technical capacity building to adequately support the sector.

Outcome 2: By 2027, there will be increased access for the urban population to adequate, safe, and affordable drinking water for domestic use.

The Ministry of Water Resource Development will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Conducting hydro-geological studies and monitoring of groundwater in the strategic catchment areas.
Implementing master plans and expansion of water supply systems for major urban and peri-urban areas, as well as the integration of climate-smart approaches.

The Hargeisa Water Agency will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Expansion of the water supply infrastructure and supporting systems for Hargeisa based on the Water Master Plan.

Outcome 3: By 2027, there will be increased access for the rural population to adequate, safe, and affordable drinking water for domestic use and livestock.

The Ministry of Water Resource Development will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Developing mini water systems, construction of shallow wells, drilling of boreholes, construction of more earth dams and Hafir dams, and development of springs by using renewable energy.
Implementing water desalination plants in rural areas with brackish water sources due to geological and hydro-ecological rock formations.
Constructing new water harvesting schemes for agro-pastoralist communities to increase resilience to drought/climate change.
Installing solar power systems in 300 rural water sources to improve water supply sustainability and reduce the cost of operations and maintenance.
Installing rainwater harvesting systems, with a special focus on public infrastructure in rural areas.
Establishing and capacitating of community water supply management committees/operators for rural water facilities.

Strategic Objective 2: Increase equitable access to sustainable hygiene and sanitation services.

Outcome 4: By 2027, a larger proportion of the population will be using improved sanitation and practicing basic hygiene measures.

The Ministry of Water Resource Development, in collaboration with other MDAs, will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Finalizing the National Sanitation Policy in collaboration with the MoECC, and subsequently develop a National Advocacy Strategy in line with this policy.
Constructing hygiene and sanitation facilities in public institutions.
Upscaling existing community-led total sanitation initiatives.
Coordinating amongst stakeholders in sanitation such as government agencies and the wider stakeholders.

The Ministry of Health Development, in collaboration with other MDAs, will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Establishing community health promotion programmes regarding good hygiene and sanitation practices (developed by all relevant MDAs under leadership of MoHD).

Chapter 14 SOCIAL PROTECTION

14.1 Introduction

Table 12: Social protection legislation and policies in Somaliland

Article 19 of the Somaliland Constitution articulates that “the state shall be responsible for the health, care, development, and education of the mother, the child and the disabled who have no one to care for them, and the mentally handicapped persons who are not able and have no one to care for them.” Recognising this, the Somaliland Vision 2030 aspires to build a nation with an effective social protection system that cares for the poor, vulnerable, and at risk. In line with the constitution and the National Vision, the social protection sector envisions achieving a resilient and socially cohesive society in which all members can access the minimum protection that enables them to maintain and improve their living standards throughout their life.

Most families in Somaliland live on very low incomes and are vulnerable to a range of shocks throughout their lives, which impact their living standards at any given point in time. Entire communities in Somaliland are frequently affected by natural disasters such as recurrent droughts or epidemics. The frequency and severity of these are increasing due to climate change. These circumstances were worsened by the COVID-19 crisis, causing a severe setback to Somaliland’s economy and negatively impacting livelihoods.

Individuals and families are continuously vulnerable to common risks faced throughout their lifetimes, which frequently cause insecurities in household income, consumption, and accumulation of productive assets. These challenges underline the importance of establishing a sustainable social protection system that protects citizens throughout their lifetimes and enables them to maintain a dignified life.

Social protection models recognize that social transfers serve three important functions: to provide for those unable to provide for themselves, to prevent vulnerable households from shocks, and to help families lift themselves out of poverty.

14.2 Situational Analysis

Policy and Legal Framework

The overarching social protection legal and policy framework aims to protect the rights of citizens throughout their lifetimes. The government recognises that all members of society are vulnerable to poverty, but certain demographic groups are at greater risk, such as women, children, older people, and persons with disabilities.

In addition, the Ministry of Employment, Social Affairs, and Family (MESAF) has established internal regulations that guide the delivery of cash transfer programmes with development partners in Somaliland. These are not legally binding regulations, but guidelines endorsed by parties to increase local ownership and accountability and maximize the impact of the cash transfer programmes.

Social Protection Schemes in Somaliland

There is a longstanding religious and cultural heritage that promotes social solidarity among citizens. Traditional and informal institutions strongly promote charitable giving and have provided mechanisms for redistribution across society. Somaliland’s social protection systems are broadly categorized into four major components.

Traditional and Informal Support

Mechanisms

The Islamic value of almsgiving is embedded in Somaliland’s society. This is an integral part of the national social contract, which promotes social solidarity and voluntary giving, even before formal public administration started in the country. The main existing instruments are zakat and sadaqah, alongside instruments such as Qaandhaan and others, which are administered as voluntary giving.

Due to their voluntary nature, no reliable data is available on their coverage, but these instruments are a mainstay in society and are mostly community-led. For example, in Awdal, zakat funds mobilise voluntary contributions from citizens and private companies (as well as international remittances) to finance education and infrastructure in addition to the usual income support. A demonstrative case is in Borama, where zakat also financed both education and infrastructure projects. The peak periods of giving are during Ramadan and Eids.

Moreover, the Department of Zakat Registration in the Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs sometimes receives zakat voluntarily from public and private institutions and redistributes the funds to vulnerable communities.

Social Transfer Pilot Schemes and

Project-based Interventions

Through the support of Somaliland’s international partners, several social protection schemes provide long-term and predictable support to certain communities across the country. Development partners coordinate funds with the Government of Somaliland to provide direct transfer payments to the most vulnerable people in communities affected by crisis, including droughts, where incomes, livelihoods, employment opportunities, or economic productions are minimal or have ceased to exist.

Development partners such as the World Bank, WFP, UNICEF, Save the Children, World Vision, Concern Worldwide, and Care International have partnered with government agencies such as the MESAF, the National Disaster Preparedness and Food Reserve Authority (NADFOR), the National Displacement and Refugee Agency (NDRA), and local partners to transfer much-needed cash to crisis-affected communities. The ongoing social transfer project includes a World Bank-funded safety net for a human capital project. The Government of Finland funded the child-sensitive social protection project and shock-responsive social protection project, and the EU-funded ILED project has a social safety net component.

Social Insurance

The Public Pension Scheme was launched during the NDP II period, which established a contributory system for the armed forces and civil servants that includes pensions and benefits provided in the event of sickness, injury, or disability. The pension scheme for the armed forces is already in existence and is governed by the Somaliland Armed Forces Pensions and Gratuities Law (No. 88/2019), while the pension scheme bill for civil servants is going through the process of becoming a law. The civil servants’ pension scheme bill includes the establishment of the National Pension Authority, which will manage public pension funds.

Even though the Public Pension Scheme’s legal frameworks are currently being drafted, public service members are already enrolled in the scheme and make monthly contributions. The scheme is co-financed by contributions from public servants and from the Government of Somaliland.

The contribution rate for public servants is five percent of their monthly salary, while the Government of Somaliland contributes seven percent of their respective salary. Upon reaching the retirement age of 65 years, all eligible public servants will be entitled to a monthly retirement benefit, with the amount received calculated based on the number of years of service and the salary earned during the last month of employment (up to a maximum of 50 percent of salary). If public servants retire early due to a disability or illness, they can access a gratuity payment as a lump sum. In the event of the death of the entitled recipient, benefits will be transferred to the surviving spouse, child, or parent for the remainder of their lifetime or a fixed period.

Social Care Services

Due to limited human resources and financial capacity, social care service provision is limited in Somaliland and relies strongly on the support of local and international NGOs. The MESAF partners with SOS Children’s Village Somaliland for the Family Strengthening Programme, which aims to prevent family separation and provide support to children at risk of losing parental care through case management support. The programme is active in three regions of Somaliland, assisting 912 families and 6,011 children.

WAAPO Safe House provides care services for gender-based violence (GBV) survivors and other vulnerable groups with funding from UNICEF, UNHCR, and UNFPA.

There are 48 childcare centres across the country providing shelter, education, food, and other services for children without parents or at risk of losing parental care who are living in vulnerable circumstances. The MESAF fully funds three of these centres from the national budget, while Islamic organisations primarily sponsor the others. MESAF also supports two special needs schools in Hargeisa and Borama, and two rehabilitation centres for people with disabilities (PWDs) that provide physiotherapy, mobility devices, and counselling services. The MESAF is also running a mental health centre with national budget funding while providing guidance and supervision for the Somaliland HIV/AIDS Network’s (SAHAN) mental health services, with funding from the Red Crescent.

The MESAF runs a 24/7 hotline service providing free information and support for people facing difficulties or who are at risk. The MESAF has set up child protection desks at the Wajaale and Lawyo-Ado migration corridors, providing case management services such as family identification, public health and safety, and transport services for migrant children. The MESAF’s counselling service centre deals with family issues, providing spousal dispute resolution services including a grant of US$500-1,000 to start businesses if the dispute is related to household family difficulties. This is part of the MESAF’s income generation grants for about 100 women each year with funding from the national budget.

14.3 Challenges and Key Issues

Developing a functional Social Protection Policy that sets the strategic direction of the sector, provides leadership, and improves coordination to ensure coherence and avoid duplication to efficiently manage limited resources.
Expanding the currently limited legal and regulatory frameworks to facilitate the delivery of social protection interventions.
Resolving the conflict of mandates among government institutions. These can lead to a duplication of efforts and impede the efficient delivery of social protection services.
Mobilising additional resources to deliver needed social protection services for vulnerable groups in the community. The sector still relies heavily on humanitarian and development actors to provide protection, which are usually short term in nature and therefore unsustainable.
The absence of labour unions to advocate for and protect labour rights increases vulnerability and the need for social protection schemes for those who become unemployed or receive less income to sustain decent living conditions.

14.4 NDP III Outcomes and Priority

Interventions

Strategic Objective 1: To build a resilient and cohesive society in which all members can access minimum protections that enable them to maintain and improve their living standards.

Outcome 1: By 2027, robust, well-functioning social protection systems are in place at national and sub-national levels.

The Ministry of Employment, Social Affairs, and Family will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Finalizing and enforcing the Social Protection Policy.

The MESAF will submit the draft policy to the cabinet for approval. This policy is the sectoral guiding document, and therefore, the finalization and meaningful implementation of this policy is vital for building a robust social protection system in Somaliland.

Developing technical guidelines for the Social Protection Policy and Strategy. The MESAF will effectively operationalise the National Social Protection Policy by translating the policy objectives into concrete actions, a comprehensive implementation strategy, and relevant technical guiding documents.
Developing a single registry for social protection schemes. This single registry system will facilitate the cross-coordination of social protection schemes in the country. The registry will be consolidated into a single common database, structuring and organising socio-economic and demographic data on households. This will create a single entry point for all programmes and improve evidence-based decision making regarding vulnerable people in the country.
Strengthening the existing social protection coordination mechanisms. The MESAF will strengthen and unify the social protection coordination mechanism for all sector stakeholders and expand operations to the sub-national level.
Strengthening social protection institutions’ capacities both at national and sub-national levels. The MESAF will strengthen the capacity of government institutions on social protection both at the national and sub-national levels, ensuring mandated agencies will have the capacity to deliver social protection schemes for poor and marginalized communities.

Outcome 2: By 2027, vulnerable households can access social transfers to address socioeconomic risks.

The Ministry of Employment, Social Affairs, and Family will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Providing benefits to children under-five in the four regions in Somaliland that have the highest prevalence of stunting among children under five years of age. The MESAF will gradually expand this Child Benefit Scheme to these four regions, reaching all children aged zero to four years by 2028. This will be achieved through the registration of children at birth in the targeted regions, without removing any children who have been benefiting from the scheme since its first year of implementation. At this point, the capacity of government agencies will have been strengthened to deliver the Child Benefit Scheme.
Designing and implementing a universal child disability benefit for the most vulnerable children in Somaliland. The government will prioritise the implementation of a child disability benefit scheme, including transportation, medical treatment, therapy, and specialised schooling, for some of the most vulnerable children at risk of social and economic exclusion. The Child Disability Benefit also intends to compensate families who experience a loss in income due to having to give up work to care for their children with higher needs. The Child Disability Benefit will initially cover all children with disabilities aged zero to 15 years.
Providing humanitarian cash transfers for those families affected by shocks and climate emergencies. In collaboration with other mandated public institutions, the MESAF will create a shock-responsive social protection mechanism for responding to emergencies such as droughts, floods, and other climate shocks.
Strengthening and expanding social care service delivery at the national and sub-national levels, including the expansion of childcare services to all six regions of Somaliland, as well as social care services for the elderly and people with a disability, providing specialised care when needed.

Outcome 3: By 2027, effective social insurance mechanisms for the working-age population have been established.

The Ministry of Employment, Social Affairs, and Family will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Conducting a scoping study to identify frameworks to build a multi-tiered social insurance system. This will identify opportunities to build a package of social insurance benefits. The government will explore the feasibility of implementing unemployment, maternity, survivors, sickness, and potentially other social insurance mechanisms that allow the working-age population to draw benefits when they experience certain contingencies.
Assessing the feasibility of implementing short-term complementary interventions for rural communities, such as weather-based and livestock insurance products that enhance income protection for those relying on livestock and agricultural livelihoods. This is important as it will take time for rural communities to benefit from social insurance.
Establishing robust social insurance systems. Based on the outcomes of the scoping study on the social insurance sector, the Somaliland government will start incrementally building a social insurance system for vulnerable populations. This will also require strengthening operational systems and administrative processes for delivering social protection services across the country.
Implementing a universal pension scheme for civil servants. The government will prioritise the implementation of a basic universal social pension by 2025. This will be a contributory pension scheme co-financed by public servants and contributions from the Somaliland government. Public servants will receive benefits when they retire, as well as in cases of disability or long-term illness. In the case of death, the next of kin will receive those benefits.

Chapter 15 ENVIRONMENT SECTOR

15.1 Introduction

The overall goal of the sector is anchored in the Somaliland Constitution and Vision 2030, which call for the need for natural conservation. Subsidiary legislation such as the Forest and Wildlife Act (2015) and the National Environment Protection Act (2018) reinforce proper management of flora and fauna to support sustainable livelihoods.

As populations grow, economic activities to support livelihoods often exert pressure on the environment. For instance, livestock rearing is a mainstay in the economy, as it is one of the main foreign exchange earners for the country and a major source of income and employment, especially for the rural population. Livestock rearing depends largely on forest cover for grazing and sustainable management of water. The sustainable management of grazing land is thus needed for continuous support to the sub-sector.

Due to its geographic location, persistent drought in the region affects Somaliland’s socio-economic development, hence the prioritisation of the sector both as a pillar in the Vision 2030 and a sector in the National Development Plans. Overall, Somaliland intends to be a state with a healthy and well-managed environment that is productive and sustainable.

15.2 Situational Analysis

Environmental Protection and Climate Change: Policy and Legal Reform

Building on the National Environment Policy that was approved in 2015, several policies and laws were approved and enacted to mainstream environmental management issues, strengthen resilience, and promote measures to improve adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters. Key among these are:

The National Environmental Management Act (79/2018)
The Waste Management Act (83/2018)
Formulation of the Climate Change Policy
The Land Policy (2022)
Ongoing capacity development for the domestication of international conventions

Fiscal Incentives

The government aligned its economic policies towards supporting its commitment to sustainable management of the environment by adopting tax policies to incentivise behavioural change on consumption and production patterns.

These include a tax exemption for the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), targeted to reduce the use of charcoal; a tax reduction for equipment needed to produce renewable energy; tax relief for small-scale factories that produce alternatives to plastic bags; waste recycling schemes (e.g., plastic bags to tiles); and subsidies for private investors who produce briquettes from mesquite trees — an invasive species which affects productive land.

Grazing Reserves

Grazing lands are the most degraded land type in the world, particularly in arid and semiarid areas, as a result of improper human activities such as overgrazing coupled with drought.

In situations where the degraded grazing land has not been irreversibly damaged, application of appropriate grazing management is an ecologically viable solution for their restoration. This is particularly necessary for grazed lands with a long history of grazing by large herbivores, including livestock. Excluding domestic animals from such ecosystems may lead to several ecological problems, such as a loss of biodiversity and devastating wildfires.

To support livestock rearing as a crucial sector of the economy, 20 grazing reserves were successfully assessed and four were restored. In addition, five additional communal grazing sites were established and brought under community management in the Toghdeer and Sool regions, an increase in the surface area of grazing reserves from 20,000 to 116,700 hectares during the NDP II period. A demonstration rangeland site was established at Illinta Bari. Illegal enclosures, which limit access to communal grazing lands, were removed, primarily in the Maroodi Jeex and Togdheer regions.

Marine Reserves

Through collaboration with stakeholders and development partners, work to protect biodiversity hotspots has started in Zeylac. It was inaugurated as the first marine protected area in the country in early 2020. It will provide protection for coral reef and mangrove ecosystems while conserving valuable fish stocks for local fishermen.

Wildlife Protection

With the collaboration of stakeholders, wildlife protection initiatives were embarked on to protect certain species and reign in illegal trafficking in the region. In the past few years, 90 cheetahs, 40 antelopes, birds of prey, wild cats, caracals, and over 400 lizards and tortoises were rescued from being illegally trafficked out of Somaliland. With the support of specialist wildlife conservationists, three wildlife orphanage centres (Dabis, Masalaaha, and Geedeeble) have been established.

Deforestation and Soil Erosion

Deforestation and soil erosion continue to threaten the livelihoods of communities throughout the country, varying by location. To address this, seven nurseries (in Debis, Geedeeble, El Afweyn, Las Anod, Owdweyne, Ainaba, and Shurko) were established. Similarly, five nurseries in Borama, Berbera, Erigavo, Burao, and Hargeisa have been rehabilitated. A total of 1,200,000 multi-purpose seedlings were produced in these nurseries and distributed widely to major urban centres and rural settlements, with 70 percent of trees successfully planted.

Community Awareness Campaigns

Comprehensive awareness programmes were conducted using various communication methods (Radio Hargeisa, social media, trainings, workshops, and field trips). There are plans to integrate these programmes into the school curricula. The initial discussions with the Ministry of Education have already started.

Drought Resilience

The National Disaster Preparedness Strategy (2019) includes mechanisms to improve drought resilience. In line with this strategy, various soil and water conservation programmes were embarked on, including the rehabilitation of 30 berkhads in Togdheer and 11 berkhads in Sanaag, as well as the establishment of four sand dams in the Maroodi Jeex region and two earth dams in Ceel-Afwayn and Balli-Gubadle districts.

Reduction of Charcoal Consumption

As part of measures to reduce the dependency on charcoal for cooking, 20,000 fuel-efficient stoves were distributed to households, and the government subsidized and distributed 7,000 LPG cylinders to poor households in major towns throughout the country.

Frankincense

Frankincense trees produce an aromatic resin, called frankincense or olibanum, which is used in incense and perfumes. It is obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia by “tapping”, a process of making incisions on the bark for exudates. The trees grow wildly in vast regions and are owned by clans who have control over production and marketing.

Frankincense trees are important to Somaliland’s economy, producing gums and resins that support over 70 percent of households’ incomes in producing areas. The annual export value in 2021 was US$18.2 million. However, over-exploitation from unsustainable tapping greatly affects existing frankincense trees in Somaliland. High demand and poverty have increased tapping rates, reducing the regeneration of trees and increasing rates of tree mortality.

Disaster Preparedness and Response:

Policy and Legal Reform

To improve disaster preparedness and response capacity, the following policies and strategies were adopted or drafted:

The Draft National Disaster Risk Management Policy (2019)
National Disaster Preparedness Strategy (2019)
National Disaster Contingency Plan (2019)
National Food Reserves Policy (2021)
Multi-Hazard Early Warning Framework (2021)

Food Reserves

The government constructed seven food reserve warehouses across the country, in Burao, Berbera (two), Hargeisa, Abaarso, and Gabiley (two). To complement the efficient use of these facilities, relevant personnel were trained on quality control and food reserve management, disaster risk reduction, early warning systems, and geographical information systems. Furthermore, more response offices were constructed in Gabiley, Berbera, Borama and Abaarso.

Community Engagement

Community engagement on community-based disaster risk management was conducted, covering 150 villages across the country. Early warning committees were established in Sanaag and Togdheer. Following Cyclone Sagar, NADFOR was involved in the restocking of 9,000 heads of livestock in Awdal and Maroodi Jeex. Water tankers have been provided by the National Disaster Preparedness and Food Reserve Authority (NADFOR) during times of drought, and flood protection measures were introduced in Awdal, Gabiley, and Maroodi Jeex.

The major challenges identified for the NDP III period are the following:

Environmental Protection and Climate Change

Accelerating the protection of natural resources by establishing gazetted protected areas for biodiversity hotspots with endangered flora and fauna, marine life, and grazing reserves, while regulating the sustainable exploitation of natural resources whenever possible.
Under leadership of the MoECC, improving the coordination of multi-sector stakeholders that are engaged in environmental management and building resilience to climate change through adaptive measures and mitigation.
Improving the management of solid waste while transforming it into renewable resources by promoting private sector involvement in the recycling industry.
Reducing the use of charcoal from indigenous species by promoting alternatives for the use of energy in domestic settings, especially in the urban areas.
Sustainably growing and harvesting frankincense trees, working with all stakeholders active in the value chain.

Disaster Preparedness and Response

Strengthening the country’s disaster preparedness by investing in technologically advanced early warning systems and improving international networking.
Strengthening the emergency relief supply chain and reducing the country’s disaster response time by boosting NADFOR’s access to financial resources, physical infrastructure, and means of transport.

15.4 NDP III Outcomes and Priority

Interventions

Strategic Objective 1: Promote climate resilience through sustainable natural resource management, targeted conservation and protection activities.

Outcome 1: By 2027, 120,000 hectares of protected areas will be restored and legally gazetted for biodiversity conservation with respect for endangered species (fauna and flora).

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Identifying biodiversity hotspots by surveying, mapping, and creating an inventory of endangered species of flora and fauna in Somaliland.
Preparing and submitting complete dossiers for the approval of new conservation areas by presidential decree.
Training forest rangers to protect and conserve biodiversity hotspots, based on inclusive and gender-aware community-based approaches.

Outcome 2: By 2027, institutional capacity will be developed in the context of environmental protection and climate change.

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Drafting and implementing key policy and regulatory instruments to address climate change and other environmental issues, including:

The development of the Somaliland Maritime Policy.
Approval of the Somaliland Climate Change Policy.
A review and amendment of the Somaliland Environment Management Act, incorporating protection of the marine environment, with the attendant regulations.
Drafting and approval of regulations related to the Somaliland Forestry and Wildlife Act.

Establishing a High-Level Inter-ministerial Climate Change Task Force (HICCTF) for the coordination and implementation of appropriate climate adaptation and mitigation strategies.
Building the capacity of policy and decision makers in key institutions on environmental protection and climate adaptation. This would include:

Development of inclusive and gender-sensitive training materials on integrating environmental and climate adaptation processes in all aspects of policymaking, planning, budgeting, and coordination.
Training on mainstreaming environmental protection and climate change issues.

Outcome 3: By 2027, an additional eight potential grazing reserves will be established and restored in four regions in Somaliland, with 10,000 hectares of degraded land inside their boundaries restored through soil and water conservation measures.

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Identifying potential grazing reserve areas by surveying and mapping. As a result of these assessments:

At least eight community-protected grazing reserves will be established.
Women and men from the communities will be trained on using integrated soil and water management methods that protect the environment.
Communities will be supported to develop community management plans and inclusive management committees will be established.

Outcome 4: By 2027, two protected marine reserves will be established in Somaliland’s waters and the sustainable use of marine ecosystems will be implemented, specifically mangroves and other associated habitats.

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Building institutional capacity through trainings on marine environmental protection and conservation.

Target groups include MoECC staff and MoLFD staff, the Somaliland Coast Guard, and local governments along coastal communities.

Assessing, mapping, and demarcating at least two marine protected areas to be gazetted through presidential decree.
Developing inclusive marine and mangrove ecosystem protection plans and implementation strategies with the community members. Training will be provided to community members to implement these marine management plans.

Strategic Objective 2: Regulate production and consumption patterns to promote environmental protection and climate resilience.

Outcome 5: By 2027, the regional capitals of Somaliland will have made significant progress in managing liquid and solid waste and reducing pointsource pollution.

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Drafting regulations to implement the Waste Management Act. An extensive community awareness-raising scheme will be needed, targeting different segments of the community, including private sector actors and local governments. The target is for five urban centres to have adopted the regulations of the Waste Management Act and begin implementation.
Creating at least three Urban Environmental Management Plans, working together with local governments, and beginning their implementation. These plans will consider the different roles and responsibilities of community members in implementing the plan, including environmental awareness-raising in schools and workplaces.
Providing incentives — in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance Development, local governments, and the Ministry of Trade and Tourism — for the establishment of at least five waste recycling facilities in major urban centres. The government, together with the private sector, will develop bankable projects to raise funds for establishing these facilities either through public-private partnerships or other arrangements.

Outcome 6: By 2027, the consumption of charcoal from indigenous trees is reduced by 25 percent in urban areas.

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Stimulating the production of charcoal from mesquite (Prosopis juliflora), which is an invasive plant predominantly in the regions of Awdal and Maroodi Jeex.
Identifying and testing promising alternative technologies and sources of energy (biogas, solid waste, solar, wind, etc.).
Training of local artisans to produce energy-saving stoves with assistance in establishing links between buyers and sellers.

Outcome 7: By 2027, government interventions will have contributed to a more level playing field to improve private sector and community participation in the environmentally sustainable economic exploitation of gums and resins for the benefit of all value chain stakeholders.

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Working with all stakeholders along the value chain to put a policy and legal framework in place that seeks to balance environmental aspects with stakeholder interests.
Promoting the dissemination of knowledge and skills and increasing awareness in relevant communities on the sustainable exploitation of gums and resins.
Organising inspection visits to enforce the improved legal instruments that safeguard the sustainable exploitation of frankincense trees.

Strategic Objective 3: Reduction of the impact of disasters on people’s livelihoods and social, economic, and environmental assets at the communal and national level.

Outcome 8: By 2027, develop and strengthen the institutional mechanisms, legal frameworks, and capacities of NADFOR.

The Somaliland National Disaster Preparedness and Food Reserve Authority (NADFOR) will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Reviewing and amending the current act that is the basis of NADFOR’s operations.
Improving the legal framework for disaster management through the development of relevant strategies and policies.
Operationalising disaster risk management (DRM) policies, plans, and strategies.
Strengthening the institution’s disaster management technical capacity through trainings and knowledge-building.
Preparing manuals, guidelines, and other enabling tools to streamline disaster management operations.
Enhancing coordination mechanisms for disaster response through the application of technological systems.
Establishing a government-led multi-stakeholder coordination system with the participation of all disaster management stakeholders.
Mainstreaming and streamlining disaster risk management policies, operations, and programmes at all levels.

Outcome 9: By 2027, enhance the country’s disaster preparedness and response mechanisms at all levels.

The Somaliland National Disaster Preparedness and Food Reserve Authority will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Constructing six strategic warehouses in the Sool, Sanaag, Maroodijeh, and Awdal regions.
Establishing an integrated system for food reserve surveillance across all regions.
Establishing a National Disaster Relief Fund, managed by NADFOR, to enhance the country’s disaster response capacity.
Establishing and mobilising regional early warning committees.
Establishing a well-equipped and technologically advanced national multi-hazard early warning system centre, with the following objectives:

To strengthen NADFOR’s capacity by utilising a modern, technology-based early warning system (with GIS, remote sending, web-based data, and space-based technology) to provide relevant information to citizens in a timely manner, with a focus on climate-related disaster risks, particularly droughts and flash floods.
To improve NADFOR’s cooperation with regional and international early warning and climate forecast centres.
To enhance NADFOR’s access to up-to-date, climate-related information on hazards, leading to a better prediction and understanding of disaster risks.

Observations

Overall, the cost of interventions aimed at achieving the objectives of the sector amounts to an estimated US$24.3 million for the two institutions within the sector, as depicted in the cost estimates table.

The budget for the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change is mainly for coordination activities, improving legislation, and capacity building to be able to perform a leading role in environmental management issues. It is noteworthy to mention that approximately US$12 million is expected to be contributed from development partners as investments in sustainable charcoal production, as well as contributions from the private sector in this endeavour.

The government will support these investments by providing appropriate fiscal incentives, in line with the overall goal of sustainable environmental management.

The following outcome targets merit highlighting:

A more than doubling of Somaliland’s nature reserves and protected areas:
Gazetted biodiversity conservation areas are expected to go from 96,770 hectares in 2021 to 216,770 hectares in 2026, an increase of 124 percent.
Protected community-managed grazing areas are expected to go from 116,700 hectares in 2021 to 236,700 hectares in 2026, an increase of 102 percent.
The first two marine reserves will have been gazetted with a total surface area of 79 hectares.
In urban areas, a reduction of 25 percent in the consumption of charcoal for domestic purposes is expected by promoting LPG and stimulating the local production of charcoal made from the invasive exotic mesquite (Prosopis juliflora) by offering grants for the private sector. Total production is expected to go from the 1,380 tonnes per year that are currently produced by the three existing plants to 14,900 tonnes over the entire NDP III period by doubling the number of industrial plants, with a projected growth of charcoal production per plant of 18.5 percent per year.
The establishment of a National Disaster Relief Fund under NADFOR. This is an important mechanism to channel and pool funds from the national budget (contingency funds) and emergency relief partners once a national disaster has been officially declared, thus improving NADFOR’s response time.

Chapter 16 JUDICIARY SECTOR

16.1 Introduction

The Somaliland judiciary is established under chapter four of the constitution (Articles 97-98). The judiciary consists of the courts and the procuracy. The judges and members of the procuracy are independent when exercising their judicial functions and are guided by the law as stipulated by Articles 97.2 and 99.2 of the constitution. According to article 97.2, “the judiciary shall be independent of other branches of the government.”

The constitution provides for the establishment of a Supreme Court (which also serves as the Constitutional Court), courts of appeals (regional level), regional courts, district courts, and the Courts of the Armed Forces (which are to be governed by a separate act of parliament). This is in line with the principle of separation of powers stipulated in Article 37.3 of the constitution. Furthermore, to ensure the independence of the judiciary, the constitution placed the judiciary under the administrative authority of the High

Judicial Commission.

There are also several other constitutional provisions of the judiciary that act as guiding principles. One of those is Article 10.2 of the constitution in which the Republic of Somaliland commits itself to respect and abide by international law, including international conventions on civil and political rights, the Universal Declaration of Human rights (Article 10), the United Nations Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, and a number of other international agreements, such as on children’s rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Moreover, chapter three of the constitution enshrines the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens, with the courts serving as the custodian of these rights and freedoms (Article 21.1). Without the protection of the judiciary, these rights and freedoms could be infringed upon or eroded, either by acts of parliament or by actions and policies of the executive branch.

Another constitutional provision which safeguards the rights and freedoms of citizens and has direct relevance to the judiciary is in Article 21.2, which stipulates that “the articles which relate to fundamental rights and freedoms shall be interpreted in a manner consistent with the international conventions on human rights and also with the international laws referred to in this constitution.” This is particularly important, as legal interpretation is a key role of the judiciary (Article 98.1.a). Hence, the development of the judiciary sector remains critical for the protection of human rights and upholding the rule of law to ensure citizens’ rights.

16.2 Situational Analysis Legal Frameworks

Reference is made to the following policy and legal frameworks:

Somaliland Law of The Organization of The Judiciary 24/2003; 8/2008
The Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code (CPC)
Somaliland Judiciary Strategic Plan (2018-2021) Attorney General’s Office (AGO)

Article 97 of the constitution stipulates that the state shall have a judicial branch that adjudicates proceedings between the government and the public, as well as between members of the public. The main functions of the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) are pursuing criminal charges on behalf of the state, directing investigations and criminal cases, supervising the conditions of prisons and prison inmates, assisting vulnerable individuals in civil suits, and participating in civil suits in which the government is a party or if public interest so requires.

Judicial Commission (JC)

Judges, other than Supreme Court justices, are appointed by the Judicial Commission (JC), which was established under Articles 107 and 108 of the Somaliland Constitution. Judges hold office until their retirement, generally at 65 years of age. The Chairman of the Supreme Court chairs the JC, which also consists of two other Supreme Court justices, the attorney general, two high-ranking civil servants (the minister of justice and the head of the Civil Service Agency), and four members of the public selected once every two years by the two houses of parliament. The JC handles the promotion and, when necessary, disciplining of judges, the procedures of which are established in Articles 35-43 of the Organization of the Judiciary Law.

Supreme Court of Somaliland (SCS)

The chairman and judges of the Supreme Court of Somaliland (SCS) are appointed by the president, in consultation with the JC, under Article 105 of the constitution. The appointment of the chairman must be confirmed at a joint session of both houses of parliament. The president may dismiss the chairman of the SCS, subject to the approval of both houses.

Somaliland Courts of Law

The Somaliland courts of law are four different but hierarchically complementary courts: district courts, regional court, courts of appeal, and the SCS, which also serves as the constitutional court. With the addition of four members selected by the two houses of parliament, the SCS also serves as the High Court of Justice.

The district courts of Somaliland are responsible for adjudicating claims based on matters relating to family law and succession, hearing civil litigation case suits of up to three million Somaliland shillings, and hearing criminal cases punishable by imprisonment of up three years or fines not exceeding three million

Somaliland shillings.

The regional courts are responsible for adjudicating all civil litigations and criminal cases beyond the district courts’ jurisdiction, dealing with all labour or employment law claims, and hearing any claims arising out of local council elections.
The courts of appeal have a territorial jurisdiction, hearing all appeals from their respective district and regional courts. The courts of appeal consist of five appellate sections: general appellate, assize appellate, family law, juvenile law, and taxation and finance.
The Supreme Court of Somaliland is the highest organ in the judiciary system and has jurisdiction over all territory of the Somaliland Republic. It currently consists of eleven members, including the chief justice. The SCS deals with:
All appeals from the appeals courts need to improve to ensure the confidentiality and privacy
Administrative suits against the decisions of public bodies
Declaration of general elections results (both presidential and parliamentary elections), and complaints relating to these elections, as well as hearing appeals from lower courts relating to local council elections
Jurisdiction issues between courts of the land and reviewing its own decisions under the relevant articles of criminal and civil procedure codes

The SCS also serves as the Constitutional Court of Somaliland to:

Adjudicate suits from interested parties relating to the constitutionality of acts of decisions of the legislative and executive branches
Interpret the constitution and laws when specific provisions become subject of controversy
Decide on court decisions which are challenged as being unconstitutional

The Constitutional Court of Somaliland sits as a full bench. Furthermore, with an additional four members elected by the two chambers of the national parliament, the Supreme Court constitutes the High Court of Justice to hear and reach decisions on cases against members of parliament and the Council of Ministers.

Legal Frameworks and Judiciary Reform

The Organization of the Judiciary Law (24/2003) provides a defined framework for appointing and dismissing judges and prosecutors, as well as the functions of the AGO and courts. However, judiciary reform is imperative if the functions of the judiciary and the AGO are to be well-defined.

Constitutional and legal provisions must be consistent with the principle of the separation of powers to preserve judicial independence.

Management and Resources

The administration and management of courts depend heavily on administrative systems and personnel. These factors are also related to the physical infrastructure where personnel work. Without sufficient resources in place to facilitate smooth administration, the quality and delivery of justice are compromised.

The Code of Conduct

Somaliland has a code of conduct for judges and prosecutors. The Department of Inspection and Monitoring at the JC is responsible for enforcing the code of conduct. The capacity of the Inspection and Monitoring Scheme (IMS) under the JC needs to be strengthened to deliver on its mandate. Furthermore, public awareness and continued legal education on ethics for judges are required to protect judicial independence.

Case Management

The current Case Management Information System (CMIS) focuses only on criminal cases and has limited functionality, capturing only some cases across the courts and from the AGO. There is a need to review and upgrade the CMIS to facilitate caseload allocations, case tracking and mapping, and electronic case recording. Data protection regulations of the clients.

16.3 Challenges and Key Issues

The primary challenges identified for the NDP III period are:

Revising judicial processes and procedures to meet relevant demands
Improving security for judiciary personnel regarding terrorists and clients with grievances that may threaten to harm them
Enhancing infrastructure and other necessary facilities to improve working conditions and avoid unnecessary costs put on clients
Upgrading the CMIS, as it is currently confined to specific courts and cannot easily be accessed across the court system
Facilitating access to judiciary services for people in remote locations through mobile courts
Updating laws to meet the requirements of the criminal justice system. The current legal framework is a mixture of laws from Somaliland’s British Protectorate, the Italian colonial era, and the subsequent period from 1960 to 1990. In particular, the British Colonial Indian Penal Code is in critical need of revision.
Appointing female judges, as male judges dominate the judiciary. No female judges have, so far, been appointed to the bench due to the Sharia school of thought. Instead, qualified women are appointed to other roles, such as court clerks or prosecutors.

16.4 NDPIII Outcomes and Priority

Interventions

Strategic Objective 1: To provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable, and inclusive judiciary institutions and mechanisms at all levels.

Outcome 1: Somaliland’s judiciary is accessible to the citizenry, residents, refugees, asylum seekers, visitors and any other person or entity in the country.

Establishing mobile courts to improve court outreach to the public, particularly in remote and hard-to-reach areas.
Upgrading the CMIS, among other systems, to improve internal data management for the judiciary.
Upgrading justice services to juveniles, women, marginalized groups, and people with disabilities to provide better guarantees for equitable access to justice.

Outcome 2: Improved institutional capacity of the Somaliland judiciary system.

Drafting, reviewing, and enacting regulatory frameworks to refine the judiciary sector’s functions, decisions, and operations.
Reviewing and restructuring judiciary sector institutional functions, infrastructure, and facilities
Improving internal communication and logistical facilities across judiciary institutions, leading to improved personnel and workplace safety.

Educating judiciary personnel on ICT, administrative procedures, ethics, leadership, human rights, Sharia law, judgement writing, safety, and organised crime to accelerate court services and improve case management

Rehabilitating current facilities and constructing new courts across the regions and districts and establishing a judicial training institute.

Chapter 17 CROSS-CUTTING THEMES

17.1 Introduction

This chapter discusses the cross-cutting themes of gender, People with Disabilities (PWDs), Displacement Affected Communities (DAC), children’s rights, youth, HIV/AIDS, and rural development. These themes should be an integral dimension of the NDP III interventions’ design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation geared towards achieving national development priorities. It will involve assessing the implication for these groups by any planned action, including legislation, policies, and programmes, in all areas and levels. This means that all the phases of the NDP III interventions should consider and respond to the needs and priorities of these groups to ensure an inclusive development outcome.

17.2 Gender

Patriarchal social structures relegate women to domestic activities and often deny them full participation in social, economic, and political spheres. According to the 2020 Somaliland Health and Demographic Survey, the unemployment rate for women in Somaliland stands at 30.1 percent compared to 16.4 percent among men. This disparity is even higher among youth, with 53.8 percent of women aged 15-24 unemployed or in education, compared to 24.4 percent of young men in the same age range. Female-headed households are more likely to be poor than male-headed households. Although four months of paid maternity leave followed by a breastfeeding period is stipulated in Somaliland laws, women in the informal labour market and self-employed individuals do not enjoy these rights.

On education, there is a long way to go in achieving universal educational attainment targets. Only two-fifths of women (41 percent) aged 15-49 are literate (SLHDS 2020).

Inequitable access prevails in education, especially for rural communities, the urban poor, and for those with special needs. Somaliland’s 2020-2021 gross primary enrolment rate (GER) is 32 percent, of which 36 percent were boys and 29 percent were girls (Education Statistics Yearbook, May 2021. This constitutes a gender parity index (GPI) of 0.81. In secondary schools for the same period, the overall GER was 18 percent, of which 20 precent were boys and 15 percent were girls in, with a GPI of 0.75. In addition, training modules offered in TVET programmes often discourage women’s enrolment, affecting their access to employment. Furthermore, gender inequities extend to the number of female teachers in the system. The 2021 Education Statistics Yearbook indicates 19 percent of primary school teachers and only 4 percent of secondary school teachers are female.

The Somaliland Health and Demographic Survey (SLHDS) showed that only 40 precent of deliveries were performed with the help of trained professionals, which means 60 percent of the births were delivered at homes. Antenatal and postnatal care is in short supply. Nonetheless, Somaliland’s maternal mortality rate (MMR) has fallen to 396 deaths per 100,000 live births, down from 418 in 2014. However, improvements are needed in nutrition, 6 percent of women in Somaliland aged 15-49 were moderately to severely malnourished, with a BMI less than 17 and a height below 145 cm.

The SLHDS underlined that over 70 percent of women had experienced forms of domestic violence, ranging from physical assault and the denial of education to forced marriage, rape, and sexual harassment. Similarly, a 2020 rapid Gender-based Violence/Female Genital Mutilation (GBV/FGM) assessment by UNFPA shows an increase in both GBV and FGM incidents since the onset of Covid-19.

In response to these challenges, a sexual offence bill was drafted and GBV services were expanded at the regional level during the NDP II period.

Article 8 of the Somaliland Constitution stipulates that “all Somaliland citizens shall enjoy equal rights and obligations in the practice of the law and shall not be accorded precedence on the grounds of clan, birth, language, gender, property, status, opinion, etc.” In addition, the Somaliland National Vision 2030 envisages “a caring society meeting the basic social needs of its members”. Furthermore, the overall objective of the National Gender Policy is to facilitate the mainstreaming of the needs and concerns of women and men, girls, and boys in all areas for sustainable and equitable development and poverty eradication. The draft Sexual Offence Bill (SOB), draft Family Law, and National Employment Policy (2020) are the existing legal frameworks that advance women’s rights and gender equality.

To increase women’s political representation, the Somaliland government, civil society organisations, and international partners have provided financial and logistical support to female candidates regarding campaign strategies and election-related undertakings. Twenty-eight female political aspirants effectively competed in the 2021 parliamentary and local elections. Although they secured a significant number of votes, only ten have secured seats in the local councils of small towns. On the other hand, the number of women in executive leadership positions have improved, including within cabinet (5.6 percent), and as director generals (7.7 percent), and department directors (23.1 percent). Furthermore, women’s overall representation in the civil service has increased from 23.4 percent in 2016 to 26.3 percent in 2020.

In collaboration with humanitarian agencies and CSOs, the Ministry of Employment, Social Affairs, and Family (MESAF) promotes women’s economic empowerment and control over resources through self-help groups and access to financial services, including credit facilities. The ministry lobbies with other public institutions, private enterprises, and employers for affirmative action in recruitment processes.

Furthermore, multiple local and international organisations support the Ministry of Education and Science in promoting education and TVET programmes. The Somaliland government pays stipends to public school primary teachers to encourage the enrolment and retention of children from poor households.

17.3 Gender: Challenges and Key Issues

Although there are interventions that are targeted for improving gender equality, the enormous challenges women face continues to widen the gender inequality gap.

Women face complex engendered issues such as patriarchal structures, violence, lack of control over productive resources and limited access to markets.

These issues often reinforce each other and exacerbate poverty and exclusion while widening gender inequality.

Harmful traditional practices, social norms, religious dogmas, and societal expectations deny women’s participation in economic, social, and political spheres in which critical decisions that affect their lives are reached. Women’s absence in such decision making creates procedures, policies, and even legal regimes that increase gender inequality.
Women and women-owned businesses’ access to financial services is challenging due to the negative attitude towards women’s entrepreneurship entrenched in cultural, religious, and social misconceptions, which impose unfavourable terms and conditions on women seeking loans from formal financial service providers.
The roles and responsibilities ascribed to women from childhood hold them back – keeping them in private spheres and excluding them from participating in society’s social, political, and economic spheres.

In addition, cultural and social norms limit women’s mobility to fully participate in the community.

17.4 NDP III Outcomes and Priority

Interventions

Outcome 1: Reduced gender disparities in social, economic, and political outcomes due to strengthened gender-responsive services and systems.

The Ministry of Employment, Social Affairs, and Family and will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Advocating for meaningful representation and full participation of women in local and national decision-making structures. MESAF will work with relevant stakeholders to achieve fair women’s representation in elected and appointed leadership positions in Somaliland public structures.
Protecting women and girls from sexual and gender-based violence through prevention and a GBV response. MESAF will continue hosting and chairing the GBV working group and scale it to the regional and district levels to advance women’s rights and gender equality.
Advancing women’s rights and economic justice, facilitating increased access of women’s businesses to the available financial services and entrepreneurship opportunities.
Advocating for gender equality in accessing social services such as education, healthcare, sanitation, and water. MESAF will lobby with mandated public institutions, CSOs and international agencies to provide gender-responsive social services, particularly for vulnerable and marginalized groups.

17.5 People With Disabilities (PWDs)

The 2020 SLHDS indicated that 5 percent of Somaliland’s population is disabled, equivalent to 210,000 persons. Disability tends to be framed only within a medical and welfare framework and misunderstood as an “individual’s problem”. Therefore, societal responses are often geared to “help them” or “make them normal” through health-related interventions. In such approaches, people with disabilities are identified as ill, different from their non-disabled peers, and only in need of care. Because the emphasis is on the medical or “special” needs of people with disabilities, there is a corresponding neglect of their rights and other needs, which deepens their exclusion and marginalization. PWDs are not homogenous; their experience with disability varies according to personal and socio-economic factors.

Children, women, the elderly, persons with multiple disabilities, and persons with intellectual and mental impairments are more vulnerable. Moreover, PWDs who live in rural settings are more vulnerable than those in urban centres. PWDs are often reduced to being dependents and not equally valued members of their community, defined by an inability to work and being viewed as burden to their families and the state. PWDs face different environmental, institutional, attitudinal, and economic barriers that exclude them from full participation in the social, economic, and political development spheres. Although a presidential decree (2013) obliges all service providers to ensure that buildings are accessible to PWDs, the public and private facilities that offer services like health, education, or information are widely inaccessible. Their access to employment opportunities and participation in the labour market is very limited. Although MESAF initiated sign language training and certification, most sources of information for citizens are largely inaccessible due to limited sign language resources, audiotapes, braille, or pictorial aids. Therefore, it is imperative to improve Somaliland’s collective consciousness and challenge societal barriers so that PWDs can realize their rights and live prosperous and independent lives.

Article 19 of the Somaliland constitution stipulates “the state shall be responsible for the welfare of persons with disabilities.” The Somaliland national vision 2030 elaborates on the need “to build a nation with an effective social protection system that cares for the weak and the vulnerable”.

The overall goal of the National Disability Policy (2019) is to promote an inclusive, barrier-free, and rights-based society for PWDs. The disability bill is still a draft and should be enacted and enforced in the NDP III period.

Although PWDs continue to face significant challenges, various MDAs have made efforts to advance PWDs’ rights. MESAF, in partnership with development partners, has conducted awareness-raising and advocacy interventions that have improved attitudes and behaviours towards PWDs, but structured and targeted national and community endeavours are needed for a sustainable solution. The Ministry of Education and Science increased access to education of Children with Disabilities (CWD) through schools that respond to their specific needs and priorities, such as the Hargeisa School for Deaf and the Somaliland Braille Centre. However, there still needs to be increased access to education and educational attainments for PWDs. blind or visually impaired students. This causes many disabled children to miss school because of a lack

The Somaliland National Disability Federation (SNDF) is a consortium of disabled people’s organisations in Somaliland and coordinates efforts to advance their rights.

The SNDF, in partnership with MESAF, SDF member local NGOs, and development partners, conducted discussions to address the challenges and barriers facing PWDs and empower PWDs to claim their rights.

17.6 PWDs: Challenges and Key Issues PWDs face a variety of challenges:

Although a presidential decree (2013) obliges all service providers to ensure that buildings are accessible to PWDs, the public and private facilities that offer services like health, education, or information are widely inaccessible. For example, most government institutions are housed in two- or three-story buildings with no ramps, making it difficult for PWDs to access them. This excludes PWDs from enjoying their education, health and information rights and continues to confine them in private spheres, negatively impacting their overall well-being.
Generally, unemployment is a critical issue in Somaliland, but it is exceptionally high among PWDs. Although a 2018 presidential decree reserved 5 percent of national employment for PWDs, it is hardly enforced, and the majority of PWDs remain unemployed. The National Disability Policy (2014-2018) was approved in 2014, but an updated version is expected to guarantee further rights for PWDs. The policy puts the rights of the PWDs at the centre, such as through access to mobility devices, health and information services, and inclusive education.
The participation of PWDs in politics is very low in Somaliland. They often are excluded from both appointed and elected government officials. No PWDs are ministers, deputy ministers, directors general or serve in the houses of parliament. These are spaces where decisions are reached for Somaliland’s communities but PWDs lack the ability to have a say on issues that affect their lives.
Some regulatory frameworks discriminate against PWDs in holding specific elected roles. For example,

Article 41 of the Somaliland constitution mentions that an elected official “must be physically and mentally able to fulfil his duties”. There are also reports that politically aspirant PWDs were excluded from the May 2021 parliamentary and local council elections, as they were deemed to be “physically unfit.” This is a severe challenge and will exclude PWDs from decision making, hindering Somaliland’s inclusive development goals.

PWDs have limited access to social services and are the group that benefits the least from social protection and safety net interventions. However, they are one of the most vulnerable groups in society. The needs and priorities of PWDs are not mainstreamed into the design and implementation of such programmes.
There is no Expanded Core Education Curriculum for of qualified teachers, relevant curricula, and other infrastructure that could facilitate inclusive education at schools.
Generally, disabled women, children, the elderly, and people with HIV/AIDS face more social, economic, and political exclusion. Women suffer from engendered inequalities due to cultural, religious, and traditional dogmas. Disability increases the vulnerability of these groups to sexual harassment, exploitation, and poverty. Moreover, the organisations representing PWDs are male-dominated, and the voices of these groups are not included in their decision making, advancing their marginalization.

17.7 NDP III Outcomes and Priority

Interventions

Outcome 2: Barriers that exclude People with Disabilities (PWDs) are challenged to ensure their inclusion and participation in their communities.

The Ministry of Employment, Social Affairs, and Family will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Promoting inclusive and equitable social services for PWDs to fully participate in their communities’ social, economic, and political activities.
Challenging harmful attitudes and discriminatory behaviour PWDs. MESAF will work with development partners to promote and design interventions that address discriminatory behaviours, attitudes, and perceptions against people with disabilities.
Drafting, reviewing, and enacting legal frameworks that advance the rights of PWDs.
Strengthening coordination structures to address challenges PWDs face in fully participating in social, economic, and political activities.

17.8 Displacement Affected

Communities (DACs)

Somaliland is situated in the Horn of Africa, where disasters, conflicts, and violence continue to cause immense suffering. Significant conflicts in neighbouring countries drive instability, which triggers forced displacement and long-term disruption within societies and creates massive humanitarian needs. Climate change, recurrent droughts, and other climatic shocks in Somaliland and the wider region also create internal displacement and refugees.

A broader range of vulnerabilities emerges due to the disruptive effects of disasters, conflicts, and violence, raising additional humanitarian needs. Somaliland is a transit route, departure point, and destination for people moving through the East Africa region. Every year, tens of thousands of refugees and migrants travel to Somaliland for safety and better opportunities. Many of these people (including Somalis) travel through Somaliland on their way to other destinations, including perilous journeys to the Middle East, Europe, and North America.

In Somaliland, the leading causes of displacement are a result of violent conflict, insecurity, and droughts which are linked to climate change. Variation in climatic factors directly influences conflicts that force people to flee from conflict-prone areas. As indicated by the multi-sector Internally Displaced Person (IDP) needs assessment report (December 2021) conducted by the National Displacement and Refugee Agency (NDRA), 183 IDP camps in Somaliland host 92,888 households (557,328 total persons). This includes protracted IDPs for which finding durable solutions has become increasingly difficult. In the last two decades, irregular migration (Tahrib) has been a common phenomenon in Somaliland and the wider region, particularly impacting the youth population. Many Somalilanders become stranded between their departure point and destination. Since 2018, the NDRA assisted the return and reintegration of 5,056 citizens (2,878 male, 2,178 female).

Somaliland is positioned along two primary routes for mixed movements: (a) the northern route towards North Africa through Ethiopia and often Sudan and Libya; and (b) the eastern route to the Arabian Peninsula, via Bosaaso in Puntland or Djibouti to Yemen. Since 2011, Somaliland’s coastal town of Berbera has also served as a port of entry for (primarily) Yemeni and Syrian refugees and Somali and Ethiopian returnees fleeing conflict in Yemen and Syria. As of 2022, Somaliland registered 9,490 refugees and 7,422 asylum seekers. Of these refugees, 64 percent were Ethiopian and 30 percent Yemeni, while the rest were either Syrians or Eritreans.

Although government institutions have managed to handle the influx of refugees, asylum seekers, and IDPs to an extent, the human resource capacities, systems, infrastructure, and financial resources to achieve durable solutions for these populations are either absent or minimal, resulting in violations of their rights.

Article 8 of Somaliland’s constitution obliges that all citizens shall enjoy equal rights and obligations in the practice of the law and shall not be accorded precedence on the grounds of colour, clan, birth, language, gender, property, status, opinion, etc. This article also indicates that foreigners who have legal residence shall enjoy equal rights and obligations before the law, except for political rights reserved for citizens. Article 10 of the constitution also reads that “the Republic of Somaliland recognises and shall act in conformity with the United Nations Charter and with the international law and shall respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

The social pillar of the Somaliland National Vision 2030 envisages “a caring society meeting the basic social needs of its members”. The vision addresses marginalized groups’ economic and social vulnerabilities, including displacement-affected communities. The IDPs Policy (2015) aims to achieve durable solutions and create an enabling environment to uphold the rights and entitlements of IDPs during all phases of displacement. Refugees and asylum seekers’ guidelines and regulations also protect the rights of these populations and are enshrined in the country’s laws and international treaties.

In January 2022, the NDRA launched its five years Strategic Plan (2022-2026). It is the strategy that NDRA will use to guide resources, programmes, policies, and operations.

This strategic plan is based on and aligned with NDP III, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the national policy on IDPs, the displacement guiding principles of Somaliland, and international laws.

A refugee bill (2022) has been drafted by the legislative bodies to become enacted into law, which will set out Somaliland’s approach to refugees entering the country. It is also notable that the parliament recently approved the Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants Act (LN.101/2021).In collaboration with UN Agencies and international NGOs, the Migration Response Centre (MRC) under NDRA provides services to migrants on legal documentation, psychosocial counselling, and awareness raising, among others. The MRC and the Mixed Migration Task Force (MMTF), a working group of government institutions, coordinate national advocacy campaigns on the risks of illegal migration and human trafficking, as well other policy actions addressing this issue.

The Government of Somaliland established the Refugees Status Determination Committee that decides who should be granted refugee and asylum seeker status. In collaboration with stakeholders, the NDRA introduced and implemented a comprehensive verification and biometric registration system. It also issues identification cards for legally registered refugees and asylum seekers. No refugee camps are established in Somaliland, allowing refugees and asylum seekers to have freedom of movement across the country.

In partnership with UNHCR and other development and humanitarian partners, the Government of Somaliland carries out projects ranging from lifesaving and basic social services to awareness-raising, sanitation, and hygiene and social protection, forming durable solutions designed to address the needs of refugees and asylum seekers.

The Protection Cluster brings together national and international actors to make critical decisions impacting displacement-affected communities. IDP camp management and coordination committees and refugee committees closely work with relevant authorities and development partners.

The NDRA also leads high-level intra-governmental coordination meetings in which many government institutions and security offices discuss issues related to immigration.

The Somaliland government recently drafted a mixed migration management strategic plan, which will be in line with the NDP III and support the management and protection of mixed migrants.

17.9 DACs: Challenges and Key Issues

There are a variety of challenges facing Displacement Affected Communities (DACs)

Displaced people move into cities that cannot properly absorb them, forcing DACs to set up structures on private land where they are evicted or constantly threatened with eviction. This undermines efforts to find durable solutions for DACs in Somaliland.
IDP camps are congested and informal settlements where access to basic services like health, water, shelter, and food is absent or extremely limited. This negatively affects the wellbeing of people, particularly women, girls, and PWDs.
In the case of protracted IDPs, displaced people do not return to their places of origin and struggle to integrate into the host communities, making it challenging to achieve durable solutions.
DACs face protection challenges and increased gender-based violence. Women and girls are vulnerable to various risks, including rape, sexual harassment, and other forms of violence, since they do not have permanent shelters.
Increased droughts linked to climate change are accelerating land degradation while limiting the available coping mechanisms of communities, which forces them to move and compete for scarce resources.

17.10 NDP III Outcomes and Priority

Interventions

Outcome 3: Increased resilience of Displacement Affected Communities by ensuring equitable access to public services and sustainable livelihoods.

The National Displacement and Refugee Agency will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Empowering DACs through small business development. In collaboration with humanitarian and development partners, NDRA will provide small grants to small businesses, particularly women-owned businesses, and link them to financial institutions for loans with minimum requirements.
Providing cash transfers and other essential assistance to the most vulnerable households in DACs.
Ensuring access to basic public services, such as healthcare, education (particularly TVET), water, sanitation, hygiene, and shelter.

Outcome 4: Longer lasting and more sustainable solutions have been found for Displacement Affected Communities.

The National Displacement and Refugee Agency will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Facilitating the voluntary repatriation of refugees and irregular migrants. NDRA will work with IOM, UNHCR, Somaliland immigration authorities, neighbouring countries, and other mandated institutions to develop and implement repatriation programmes for refugees and irregular migrants voluntarily returning to their countries of origin or relocating to third countries.
Supporting interventions for IDPs who voluntarily choose to return to their areas of origin to restart their livelihoods. NDRA will work with humanitarian and development partners to assist in the voluntary return of people in IDP camps to their traditional or alternative livelihood basis.
Assisting IDPs, refugees and returnees who choose to integrate into the host communities to establish and enjoy their livelihoods.
Facilitating sustainable resettlement for IDPs who choose to relocate to another region of the country. NDRA will develop resettlement programmes and mobilise resources for IDPs willing to settle in locations in the country other than their place of origin.

The agency will ensure the smooth transition of the IDPs into host communities.

Strengthening the monitoring and evaluation, counselling, advisory services, and orientation and awareness campaigns for vulnerable groups within DACs.
Advocating for the rights of DACs and devising appropriate awareness-raising campaigns to mitigate violence against refugees, asylum seekers and IDPs.
Strengthening the documentation and registration system for DACs. NDRA will develop an online database to capture information on displacement-affected people that informs the design of interventions that facilitates durable solutions.
Improving the case management system for DACs to facilitate access and utilisation of available services.
Developing a one-stop-shop toolkit for IDPs, refugees and asylum seekers that consolidates the rights they are entitled to, including legal and social services.
Strengthening the coordination mechanisms to protect DACs. NDRA will strengthen and scale up the coordination mechanisms, including with relevant stakeholders.
Strengthening the capacity of the NDRA to provide effective and efficient services to DACs.
Reviewing, formulating, and enforcing the policies and legal frameworks that protect the rights of DACs and strengthen law enforcement capacities and mechanisms.
Ensuring the implementation of mixed migration management strategic plan priorities.

17.11 Children’s Rights

Children are among the most vulnerable people in the community due to their specific socio-economic circumstances. The most vulnerable include children who live on the street, refugee and migrant children, victims of crime, those who are displaced or orphaned and children whose parents cannot care for them.

Approximately 30 percent of Somaliland children are fostered, with four percent having lost both parents and 12 percent having lost one parent. 36 percent of fostered and/ or orphaned children live in urban areas compared to 21 percent who are nomadic (SLHDS 2020). Children often face sexual, physical, and psychological violence at home, in school, and in other social settings. Although prohibited in Article 24 of Somaliland’s constitution, and via the Juvenile Justice Act and the Teachers’ Code of Conduct, corporal punishment is still widely used in schools and communities in Somaliland. The situation is more rampant in Quranic schools.

Although Somaliland labour law (31/2004) prohibits child labour, more than 13 percent of children (ages 5-14) engage in child labour (Employment and Labour Market Analysis 2019). The rate is higher for rural children compared to those that live in urban areas. Higher poverty levels could be a major driving factor of child labour, as the rate is lower for children of educated mothers and wealthier households.

Early marriage and, to a certain extent, child marriage are common in Somaliland. Survey data shows that 12 percent of women married at the age of 15, 39 percent at the age of 20, and 52 percent at the age of 22. Among men, five percent married at the age of 18, while 11 and 23 percent are married at the age of 20 and 22, respectively, (SLHDS 2020). Early and child marriage impedes prospects for higher education and decent living standards. Moreover, child marriage also poses health risks during childbirth.

Survey data shows a Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) prevalence rate of 98 percent in Somaliland, which is among the highest in the world. Traditional practitioners and birth attendants often perform FGM without anaesthesia and under unsanitary conditions. However, there has been a “medicalisation” of the practice in urban areas and among affluent people who enlist the services of healthcare professionals. Increased awareness levels have resulted in the decline of some forms of FGM, but entirely abandoning the practice is still a long-term challenge.

National laws, policies, and children’s rights conventions promote and protect children’s rights by establishing a protective environment for children in Somaliland, where girls and boys should be free from violence, neglect, and exploitation. Article 19 of the constitution guarantees that the state shall be responsible for the health, care, development, and education of the mother and the child, as well as those who are disabled or experiencing mental health issues. National legal frameworks that advance children’s rights include the Child Rights Act (No.102/2021), the Child Protection Policy (2015) the Juvenile Justice Act (36/2007), the Teachers’ Code of Conduct (2012), the Child Alternative Care Policy, the Somaliland Labour Law (31/2020) and the National Gender Policy (2019).

In partnership with development partners during NDP II, MESAF developed and implemented child-sensitive social safety nets for children in orphanages and those who live on the street. MESAF also sensitizes communities about child rights, manages orphanages, rehabilitates children who live on the street and transfers children whose parents could not take care of them to foster houses. Due to limited institutional and financial capacity, a significant number of children still lack fundamental rights, such as education, food, shelter, and clean water.

17.12 Children’s Rights: Challenges and Key Issues

Children in Somaliland face numerous challenges.

Schools continue to use corporal punishment as a form of discipline against children. Corporal punishment is commonly administered for many reasons, including absence from school, insubordination, fighting with classmates, bullying, not doing homework exercises and not obeying school rules. Corporal punishment is practiced in urban and rural areas, although the trend is decreasing specifically in urban areas. Corporal punishment is rooted in long-standing traditional norms that indicate it is acceptable and desirable. Although there have been regulations against corporal punishment, teachers generally do not know alternate, non-violent forms of discipline.
Children need to access adequate recreational spaces and playgrounds, specifically in urban areas.

Physical education is also a low priority in schools, due to a lack of recognition of its importance in child development and perhaps due to its absence in teacher training. This is manifested in the lack of equipment and recreational spaces in schools and residential areas.

There is a significant number of children dropping out of school. Key issues that lead to dropouts include financial difficulty with paying for school fees and services, girls needing to support their mothers with household chores, and limited access to schools in rural areas. In recent years, dropout rates have worsened in rural areas due to recurrent droughts where pastoral and agro-pastoralist communities move in search of water and pasture for their animals.
Children with disabilities suffer most when social services are not responsive to their needs and priorities. Children’s access to basic healthcare and public services is limited in rural areas. Children suffer from malnutrition in some areas due to their parents’ limited access to social services and lack of awareness of available support.
FGM is prevalent in Somaliland. Girls who undergo FGM are at risk of infection, birth complications, bleeding and even death. Girls are also vulnerable to mental health disorders, dropping out of school and reduced growth and development, limiting their future livelihoods.
There is an increasing incidence of rape against children in both urban and rural areas. Rape is a significant crime under customary, sharia, and formal laws. Although rape cases resolved through the legal justice system have been increasing, most incidences are still solved through customary law in which traditional leaders settle the issue by denying full justice to the victim.

17.13 NDP III Outcomes and Priority

Interventions

Outcome 5: Relevant institutional, policy and legal frameworks are strengthened to protect children’s rights.

The Ministry of Employment, Social Affairs, and Family will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Reviewing, drafting, and enacting national legal and policy frameworks that protect and promote children’s rights. MESAF will coordinate and ensure the enactment of the draft children’s rights policy and formulate new ones where necessary.
Supporting and facilitating the establishment of functioning child protection structures that protect the rights of vulnerable children. MESAF will review and capacitate the existing children’s rights protection structures and facilitate the initiation of new ones across the country.
Establishing a comprehensive and user-friendly digital data management system that informs plans, decisions, policies, and interventions that advance children’s rights.
Strengthening the capacity of community-based structures protecting children’s rights, particularly in remote and rural areas where formal children’s rights mechanisms do not exist.
Undertaking targeted assessments and research on the status of children’s rights to make informed policy decisions and design relevant programme interventions.
Enhancing youth knowledge of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHRs) and the impacts of early child marriage in urban and rural areas. MESAF will collaborate with human rights activists and community structures to address child and early marriage in Somaliland.

17.14 Youth

Somaliland youth share traits with other developing states where underdevelopment is an enormous challenge. The Somaliland National Youth Policy defines the term “youth’ as persons aged 15 to 35 years, which also complies with the African Youth Charter. According to the Population Estimation Survey (PESS), 72 percent of Somaliland’s population is below the age of 35 years. Furthermore, Somaliland is experiencing a “youth bulge” – a situation that, if not address, could undermine the country’s peace and stability. Many young individuals are neither in school nor employed, and even those seeking further education cannot be certain that they will have future employment opportunities.

The youth unemployment rate for Borama is 69 percent for urban areas and 62 percent for rural areas. Hargeisa’s youth unemployment rate is 34 percent for urban areas and 41 percent for rural areas. Burao has a youth unemployment rate of 46 in urban areas and 53 percent in rural areas. (Labour Force Survey 2012).

The mismatch between local university courses and labour market demands is a critical driver of youth unemployment. Another obstacle is the prejudicial attitude towards technical education, where many people do not consider technical courses as prestigious as university courses, reducing the demand for TVET.

Rampant unemployment leads many Somaliland youth to risk their lives via migration (Tahrib), where they can find themselves at risk of torture and kidnapping for ransom by cartels. In addition, a large percentage of unskilled youth may resort to criminal activities and are vulnerable to drug addiction. A lack of employment also leads youth to early marriage, with the problem being more chronic in rural settings.

Addressing the challenges facing youth is a cross-cutting issue in which many public institutions have a stake, such as MESAF, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Education and Science, and Somaliland Youth Development Fund. Youth issues are covered in the following policies and legislations: the National Youth Policy (2018-2021), the National Employment Policy (2020), the National Internship Policy (2019), the Somaliland Labour Act (31/2020), and the Civil Service Act (97/2022).

The Somaliland National Vision 2030 prioritises youth development under its Social Development pillar, where youth unemployment and emigration are particularly emphasised. The overall goal of the National Youth Policy is to attain an empowered youth that contribute positively to national development. The priority areas outlined in this policy are education and skills development; employment creation and economic development; health and well-being; recreation and sports; and information, communication, and technology, among other areas.

The government of Somaliland established the Somaliland Youth Development Fund (SLYD) in 2020 to address unemployment through improved access to finance, entrepreneurship promotion, and skills training. The Fund is currently developing strategic and operational documents to address the critical challenges facing youth through investments in entrepreneurship, which is a critical driver for accelerated socio-economic development. In collaboration with private financial institutions and development partners, SLYDF will enable young entrepreneurs to access finance, legal advice, market information, business skills development, and business-to-business linkages. The SLYDF will facilitate business co-creation bootcamps and public business pitch platforms in all the regions of the country.

The National Internship Policy sets out guidelines for supporting unemployed youth graduates with opportunities to gain practical work experience and bridge skills between academics and the demands of the labour market, ultimately contributing to increased youth employment and Somaliland’s development.

The government of Somaliland introduced a national service programme that recruits university graduates on a merit basis. This programme creates jobs for many young graduates and reduces youth unemployment. Through three-to-six months of intensive training, youth are placed in positions in the armed forces or in various MDAs. However, this programme will require an innovative strategy to improve its sustainability as the public sector will require increased capacity to absorb more graduates.

To create an enabling environment for youth, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, with the help of development partners, established youth centres to promote integration and enable them to build their job skills. Youth centres also provide peer-to-peer learning, networking opportunities and encourage the growth of positive self-esteem. The MESAF has established an Employment and Training Directorate that supports job creation for youth and vulnerable groups, including women and minorities, to tackle unemployment.

The Directorate has a job centre which provides services such as training for interviews and basic employment expectations, support for developing resumes and CVs, and trainings on entrepreneurship. In addition, with the financial support of international agencies, several local organisations offer TVET courses geared towards preparing youth for the labour market.

Led by the Ministry of Communication and in partnership with Taiwan’s International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF), the e-Government Capability Enhancement Project and Technology manages an innovation zone – the first of its kind in Somaliland – which serves as an ICT training hub for public servants and citizens.

17.15 Youth: Challenges and Key Issues

Somaliland youth face several critical challenges:

Unemployment remains the most significant challenge confronting youth. The high level of unemployment often leads to harmful coping mechanisms, such as drug abuse, illegal migration, and even violent conflict.
There is a mismatch between the knowledge and skills youth attain at universities and the job market’s demands, which increases youth unemployment.

Evidence suggests skills acquired through TVET programmes are in high demand in the labour market, as opposed to social and business management degrees.

Although youth make up the majority of Somaliland’s population, they have limited presence in critical decision-making structures in the government, even though these decisions directly affect their future.
Due to the high level of unemployment, an increasing number of youths illegally migrate through Ethiopia, Sudan, and Libya on their way to Europe. The journey can be perilous, and smugglers frequently expose migrants to life-threatening risks and violence. An increasing number of migrants have also lost their lives crossing the ocean, while others have died due to a lack of food and water.

17.16 NDP III Outcomes and Priority

Interventions

Outcome 6: Increased resilience and socio-economic participation of Somaliland’s youth.

The Somaliland Youth Development Fund, in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Increasing youth self-employment through business management and entrepreneurial trainings and the provision of business seed funding.
Improving youth employability and access to job markets through coordination and partnerships among key stakeholders to match skills with the demands of the job market.
Increasing resource mobilisation by establishing a public-private fund or investment venture to fund youth business initiatives and reduce unemployment.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS) will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Producing a framework that facilitates and nurtures youth innovation and talents, such as through innovation labs and platforms where young people can showcase their entrepreneurial talents.
Improving existing recreational facilities and coordinating with local governments to allocate land for new facilities across the country. The MoYS will allocate adequate resources for maintaining the existing recreational centres and lobby local councils to provide land for new spaces.
Expanding and operationalising youth centres to the six regional capitals of the country. The MoYS will work with development partners to scale up existing youth centres and establish new ones where necessary.
Developing and implementing advocacy strategies on issues that affect youth participation in democratic governance at all levels. MoYS will collaborate with SYDF, MESAF, and CSOs in promoting youth participation in Somaliland’s democratic processes.
Developing youth migration and response programmes that address the underlying causes of migration, including unemployment.
Creating community awareness campaigns against youth violence. MoYS will develop awareness-raising interventions to prevent youth from engaging in violence and drug-related crimes.
Conducting periodic coordination meetings with youth development stakeholders to share information on challenges and opportunities impacting youth development programmes and projects.
Enhancing the capacity of the MoYS to deliver youth development programmes effectively. The MoYS will develop relevant policy frameworks, enhance the technical and managerial capacities of the staff and, where necessary, recruit new talent.

17.17 HIV/AIDs

Somaliland has one of the lowest HIV/AIDs infection rates in Africa, which is typical of a highly religious and culturally close-knit society. The prevalence rate of HIV has been declining persistently, as revealed by comparative antenatal care surveys, dropping from 1.4 percent in 2004 to only .15 percent in 2018.

HIV/AIDS prevention programmes have continued to operate with different levels of coverage. The Somaliland National AIDS Commission (SOLNAC) has a strategy for integrating HIV/AIDs education into the national school curriculum and coordinates with the Ministry of Education and Science to improve knowledge and awareness and reduce social stigmas against people living with HIV/AIDS.

To achieve WHO targets, the HIV testing rate in Somaliland has increased significantly. Key services include preventing mother-to-child transmission (MTCT), HIV testing and counselling, blood safety, tissue transfusion safety, pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP/PEP), and HIV prevention commodities.

The number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) on antiretroviral therapy (ART) increased from 2,671 in 2016 to 3,371 in 2019 in Somaliland, owing to expanded testing facilities. To improve treatment commencement and adherence rates, “Test and Treat” protocols were introduced. Linkages and referral systems between health facilities, community outreach, and PLHIV networks have also been improved.

The number of viral load machines installed and used for testing has increased, leading to viral load coverage reaching 37.5 percent in 2019. As a result, more PLHIV now live longer due to increased ART coverage, with a retention rate of 74.8 percent.

The draft National HIV/AIDs Policy (2023) envisions Somaliland where HIV and AIDS are eliminated. This policy aims to create an enabling environment for the development and execution of effective and efficient HIV and AIDS interventions and for achieving epidemic control. The country’s National Vision 2030 stipulates a multi-sectoral response to reduce the number of new infections and provide care and support to those in need. The national HIV/ AIDs strategic plan also intends to strengthen the health delivery system and enhance the network of service delivery points at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. This will improve HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support services to all population groups, especially high-risk and vulnerable groups.

HIV/AIDS response is a cross-cutting and multi-sectoral, which should be mainstreamed into the broader development strategies. SOLNAC organises a quarterly coordination platform for multi-sector focal points, PLHIV network representatives, national and international NGOs, and bilateral and multilateral partners to review progress, monitor responses, and address challenges. In addition, SOLNAC produces national HIV quarterly data (2018-2021) on ART, HIV testing, annual new HIV cases and HIV/AIDS mortality.

Despite coordinated efforts, a large percentage of people in Somaliland have limited awareness of HIV/AIDS. Although improving, there is still limited capacity for coordination and monitoring within HIV services and programmes and between other health and broader development programmes. The stigma against people living with the disease and retention in ART remains a challenge, primarily due to a lack of social support (food, transport) and stigma.

The unemployment rate among PLHIV is generally high, with about 72.4 percent not engaged in any form of employment, which exacerbates the poor living conditions of the affected people. Increased poverty and overcrowded IDP camps increase opportunities for HIV transmission, as well as other diseases.

17.18 HIV/AIDS: Challenges and Key

Issues

There are several challenges facing Somaliland for HIV/AIDS response:

There are limited human resources to operate prevention, treatment, and care services.
The monitoring and evaluation of HIV/AIDS responses has been a challenge, including low quality reporting.
The coordination and management of response programmes have yet to be effective, resulting in fragmented interventions with limited impact.
Stigma and discrimination are prevalent and impede access to and utilisation of HIV/AIDS services, particularly for those residing in rural areas and key affected populations.

17.19 NDP III Outcomes and Priority

Interventions

Outcome 7: Reduced HIV/Aids incidence, prevalence, and mortality by increasing access to information and testing and treatment centres.

The Somaliland National AIDS Commission will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Expanding HIV/AIDs counselling services, testing centres, and access to ART in all regions.
Raising community awareness of HIV/AIDS transmission methods and preventive mechanisms. SOLNAC will scale up awareness programmes for HIV/AIDS risk groups and communities in all regions.
Expanding the number of HIV/AIDs treatment centres to reduce the impact of TB and other related complications. SOLNAC will increase the number of HIV/AIDS therapeutic centres, including treating disease patients and providing access to life-sustaining drugs and other essential services.
Improving the nutritional and economic status of PLHIV. SOLNAC, in collaboration with development partners, will provide food and invest in income-generation activities for PLHIV.
Developing, reviewing, and enacting the HIV/AIDs policy and regulatory frameworks that facilitate effective responses.
Improving research, M&E, and data management systems to inform policy decisions.
Strengthening the capacities of SOLNAC and its staff to better design, monitor and implement response interventions.

Outcome 8: Reduced HIV/AIDs-related stigma and discrimination.

The Somaliland National AIDS Commission will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Increasing awareness and sensitization in communities and medical facilities to reduce HIV/AIDs related stigmas and discrimination.
Integration of HIV/AIDS awareness in all levels of the educational system. SOLNAC will work with MESAF, the Ministry of Education and Sciences (MoES) and private education service providers to ensure an education system that is responsive to the needs and priorities of PLHIV.

17.20 Rural Development

Nomadic pastoralism is the traditional – and most viable – land management and production system in Somaliland. It has adapted to the erratic climate conditions of the Horn of Africa’s drylands by providing and conserving an extensive affect the ability of an average household to rely solely on array of ecosystem services through dynamic, flexible, and complex structures. Somaliland is categorized as having arid and semi-arid ecosystems, suitable primarily for sheep, goat, and camel rearing in common rangelands. Livestock remains one of the country’s major economic activities, bringing much-needed foreign currency. Somaliland exports live animals instead of chilled meat. This practice is vulnerable to external shocks, such as frequent importation bans from the Gulf countries, mainly Saudi Arabia.

Somaliland’s rural communities have limited access to quality social services such as education, health, sanitation, and water. For instance, nomadic pastoralism is a critical challenge in the education sector due to constant mobility and the scarcity of trained teachers willing to serve in rural villages (ESSP 2022-2026). According to the 2020 Somaliland Health and Demographic Survey (SLHDS), rural women face acute problems in accessing healthcare. The SLHDS shows that mothers from urban areas have better access to qualified birth attendants than women living in rural and nomadic areas.

Due to the climate, water is very scarce in the country. Nearly 60 percent of the rural population does not have access to safe drinking water in Somaliland and daily water consumption per person is well below international standards for healthy living. The water situation is further worsened by poor sustainable management and improper operation and maintenance of water sources in rural areas (Water Sector Strategic Plan 2022–2024).

It is estimated that the country has 350,000 hectares of arable land, situated mainly in the northwestern plateau where farmers grow rain-fed sorghum, maize, sesame, watermelon, and beans. Cash crops are grown in small plots along dry rivers. Crop production is constrained by multiple socioeconomic, biophysical, and technical factors. Access to quality water in sufficient quantities is the most significant determining factor of crop production. Other issues include poor land management, inappropriate technology, inadequate support services (extension, early warning systems, and credit), incoherent policies, poor infrastructure, and limited value addition. In both pastoral and agropastoral ecozones, the effect of land degradation and extreme weather conditions cause food insecurity and rural-urban drift. Cyclic droughts decimate a large percentage of livestock, cause crop failures, and displace rural households to IDP camps around the main towns. Gender is generally considered a critical determinant of poverty and access to services. According to the 2015 Poverty Profile Report, female-headed households are more likely to be poor compared to male-headed households.

Consequently, scarce natural resources cause inter-clan and inter-familial disputes. To cope with the situation, rural households rely on humanitarian responses, grab portions of communal lands to conserve fodder, grow crops for food and fodder, and turn to tree cutting for charcoal production.

The Somaliland population relies heavily on imported food and other essential commodities. Regular price increases market purchases. Moreover, many households’ meagre resources are wasted on Khat consumption, leaving little for essential household needs such as education and health.

The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) was established by presidential decree in November 2021 with the mandate of coordinating rural development efforts to ensure that Somaliland’s rural communities enjoy a quality of life amidst recurrent droughts and other change-induced shocks. Its core duties and responsibilities include preparing and implementing a national rural development policy, creating plans to improve and maintain the livelihoods of rural communities, and coordinating rural development projects within government and non-governmental organisations to prevent the duplication of efforts.

The new ministry has a five-year strategic plan (2023-2025), which outlines the implementation arrangements of its core responsibilities. In addition, the MoRD will apply national water, agriculture, employment, environmental, health, and education policies and strategic plans, promoting integrated approaches whenever this is likely to result in improved efficiency, efficacy, and impact. Advances in information technology, including extensive mobile networks with internet access, community grazing reserves, commercial camel dairy production, increasing greenhouse production, and fodder, soil, and water conservation – as well as unsatiated demands for livestock and crop products – are opportunities for the new ministry to realize its mandate.

17.21 Rural Development:

Challenges and Key Issues

In the absence of a specific thematic focus, the MoRD collaborates with other public institutions and humanitarian partners in addressing rural priorities and challenges, including:

Diversifying sources of income for the majority of rural households, which overly depend on a single economic source, i.e., nomadic pastoralism or subsistent farming.
Promoting innovative “climate-smart” approaches in rural development in the face of droughts and other climatic variables likely becoming more frequent and prolonged.
Community-led sustainable natural resource management to:
Avoid unregulated land grabbing and conflicts over territorial control and land demarcations.
Combat the degradation of rangelands and farmlands, such as when indigenous plants are replaced with unpalatable exotic species such as Prosopis Juli flora and parthenium weeds.
Preventing and mitigating desert locust infestation, and epidemic human and livestock diseases in the absence of adequate social services.

17.22 NDP III Outcomes and Priority

Interventions

Outcome 9: Sustainable livelihoods of rural communities enhanced through integrated interventions to achieve food security.

The Ministry of Rural Development will achieve this outcome through the following priority interventions:

Undertaking research on pull factors to urban centres and assess rural non-farm (RNF) business opportunities. MoRD will carry out rural community needs assessments for advocacy with relevant stakeholders, as well as investigating motives for pastoral and agro-pastoralist communities to move from rural to urban centres for better opportunities.
Enhancing adaptation capacities of pastoral communities through livestock destocking and restocking programmes. MoRD will work with public institutions and development partners to promote programmes that, on the one hand, support culling weak animals that may not survive in droughts and, on the other hand, restocking when the situation is favourable.
Building agribusiness skills through training the youth to enhance the income generating capacity of rural households. In collaboration with SYDF, MoYS, and MESAF, the MoRD will promote youth entrepreneurship skills in agribusiness value chains in agropastoral districts.
Promoting women’s entrepreneurship and access and control over resources in rural areas, through self-help groups and cooperatives. The MoRD will establish and strengthen the capacities of self-help groups to champion women’s entrepreneurship.
Designing and implementing climate adaptation and resilience interventions to strengthen rural communities’ capacity and ability to anticipate, cope with, and recover from disasters and shocks. This includes increasing the awareness of rural communities about the risks of climate change and adaptation strategies through media programmes.
Investing in social protection initiatives for vulnerable groups, particularly women and girls, the elderly, PWDs and children in rural areas, in collaboration with MESAF.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Livestock and Fishery Development (MoLFD), conducting a study on sustainable systems of livestock production in the face of increasing climate variables that threaten the traditional pastoralist and agro-pastoralist livelihoods.
Establishing coordination platforms for public and non-public institutions on addressing the root causes of rural development issues.
Developing and enforcing policy and legal instruments that strengthen the rural development, recovery, and resilience building framework.
Carrying out an institutional capacity assessment. MoRD will address the institutional capacity gaps based on the assessment outcome. This includes assessing the need to increase the presence of MoRD in all regions through the establishment of regional offices.

Chapter 18 RESOURCE MOBILISATION STRATEGY

18.1 Introduction

This exercise analyses the myriad of financing available to the country from different sources. It includes assessments on the public sector resources of tax and non-tax revenues, financial sector support to the private sector, private sector flows, and Official Development Assistance (ODA) available to support the development of Somaliland. The key findings and recommendations are relevant to the implementation of the National Development Plan III in terms of expected financing sources and their magnitude, as well as reforms that are crucial to set the country on a high and sustainable growth path.

18.2 Overview of Somaliland’s

Finance Sector

The financial system in Somaliland consists of four shariah compliant banks, 16 remittance companies, three microfinance institutions (MFIs), five insurance companies and three mobile money service providers. The banks operate on Islamic banking rules, mainly accepting deposits and giving loans to the public. MFIs also provide Sharia-compliant financial services via loans to low-income segments of society. Mobile money operators allow businesses and households to conduct transactions (mainly digital). Additionally, through international money transfer agents, they offer remittance services.

Somaliland’s banking sector continues to grow, with assets (mainly in US dollars) increasing by 64 percent between 2017 and December 2020, standing at US$290.6 million in total. Equally, bank deposits increased substantially from US$120.4 million in 2017 to US$291.1 million in 2020. Somaliland’s banks remain fully capitalized with a capital adequacy ratio at 12.9 percent as of December 2020. This is above the Basel Committee recommended prudential requirement of 10 percent. Furthermore, the sector remains highly liquid to support economic activities, with the ratio of liquid assets to total assets being above 80 percent since 2017 and reaching a high of 90 percent in December 2020. This is above the prudential requirement of a minimum of 30 percent.

The banks support to the economy has been steadily growing over time. Gross loans as of December 2020 stood at US$184.3 million, up from US$49.7 million at the end 2017, marking a growth of 271 percent. Private sector credit growth, a universal indicator of business growth, grew 124 percent in 2020. The support to this sector could be further strengthened.

In Somaliland, non-bank financing is provided by microfinance institutions and mobile money financial services. Both are expanding in volume and value, contributing to the rapid expansion of the digital financial space. MFI’s assets, capital, and income continue to grow, reflecting their vibrance. Total capital grew by 21 percent to US$ 6.8 million in December 2019, up from US$5.7 million the previous year. MFIs registered growth in total assets rose from US$7.4 million in 2018 to US$9.4 million in 2019. Similarly, gross loans increased from US$6.0 million in 2018 to US$7.5 million in 2019.

The Somaliland economy continues to be highly dollarised, which affects the ability of the Central Bank to fulfil its “lender of last resort” mandate. There is no inter-bank lending (which can help provide additional liquidity), no national payment system to allow for a clearance house, and limited international trade finance. According to the Somaliland Bankers Association, the percentage of unbanked people is estimated at around 90 percent.

18.3 Domestic Public Revenue

Public finance reforms in both tax policy and administration over the years have yielded positive results, albeit marginal. Domestic revenue increased from 6.3 percent of GDP in 2016 to 7.8 percent in 2020, below the tax-revenue target (a subset) of 13 percent in NDP II. This makes Somaliland amongst the lowest performers in a comparable group of selected East Africa and Horn of Africa countries, as depicted in Figure 16.

International trade (customs) revenue is the major driving force for domestic revenue mobilisation in Somaliland, comprising almost half of the government’s revenue in 2020. While this figure shows the positive impacts of the development of the Berbera port, it also poses a risk due to the small revenue base. This figure is likely to increase when the Berbera Corridor is fully completed. Conversely, revenues from income taxes remains extremely low, accounting for only five percent of total revenues. Taxes on goods and services represent 18 percent of total revenues. As this tax affects almost all economic transactions in the country, it is clear there needs to be improvements to efficiency. Overall, domestic revenue mobilisation faces the primary constraints of a narrow tax base and lack of automation to improve compliance. The varying capacities of different ministries to collect revenue continues to hinder revenue collection and increases the non-tax revenue base, especially on government properties.

18.4 Remittances

A significant portion of the population depends on remittances, ranging from personal consumption to small business support. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates that almost one million Somalilanders live abroad, most of whom are working and sending remittances back home. It further estimates that over 300 micro, small, and medium enterprises in Hargeisa alone are financed by the diaspora.

Data from the Central Bank of Somaliland shows that in 2020 Somalilanders received US$1.3 billion (45 percent of GDP) in remittances. This constitutes a significant source of development finance for the country, and hence the potential of remittances should be of paramount importance.

18.5 Official Development

Assistance

Somaliland, based on World Bank definitions, is categorized as a low-income country. In most cases, these countries have social service (health and education) deficiencies and infrastructure needs. The international community of development partners raised funding, on behalf of the country, to complement the government’s efforts. These funds flow from bilateral partners and multilateral agencies, as well as international non-governmental agencies (INGOs). A breakdown of disbursements by partner category is shown in Table 13.

UN Agency Interventions

The total amount disbursed by UN agencies is estimated at US$140,052,496 for the year 2018. The bulk of which went to the health sector, with WFP disbursing almost half of these funds. Interventions to support livelihood activities in the production sector were the next highest recipient of the flows, followed by WASH and education. The FAO and UNICEF are also actively involved in the production, education, and WASH sectors.

International NGOs

The economic sector was the largest recipient of INGO funds in 2018, as opposed to the health sector in the previous year. This trend seems to be in line with the priority intervention areas of UN agencies. Figure 18 shows the distribution of INGO funds per sector.

18.6 Climate Finance

There are a variety of different channels for climate finance. These range from bilateral and multilateral channels to funds such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). This also includes other private and public investment funds and specific loans by multilateral development banks and international financial Institutions (IFIs). The role of the private sector in climate finance is expected to grow in the coming years, including from sources such as philanthropies and regional funds.

There are broad objectives for each funding source, but they largely fall within the climate change objectives of adaptation, mitigation, capacity building, and reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD).

Presently, Somaliland is only benefiting from the GEF, with UNDP as the implementing partner, on the programme “Support for Integrated Water Resources Management to Ensure Water Access and Disaster Reduction for Pastoralists”.

Given Somaliland’s vulnerability to climate-related risk such as droughts, there is potentially abundant funding which the country can access. Below, we present data on climate finance in sub-Saharan Africa through multilateral agencies, with a view to highlighting untapped sources.

Figure 19 shows the magnitude of projects approved for sub-Saharan African countries between 2018 and 2020.

The GCF, the Least Developed Countries Fund, and the Adaptation Fund are the ones with the largest support to the region. The projects, however, are mostly implemented through UN agencies, with very few projects directly executed by the government.

18.7 Future Trends in Development

Financing for NDP III

Based on the performance of the economy and its relationship with financing sources, this section projects the flow of finance across the economy to support the development of the economy for the next five years under “a business-as-usual” scenario. A summary of the forecasting technique used for all the variables is provided. However, forecasting is largely constrained by a lack of data. The forecasts in Table 16 show moderate improvements in total financing available under existing scenarios. Worryingly, the domestic revenues as a percentage GDP will still be under 10 percent by 2027. With limited domestic financing, the government will continue to be under-resourced to provide the basic social services. Therefore, ODA is projected to marginally increase during this period as the country requires a steady flow of funds from partners. In total, it is anticipated that development finance will reach US$2.6 billion by 2027.

18.8 NDP III Costing

Table 17 shows the estimated cost of all interventions for NDP III. The total costs of priority interventions linked to NDP III outcomes were estimated by sector experts. The cost estimates by all MDAs under a sector were then combined to constitute the total cost estimate of the sector.

The estimated total cost for NDP III is US$ 2,576,140,274. Of these, infrastructure constitutes the highest share (36.78 percent of the total cost), followed by health (14.87 percent) and education (12.95 percent). The interventions, in value, are almost equally split between recurrent expenditures and development expenditures, as shown in the Table 18 (the latter is slightly higher at 54.48 percent). As depicted in Table 18, the plan frontloads most of the development expenditures between 2024-2026.

18.9 Financing Gap Analysis

As mentioned previously, domestic revenues are anticipated to grow, but potentially may still be below 10 percent of total government revenues. ODA is expected to marginally increase, based on forecasts from previous trends.

Nonetheless, the financing gap analysis reveals interesting trends.

Due to a lack of sufficient data, committed resources from development partners could not be quantified and the financing gap analysis is presented in two scenarios:

Scenario one: With donor inflows marginally increasing from previous years, this means only two of the five years of the NDP III will have a financing gap.

However, this requires a high level of coordination and alignment between development partners and the government.

Scenario two: Assuming normal domestic resource flows and poor coordination and non-alignment from partners, there will be a financing deficit in all five years of NDP III, totalling US$1.04 billion.

18.10 Strategies for Closing the

Funding Gap

Banking Sector Support to Investment

The banking sector shows an average of more than an 80 percent liquidity ratio against the standard of at least 30 percent, as required by the Basel Committee prudential requirements. In contrast, access to finance continues to be a challenge for the private sector, more so for women. The government should incentivise bank lending to support private sector growth and more access for women.

Often, the banking sector serves as a source of financing to both the private sector and the government through money markets. With a high level of liquidity, there is a need for the necessary reforms to establish such a market in the economy. Asset quality supervision should be improved, especially around non-performing loans, ranging from their estimation to provision. There is a need to strengthen the Central Bank to address this risk.

There is currently no securities market in Somaliland. To a large extent, this is attributable to the lack of conventional commercial banking activity. The government, firms, and households do not have access to trading in financial assets. The ability of governments to raise money from the domestic economy is fundamental to addressing the liquidity constraints for financing much-needed investments. This is of the utmost importance, in view of the limited access to financing from multilateral financial institutions.

Introducing Islamic money markets is an opportunity to tap into the vast network of possible diaspora financing for the governments’ development agenda by investing in domestic financial assets.

Domestic Resource Mobilisation

The Addis Ababa Accord on financing for development affirms the commitment of African governments to improve domestic resource mobilisation as a core component of development finance. It is believed that domestic public resources are a more stable and sustainable source of income. To this end, domestic revenue as a proportion of GDP continues to lag in Somaliland compared to the sub-region, where it is recommended a rate of tax revenue to GDP be at least 14 percent.

To address this issue and expand domestic resources, the following reforms will be undertaken as part of the PFM Strategy supported by the recently approved World Bank Project on Enhancing Public Resource Management.

Expanding the narrow tax base to reduce vulnerabilities to the economy from external factors.
Prioritising automation for customs and inland revenue mobilisation, as iterated in the PFM Strategy, with the long-term goal of establishing the Somaliland Revenue Authority to increase efficiency and compliance.
Modifying the capital gains tax payment regime. The current system negatively impacts compliance.
Introducing frequent telecommunications tax audits to improve compliance. This should be addressed either through the upcoming public finance reform or led by an outside firm.
Applying the recommended WHO tax regime on tobacco and other stimulants. This would combine a specific excise tax and an ad valorem tax.

Foreign Direct Investment

As Somaliland still doesn’t have a system of national accounts, there is no data on the flow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the country. There should be deliberate efforts to measure such a variable as it indicates both the flow of much needed foreign currency and investor confidence in the economy. The Berbera Port Concession is a prime example of the transformative impact FDI could play in an economy by creating more jobs and revenue for the government. Increased FDI flows could potentially support stand-alone investments and or public-private partnerships. There is a need to establish an Investment Promotion Agency for both tourism promotion and export and investment promotions, which is common for countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Remittances

There will be clear policies to encourage the diaspora’s continued participation in the economy, including attracting diaspora financing. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC), there are at least 300 Somaliland diaspora businesses run in Hargeisa alone. Without an expanded export base, remittance flows will be necessary to keep the trade balance on a sustainable path.

Climate Funds

There are very limited flows of climate funds into Somaliland through multilateral agencies. As mentioned previously, the bulk of these funds in the region are channelled through UN agencies. A climate finance prospectus of projects will be detailed for engagement with the UN agencies operating in the country for possible resource mobilisation. The agencies have the capacity and trust of the fund managers to easily attract more funding. Bilateral and multilateral investments, such as in renewable energy, should be prioritised based on ease of access. A properly positioned private sector could also benefit from the myriad of opportunities for sustainable technologies, infrastructure, and practices. These range from private investors and development finance institutions (DFIs) and multilaterals such as the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC). Given Somaliland’s vulnerability to climate related risks such as droughts, the potential to access such funds is high. Table 20 shows an overview of climate funding implementing agencies.

Each of these funding sources have different priorities.

Overall, the Global Climate Fund (GCF), the Least Development Countries Fund (LDCF), and the Adaption Fund (AF) are mainly focused on disaster risk reduction and prevention, agriculture, environmental policy, water supply and water policy, and rural development. To access these funds it will be important to learn from these experiences across the continent.

There are other actors in the region supporting private sector development in general who are also active on sustainable investments in-line with climate change objectives, coming from partner countries of Somaliland. These include:

The Nordic Development Fund (NDF), which is the joint Nordic international finance institution focusing on the nexus between climate change and development. Presently, they extend loans in the Somali region through Shuraako and Oxfam.
The oldest DFI is the UK’s British International Investment (formally CDC Group). It presently has a US$7.1 billion portfolio consisting of 681 businesses, of which 410 are in Africa, with an average annual return of 6.1 percent.
FMO is a Dutch development bank structured as a bilateral private-sector international financial institution based in the Hague, Netherlands. FMO manages funds for the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Economic Affairs of the Dutch government to maximize the development impact of private sector investments
IFU is a DFI owned by the Government of Denmark. IFU is a self-governing, state-owned fund, whose objective is to promote economic and social development in developing countries.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the lending arm of the European Union. It is one of the biggest multilateral financial institutions in the world and one of the largest providers of climate finance.
Proparco is a subsidiary of Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and focused on private sector development. It has been promoting sustainable economic, social, and environmental development practices for over 40 years.

Somaliland has the opportunity for regulatory reforms to enable the private sector to partner with European counterparts to access much needed funding from these sources.

18.11 Additional Tables on Financing

The four additional tables on the following pages present the financing dynamics and requirements of all sectors in Somaliland. The first table, “Overall revenues vs. expenditures”, presents the financing gap analysis for all sectors in two ways. First is an analysis of factors using only anticipated domestic resource flows in the sector, based on historical budget allocations. A second scenario is also presented where official development assistance (ODA) is factored in as an inflow into the sector. This shows the potential benefits of improving aid coordination to align ODA to the objectives of the NDP III.

The second table, “Sectors by expenditure type”, breaks down the expenditure needs for all sectors into recurrent and development expenditures.

The third table, “Expected sources of financing by sector”, presents the expected financing sources of all planned expenditures for the NDP III period. These consist of government financing, a combination of government and partner contributions, and fully external financing.

The final table, “Sector budgets by MDA”, shows sectors aligned with relevant MDAs and their expected financing needs during the NDP III period.