GOVERNANCE IN FRAGILE STATES

Background

• After twenty years of conflict, Somalia has been classified world’s most fragile state

• Causes of conflict deep and complex- localised communal clashes over resources, political conflicts over control of the state, regional proxy wars, and conflicts fuelled by global agendas and ideology

• Somalia is one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world- about2.5 million people, (one third of the population) currently in need of humanitarian assistance

Where CARE works• South-Central Somalia (Mogadishu)• Somaliland, a self-declared independent state in 1991• Puntland established in 1998 as an autonomous sub-

national state administration within the future Somalia federation

Somaliland and Puntland are more stable than the rest of Somalia and have functioning governments at the central, regional and district levels

All three have different governance structures

CARE LWT GovernanceComponents:

• Initial context analysis: Developing governance knowledge by developing tools for and implementing context analysis

• Programming: Applying our governance knowledge through pilots and new programming

• Ongoing assessment: Maintaining our governance knowledge by conducting ongoing analysis and capacity building of staff and partners

• Communication: Sharing our governance knowledge with partners, wider CARE community & other stakeholders

Developing governance knowledge • Governance introductory workshops

• Governance Needs Assessment – participatory, to uncover needs and areas of focus to ascertain what support and how governance principles can be mainstreamed to improve the governance sensitivity

• Context analysis- uncover the most pertinent governance issues in at least four sub- arenas (the legislature, the executive, the traditional governance structures and local government)

Governance Documentary

• A documentary was prepared that explored governance in the Somali context comprised of the following segments:

1. Introduction: presents a brief overview of governance from the point of view of several actors and stakeholders

2. Current situation detailed exploration of governance and what they expect from it and also what they believe governance demands of them

3. 4. Vision and challenges- national governance structures and

(de)centralization of resources, traditional forms of governance versus secular /modern approaches

5. The way forward: explores the current and future initiatives proposed or undertaken by CARE

6. Conclusion: key findings

Governance booklets

A governance booklet was developed utilizing the traditional Somali prose and traditional drawings.

The booklet examines the governance principles in Somali and present a poetic slogans on the governance.

Applying knowledge

• Booklets and film used by various CARE projects to discuss the importance of governance with the community and CO stakeholders

• The documentary presented a live version of the context analysis/research findings and since Somalia is renowned for being an oral society this toll was the more interesting to the audience.

• Although the documentary provided a critical look at the current situation it was well received by government official and civil society

Applying knowledge

• CARE collaborated with the Ministry of Education of Somaliland in modifying the booklet to became a teachers learning guide and students sitting the final year exams sat a governance component in their social science curriculum.

• CARE trained twenty five schools across two regions of the country

Sharing knowledge

• Dialogues, membership in working groups• The rest of the CO worked on

governance M&E tools that are in line with the findings of the context analysis. Out of this the CARE SOMALIA governance M&E tool kit was developed

Maintaining knowledge

• The project developed various tools and documentation designed to foster discussions around governance

• The governance context analysis will be used for governance intervention design.

• The documentary is being used by CO staff and partners and other INGOS with community groups and donors alike.

• The booklets are used by the Ministry of Education for Somaliland and since this has been mainstreamed into the national curriculum this will be a maintained success for the CO and our involved stakeholders.

• The Governance M&E tool kit is now being utilized by partner organisation and the CO as a methodology to evaluate governance intervention in projects.

Learning points

• The fragile context of Somalia mainly determined the space in conducting a trajectory/to work on governance1. Understanding the context2. Adapting to context3. Insecurity 4. Difficult travel (SPUs)

Learning points

•  Enabling factors encountered in the implementation1. Somaliland-seeking recognition as a state

motivates them to improve governance structures2. Somalis love to talk, debate3. One language

• Disabling factors1. Security situation2. Clan resistance

Future programming in Somalia• Look at the balance between formal

and informal governance structures• Our learnings from community

engagements and interventions need to be communicated to government as input to policy

• Use of oral tradition and prose in sending our messages