Somali Government Seeks Puntland Support for a New National Development Plan

[Deeq A.]

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud views the drafting of the national development plan as a political milestone.

Mogadishu (PP News Desk) — The Federal Government of Somalia is urging federal member states to support the drafting of a new national development plan. With the current national development plan set to expire, the Federal Government of Somalia plans to approach the EU to organise an aid conference similar to the 2013 New Deal conference in which the Somali Compact and Somaliland Special Arrangement were hammered out. The secessionist Somaliland administration demanded a direct delivery of development aid without channeling it through Mogadishu.

The soon-to-expire 2020-2024 national development plan states: “Bilateral arrangements between Somaliland and FGS are the subject of dialogues, the last of which was held in 2015. Proposals have been made to restart discussions, as yet unsuccessfully.” Puntland State has accused the Federal Government of Somalia of politicising aid to centralise aid distribution through the Somali Aid Architecture established by the federal Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development (MoPIED) that credited with Puntland for setting an example to federate regions after “the emergence of four Federal Member States (FMS) – Jubaland (2013), Southwest (2014), Galmudug (2015) and Hirshabelle (2016) – a development that follows a pattern set by Puntland in 1998.”

Puntland State President Said Abdullahi Deni accused the Federal Government of Somalia of politicising aid to centralise aid distribution through the Somali Aid Architecture.

How the new federal member states will assess their developmental needs and incorporate gained capacity into account during the negotiations for a new national development plan for Somalia remains unclear compared to “Somaliland and Puntland [which, according to the national development plan] have developed some capacity over the past two decades.”

Consensus-building rather than cementing political advantages was the core principle of drafting the national development plan. “First and foremost, national development planning must be country-owned and based on a process of broader participation and consensus-building that delivers a comprehensive poverty context analysis sufficient to inform the future government and international partner interventions and so to ensure the desired development results and outcomes” reads the background information in the first chapter of of the 400-page 2020-2024 National Development Plan for the Federal Government of Somalia.

© Puntland Post, 2024

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