Somalia increases peace building efforts with launch of 2019 UN Peacebuilding Fund

19 February 2019, Mogadishu. The Government of Somalia and the United Nations have launched five projects supported by the UN Peacebuilding Fund at an event this week in Mogadishu, which will be implemented by UN agencies in partnership with the Government and civil society organisations.

The five projects launched will address displacement, stabilisation, reconciliation, state-building and land disputes, as well as promoting gender sensitivity and focusing on women as peacebuilders in the National Defectors Programme. The amount allocated to the portfolio of projects by the UN Peacebuilding Fund is 14 million USD in total. It will be one of the largest allocations given to a single country and a doubling of the existing portfolio in Somalia.

Speaking at the launch event, the Minister of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation, Abdi Mohamed Sabrie, said each of the projects being launched was important in their own right.

“These projects support Somalia moving forward, and on behalf of federal government and federal member states, we really appreciate the support of the Peacebuilding Fund, to such very important issues and projects. Each one of us, whether it’s the Ministry, or UN agencies, we are here to take these projects with both hands and make sure that we deliver, to the Somali population, especially the displaced of Somalia,” he said.

Peter de Clercq, the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia (DSRSG), said the Peacebuilding Fund has been highly visible as an investor in high risk peacebuilding areas. “It proves concept. It’s a catalyst for continued and bigger funding in these areas,” he said.

“The Peacebuilding Fund is also important for us in the United Nations family and beyond, to demonstrate, what we call the “New Way of Working” which is a much more comprehensive approach […..] looking at humanitarian relief, development, and peace and security being addressed at the same time,” he added.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will be an implementing partner on four out of the five projects launched under the 2019 Peacebuilding Fund.  Alongside the Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation, the Ministry of Justice, and UN agencies IOM, UNSOM, UNHCR, and UN-Habitat, UNDP will work to address displacement through community-driven long-term durable solutions, support stabilisation and extension of state authority through district-level governance, support the country’s federal state building and reconciliation processes, as well as strengthening mechanisms for resolution of land disputes.

George Conway,  Resident Representative of UNDP a.i. in Somalia, said the UN was supporting the government to “promote better developmental solutions that address the root and underlying causes of displacement” and to “support the federal government, though the Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation, and local authorities, to promote a reconciliation agenda for the country”.

The UN Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) has supported Somalia since 2009. Investments to date amounts to approximately 40 million USD, including the 14 million USD allocated to new projects this year.

The PBF’s investments in Somalia are guided by the United Nations Peacebuilding Priority Plan for Somalia (2016-2019) and aligned with key national frameworks such as the National Development Plan and the Wadajir Framework, the National Stabilisation Strategy, as well as priorities outlined in the recently published roadmaps on Economic Development, Inclusive Politics, Justice and Security and Social Development.

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