Hargeisa(Arraweelo .com) While the Somaliland Government welcomes the decision of the international community to
focus on and support our region, Somaliland has stood firm on its decision not to attend the
New Deal conference for Somalia in Brussels. We have declined to participate in a
conference that fails to engage Somaliland as an equal partner and recognize the
democratic choice of its people, and which wrongly gives the impression that the
Government of Somalia has the right to make decisions about our territory. The
democratically-elected Government of Somaliland is the sole legitimate authority of the
Somaliland people. No one has the right to speak on behalf of Somaliland at the Conference.
But the one-day event in Brussels should not distract from the larger significance of today.
Today, Somaliland will enter a new stage of its implementation of the National Development
Plan. At the conference in Brussels, the international community officially adopts a Special
Arrangement (SSA) for Somaliland based on the global principles of the New Deal for
Engagement in Fragile States. The SSA will serve as the strategic framework for
development partners to engage with identified priority areas of Somaliland’s National
Development Plan.
The SSA was developed through a completely separate process from that supported by the
international community for Somalia. The principles and priorities the guide the SSA were
decided on by the Government of Somaliland, in full consultation with the Somaliland
people. We have made clear to our development partners that Somaliland will not accept an
arrangement that politicizes development assistance by using language that would weaken
or undermine Somaliland’s pursuit for recognition as an independent state. We are grateful
to our donors for respecting the wishes of our people, and agreeing to a development
partnership that safeguards Somaliland’s unique status.
The international community’s endorsement of the SSA represents an acknowledgement by
the international community that Somaliland’s impressive achievements in peace, security
and democratization require developmental support that is specifically tailored to our
priorities and governmental capacities, and which is owned by our people. To ensure
ownership, the SSA puts in place mechanisms that guarantee that decisions over allocation
of development assistance to Somaliland are alone made by the Somaliland government
and its people, in partnership with the international community.
For that reason, the SSA promotes the Somaliland Development Fund (SDF) established by
the Danish and UK governments in 2012 as a means to ensure mutual accountability while
establishing mechanisms for the Somaliland government to better lead their development
process. The SDF is now fully operational, and as the preferred funding mechanism,
Somaliland will encourage donors to join and scale up their funding of the SDF.
Through twenty years of statebuilding, Somaliland has laid the foundation for future
transformative economic growth. The country is stable and peaceful; our children receive
free primary education; we are expanding medical services and water distribution in urban
and rural areas; and our citizens participate in regular democratic elections. Thanks to more
stringent public financial management, increased tax revenue and more safeguards against
corruption, Somaliland’s 2013 budget is the largest and most balanced in its history. The
Somaliland government has therefore fostered an environment where aid can make a great
impact, and in which our government shares primary responsibility over development
activities.
But we cannot do this alone—we require significant support from the international
community to realize the goals of the National Development Plan. Engagement with our
development partners through the New Deal framework is major step in achieving this.
Ahmed Yusuf Elmi (Sudi)
Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation.