Ever since the administration of President Ahmed Mohamed Mohamud “Silaanyo” came into office in 2010 it has been actively engaged in seeking funds from international organizations such as the United Nations, the European Union and many others.
Whilst the idea behind the policy is sound; Somaliland after all, is a poor and undeveloped country; the means to attain such funds have often led to several humiliating situations for both the country and the administration.
Recently, Somaliland went into an agreement with something called the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) which according to its website “works to ensure universal access to reproductive health, including family planning and sexual health to all couples and individuals”.
A very laudable goal. The main criteria for receiving funding is to hold a census, which Somaliland did in 2013 and subsequently shared the information with UNFPA who in turn passed it on to the federal entity in Mogadishu, another administration seeking funding, who recently published the result of the census, including the data from Somaliland using the defunct titles such “Waqooyi Galbeed” (North West).
This embarrassing situation for both sides; for Somaliland, once again to be lumped with the defunct Somali Republic and for the federal entity, clinging to a former partner who has long moved on, led to the Somaliland Minister of Planning and International Co-operation, Dr. Sa’ad Ali Shire, to lament in a recent article ” that Somaliland feels betrayed and the census was conducted without a single participant from the federal entity in Mogadishu, and the UNFPA acted in bad faith by given Somaliland’s share of the funding to Mogadishu”.
All in all, the desire of the administration of President Silaanyo to seek and secure funding from all possible channels can often lead to disappointment at best and utter humiliation at worst. It is sometimes better to go without than lose your dignity.
No comments:
Post a Comment