Laasfort

Exploring options for Political and Economic district Council Sustainability

laasfort — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 10:36:37 +0000

Advancing the establishment of local governments through district council formation (DCF) is a priority for the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS). While the FGS’s Wadajir Framework (WF) provides an extensive roadmap for pre-DCF and DCF activities, it includes little discussion of post-DCF issues, including the issue of district council (DC) sustainability. Currently, where DCs have been formed in south and central Somalia, they tend to be in more rural and remote areas of states with low revenue-generation potential where financial sustainability is a challenge. In contrast, districts with high revenue-generation potential—and thus greater ability to sustain their operations through the collection of local revenues—tend to have complex, protracted conflicts and entrenched political interests which make the DCF process difficult.

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Somalia’s Climate Agenda

laasfort — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 10:06:55 +0000

In November 2023, there has been a significant increase in the intensity of the 2023 ‘deyr’ seasonal rains, resulting in flash floods throughout Somalia, specifically in Puntland, Galmudug, Southwest, Hirshabelle, and Jubaland states. The Global climate models have confirmed the presence of El Nino conditions and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, which are anticipated to cause increased rainfall and floods in most regions of the country. As a result of the heavy rains that came after years of drought and failed rainy seasons, thousands of people have been displaced from their homes, and 25 people have died across 17 districts across Somalia, resulting in a severe humanitarian crisis in the country.

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Powering Ahead

laasfort — Sat, 01 Oct 2022 04:37:00 +0000

This report presents the research findings of a dedicated Somalia case study that examines how Somalia’s energy sector is linked to the broader conflict dynamics in the country as well as the existing energy practices of the UN. Out of these two lines of inquiry, the report considers what can be learned from the energy practices of
the UN and African Union (AU) operations in Somalia, informed by an analysis of what is unique to Somalia and what can potentially be replicated in other countries where UN peace operations are deployed. The study seeks to understand how the UN’s transition to renewables can be accelerated and also implemented in a way that supports peace and development in local communities.

The report was prepared on the basis of a literature review and semi-structured interviews, conducted from August through October 2021, with officials of the Federal Government of Somalia, the government of Southwest State, executives of major electricity service providers in Somalia, representatives of Kube Energy, and UN staff in New York, Mogadishu, and Addis Ababa. In addition to the key findings, the report also makes several recommendations aimed at discrete communities of stakeholders, including the UN Secretariat, UN member states, the Federal Government of Somalia, the federal member states, and electricity service providers in Somalia.

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Booming informal economy in Somalia

laasfort — Sat, 01 Oct 2022 04:35:00 +0000

This paper seeks to assess the growing informal economy in Somalia using a combinaon of primary and secondary sources, applying both quantave and qualitave methods, and with respect to the Somalia Labor Force and High Frequency Survey dataset. This dataset contains informaon on economic condions, educaon, employment, access to services, security, percepons and post-displacement details for displaced households. The changing economic imagery of ‘the unemployed’, their integraon into an increasingly informal economy and the employment aspects play an important role in Somalia’s economy. The economic growth of last the ten years has made Somalia a very aracve desnaon for Somali Diaspora and the locals. The scope of the informal economy in Somalia has expanded considerably over the years.

Economic Informality in Somalia predates colonialism but the average annual growth rate of this sector rose steeply post-1990 civil war. This paper focuses on the importance of the largely unreported informal aspect of the economy at the horn of African Naon. Many engage in informal economic acvies not by choice, but for the reason that it provides an alternave route to earn a living, especially, in situaons of high unemployment and poverty levels in post conflict contexts such as that of Somalia.

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