Somaliland Development Fund (SDF) is a special 60 Million Dollar fund donated to Somaliland by the governments of UK and Denmark to be used in the next 5 years for development projects in line with the priorities of the government. Although this fund is a tiny fraction (12 Million per year) of the total (250 Million per year) aid to Somaliland, it has a considerable significant value for the future of the nation.
• For the first time in Somaliland history, this money will be added directly to the government budget instead of being channeled through corrupt International Nongovernmental Organizations;
• The projects will be designed by the government;
• If the government uses these funds wisely and demonstrates that aid can more effectively benefit Somaliland public, other donors might decide in the future follow suit the example of UK and Denmark. In such a scenario, the budget of Somaliland will instantly double.
Few weeks ago, Somaliland government released a small booklet which contains a list of projects that will be financed through these funds, the amount of budget allocated for each project, and the government responsible for implementing the project.
We have evaluated the quality of these projects in terms of the following criteria:
1. Selection of government implementing agency;
2. Distribution of projects and fund beneficiaries per region;
3. Developmental impact of the project (value for the money for selected communities;
4. Project governance (transparency with respect to financial control, accountability, contractor selection, etc.)
In this article, we offer you some overall observations about these issues. In succeeding articles, we will focus on specific projects and provide you details about the positive and negative aspects of each project.
OVERALL SUMARY OF OUR OBSERVATION
FACTS
In ascending order, here is the government agencies selected to administer portions of the funds:
Stay tuned.
By. Arta Abyan.
Arta.abyan@yahoo.com