Center For Democracy and Governance

CDG’S POSITION PAPER: ROLE OF SOMALILAND CSOs AND IMPACT ON DELIVERED SERVICES

Somaliland is one of the countries in post conflict development that has achieved unprecedented development of CSOs space with a huge number of local NGOs taking a center space in the countries post conflict rehabilitation, democratization, consolidation of achievements initiatives of international development partners and implementation of humanitarian programs in six regions of Somaliland. The Ministry of Planning and National Development each year registers and renews licenses of NGOs and they are exempted from operational taxes. Since 1991 the CSOs fundamentally took a fundamental role as the non-state actors in ensuring supplementary role of delivery of services to the strained society, the hard to reach areas, on a multispectral frontline. Education, water, health and nutrition, livelihood protection, security, agriculture, small enterprises building, socio-economic infrastructure development, anchoring the rule of law, democracy and human rights.

Consolidation of peace, safeguarding marginalized groups from violence and violation of individual and group rights raising awareness and education are critical development blocks laid by the civic players. Despite the challenging civil society environment, Somaliland has performed exceptionally well on deepening the coverage of NGO activities and their grassroots presence in undisputed.

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CDG’S POSITION PAPER: ROLE OF SOMALILAND CSOS AND IMPACT ON DELIVERED SERVICES
After the Ogaden war and the civil war1 civil society provided welfare safety nets and by 1995 they were active in mobilization of support for rehabilitation, governance and security at the height of reconstruction campaign at regional and national level. A lot of international support was mobilized.2 NGOs have been engaged in real development work as government institutions rebuilt or reorganized and therefore making it hard to shift the paradigm of NGO work and separation from government or state roles radically. The perception of local-NGOs in the midst of growing role and entanglement with the state bread mixed feelings over where the CSO space is utilized appropriately or the state has overwhelming control of the CSOs. What is witnessed as deeply rooted contribution is a result of the “Building Partnership for Participatory Development”3

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