Project Case Study
Designing the Somaliland Development Fund
Designing a multi-donor trust fund in Somaliland
Notwithstanding its positive track record, the Somaliland government needs to become more visible in providing the political, economic and human development environment necessary to fuel growth and development.
Core government functions of public financial management and revenue collection are weak, and the authorities, in most areas, struggle to provide basic services. A responsive, capable and accountable relationship between government and citizens is therefore largely absent.
The goal of the $50m dollar Somaliland Development Fund, funded by the Department for International Development and the Danish government, is to enhance the government of Somaliland’s ability to deliver and facilitate basic services such as education and health, provide energy and infrastructure, engage effectively with its people, and manage its budget effectively at a national level.
This is intended to enable the state to perform its functions more effectively, to improve the citizen-state relationship and lead to a more stable and prosperous Somaliland. To this end, the Fund will progressively hand over funding control to the government of Somaliland.
Adam Smith International was asked in 2012 to research and provide a design for the Fund. The design that we presented to DFID attempts to achieve these goals in accordance with principles of aid effectiveness, government ownership and empowerment, and aid harmonisation. Options were prepared for the portfolio of activities of the Fund, the technical assistance to be given, the governance and management model to be used, and the mode of delivery of resources. It is hoped that the Fund will help to maintain a more stable and more economically developed Somaliland.
