Somalia: Strengthening State Institutions for better service delivery


Building state institutions and the capabilities of the Somali government to implement better services is of primary importance to realize the developmental objectives contained in the Somalia National Development Plan (NDP) and the Sustainable Development Goals. With the contribution to the World Bank Multi-Partner Fund (MPF) Switzerland will support the rebuilding of core state functions and the socio-economic recovery in Somalia.

Country/region Topic Period Budget
Somalia
Governance
nothemedefined
Public finance management
Domestic revenue mobilisation
Public sector policy
01.09.2019 - 31.12.2022
CHF  8’250’000
Background Somalia suffers from severe capacity gaps, weak legal and financial institutions and regulatory frameworks. This limited Government capacity has led to inadequate service delivery and lack of social contract between the community and the Government. However, the formation of the new Somali Government in 2012 brought a new window of opportunity to end conflict and rebuild the state. The first concerted international consensus on a long-term state-building, peace and development agenda entailed the re-entry of the World Bank (WB) into the Somalia context. Thanks to this support, Somali authorities are slowly making headway in reform implementation related to public financial management (PFM), revenue and financial policy. However, the lack of political settlement on resource sharing and functional assignment amongst the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and federal member states (FMS) continues to be a major hurdle in state building.
Objectives Strengthen state institutions to deliver better services and restore economic resilience for peaceful and stable Somalia 
Target groups Government institutions - Federal Government of Somalia and Federal Member States including Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Agriculture and Water, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Office of the Prime Minister, Central Bank of Somalia, Aid Coordination Unit
Medium-term outcomes
  • Improved domestic revenue mobilization and inter-governmental fiscal relations between the FGS and FMS
  • Enhanced Public Financial Management control and institutional effectiveness of the Somali Government institutions
  • Improved delivery of systems for inclusive health services in Somalia
  • Increased urban and rural resilience in Somalia
Results

Expected results:  

Outcome 1: Improved domestic revenue mobilization and inter-governmental fiscal relations

  • Intergovernmental meetings supported by the MPF lead to concrete decisions being made on fiscal federalism issues;
  • Annual increase of inter-governmental transfers to sub-national governments;
  • Increase in real terms of inland revenue collection;
  • Increased trust in formal resource sharing and distribution through inter-governmental transfers system;

Outcome 2: Enhanced Public Financial Management control and institutional effectiveness

  • Increased number of appropriated expenditures processed through the commitment system;
  • Somali government demonstrates improved fiscal discipline and cash management;
  • Somali government demonstrates improved PFM control and accountability;
  • Domestic spending shifts from security and public administration sectors to service delivery in social sectors

Outcome 3: Improved deconcentrated service delivery in the health sector

  • Increased provision of basic health services in selected Federal Member States including trained and verified female health workers;

Outcome 4: Increased urban and rural resilience;

  • Increased access to water for resilience and productivity in rural areas
  • Critical urban infrastructure and services (roads, drainage, pedestrian walkways and streetlighting etc) and technical advisory support to municipal/district governments to develop sustainable solutions for the displaced

 


Results from previous phases:  

Switzerland has already four years of experience with World Bank MPF.

With the re-engagement of the World Bank (WB) in Somalia in 2013, the WB Multi Partner Fund (MPF) has provided a mechanism for donors to finance government institutions. The MPF has mobilized over $320 million in pledges, pooled to achieve common national objectives. It has confirmed that Somali institutions have the capabilities to absorb and disburse funds effectively.

Through the WB MPF, the Government increased domestic revenue collection of from $95 Mio. in 2015 to $172 Mio in 2018. It enhanced fiscal transfers to Federal Member States, and the capacity of the Member States to absorb funds has been strengthened. The MPF has cumulatively supported the FGS to recruit over 100 new staff in Somali institutions. Recurrent cost financing has rebuilt government payroll and is progressively regularising salary payments for over 4,000 civil servants. For the first time since 2014, the FGS was able to pay all 2017 monthly civil service salaries. Financial management and accountability systems are progressively improving.

In the same time, the MPF is a tool for effective coordination and channeling of funds to support an increased use of country systems in Somalia. By using country systems, the MPF has gained in government ownership as well as its government accountability for results.


Directorate/federal office responsible SDC
Credit area Development cooperation
Project partners Contract partner
International Financial Institution (IFI)
Private sector
  • Foreign private sector North
  • World Bank - International Bank for Reconstruction and Development


Coordination with other projects and actors

Apart from Switzerland (SDC), the fund is currently supported by the EU, DANIDA, Finland, Germany/KfW, Italy, Norway, SIDA, DfID, USAID and WB SPF 

Links with other relevant programmes such as JPLG, SomReP, FAO, DSI, PSPH, UNFPA and CABRI (SECO)

Budget Current phase Swiss budget CHF    8’250’000 Swiss disbursement to date CHF    8’279’450
Project phases Phase 3 01.03.2023 - 31.12.2025   (Current phase)

Phase 2 01.09.2019 - 31.12.2022   (Active)

Phase 1 01.03.2014 - 30.06.2019   (Active)