The Forum of Federations, with its project partner Conflict Dynamics International (CDI), organized a training and dialogue session with Somalia’s Federalization Negotiation Technical Committee over 1-3 May in Nairobi, Kenya.
The committee, made of senior representatives from federal and state government, is tasked by the National Security Council (the senior-most intergovernmental body in Somalia) with developing recommendations for solutions to difficult issues remaining unfinished in the current “provisional” constitution of 2012.
This event focused on fiscal issues, including the constitutional assignment of revenues, institutional arrangements, supportive good fiscal management practices, local government fiscal arrangements, natural resources, designing transfer systems, relating fiscal issues to other federal governance systems, and the like.
The program was supported by international experts Nico Steytler (South Africa), V N Alok (India), Rose Osoro (Kenya) and Shawn Houlihan (Forum staff).
In closing the event on May 3rd, Chair of the committee, Ahmednur M. Abdi, Office of the Prime Minister noted: “This workshop has been very valuable in getting all the committee members to a similar level of understanding of the complex issues of fiscal federalism; but it will not be the last step.”
Mr. Abdi concluded, “We will call on the Forum and CDI to help with more issues and particular problems as we go forward with our very challenging tasks.”
The project, Political Accommodation and Reconciliation in Somalia is funded by the Kingdom of Netherland Foreign Ministry.
