Press Conference of Puntland Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Interior on Local Governance and Decentralized Service Delivery in Somalia

The Ministry of Interior meets the Ministry of Finance under the Government of Puntland to discuss key achievements of the Local Development Fund (LDF) for the United Nations Joint Programme on Local Governance and Service Delivery (JPLG) for Somalia established in 2010 to provide a discretionary capital grant to districts to respond to their public services delivery tasks.

The JPLG for Somalia is a five year joint UN programme of the International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN Habitat) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) which commenced in April 2008 and is scheduled to end 31 December 2012.

It responds to the priorities in the Somalia Reconstruction and Development Programme 2008 – 2012 (RDP) and will contribute to the United Nations Somali Assistance Strategy 2011 –2015 (UNSAS).<o:p></o:p>

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed in January 2011 by Puntland represented by the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Interior, the Accountant General, the Auditor General, and United Nation’s Joint Programme for Local Government and Decentralized Services Delivery (JPLG) on the establishment and administration of the Local Development Fund (LDF).

In 2011, three Puntland Districts (Garowe, Gardo and Bossaso) implemented 12 projects using LDF funds (USD 300,000- USD 100,000 per district) received from JPLG, with contributions from the Puntland Central Government, and the target districts according to the cost sharing arrangements agreed in the MOU.

Thanks to the programme, the following key achievements were attained in 2011: 

• Puntland undertook a broad decentralization process to facilitate local development and decentralized service delivery.
• The JPLG LDF Programme helped Puntland Government implement the key priorities for decentralization and local governance. 
• The programme enhanced the overall district performances, thus creating a competition between LGs and encouraged other districts to improve their performance.
• The Programme assisted Puntland establish fiscal transfers system and captured central fiscal transfer for the local governments in the national budget. 
• In 2011 Central Government transferred 10% of the total district investment funds amounting USD 30,000 to Garowe, Gardo and Bossaso Local Governments to implement 4 projects per district. 
• Similarly, Garowe, Gardo and Bossaso Districts mobilized USD 15,000 from their own revenue as contribution to the LDF projects in their location.
• During the year, the Ministry of Finance and Interior signed two agreements with UN JPLG/UNCDF programme to obtain the essential technical and logistical support. 
• In partnership with local training institutions and experts, the ministry of finance and interior conducted several capacity building trainings to enhance the capacity of the local staff.

Concluding, Puntland Government maintains its commitment to implement its part of the Memorandum of Understanding signed with JPLG/UNCDF relevant on Local Development Fund (LDF), and the implementation of the decentralization process to create conductive environment for the programme.

Puntland Ministry appreciates its partnership with UN JPLG Programme, which could serve as lessons learned regarding building strong partnership with Puntland Government. In the juncture of expanded coverage of the programme and increase of district allocation, Ministries of Finance, and Interior will work with JPLG to amend the MOU and discuss ways forward for the programme in 2012/2013. Finally, they thank UN JPLG senior management and UNCDF for their excellent work and support.

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