Reconstruction and reform in Somalia must start with Somalis themselves

Local voices have been largely absent from discussions on peace and reconstruction in Somalia. The latest high level summit on the country’s future, held in London on 7 May, must make understanding and meeting the local and regional needs of Somalis its top priority, say Abdullahi Mohamed Shirwa and El Khidir Daloum.

The 7 May conference, co-hosted by the Federal Government of Somalia and the UK government, will be attended by over 50 representatives of Somalia’s donors, the international community and representatives from international organisations including the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), European Union and the African Union. Their engagement reflects the increasing commitment of the international community towards the stabilisation and rebuilding of  Somalia. But both the Somali authorities and the international community must engage with Somalis themselves on the decisions that directly affect their lives in order to make real  sustainable progress  towards Somalia’s reconstruction .

Consultations carried out in April by Somalia Southern Central Non-State Actors (SOSCENSA) platform – with a range of NGO representatives, business leaders, media representatives, traditional elders, professional associations and women’s groups – showed that civil society in the country has a wide range of concerns and recommendations on strengthening and rebuilding the security services, justice system, strengthening the political system and reducing financial mismanagement. They have a vital role to play in the decision making processes and redevelopment of Somalia and their voices need to be heard.

Next week’s summit itself, unfortunately, does not involve civil society.  While their absence is deeply regrettable the international community and Somalia authorities must agree ways to ensure that civil society and the public are able to participate in Somali peace and reconstruction plans in the future. The consultations reiterated a mutual lack of trust between groups within Somalia, including between clans and between the Federal Government and regional authorities. Participants agreed on the need to address this problem by making an immediate and substantial effort to build cooperation and promote reconciliation between groups, including between the centre and the regions.   

The international community also needs to recommit itself to an approach which provides support to the regions as well as the centre and, crucially, put this into practice. This means support for regional and bottom-up peacebuilding and reconstruction processes. Even as the international community works to boost the capacity of the Federal Government, it must engage with the regions.

SOSCENSA’s consultations showed again that for the majority of people within Somalia, particularly those in southern and central Somalia, security remains their primary concern. Federal and regional authorities need to set out a coherent approach to reform the security forces and the judiciary. Transparency, accountability and adherence to international human rights and humanitarian law, as well as gender sensitive security and justice reform, will be essential in building confidence in the new institutions, tackling impunity and setting the building blocks for peace.

The real test of commitment by Somali authorities and the international community, including the UK, towards progress in Somalia will be seen in the coming months; next week’s conference must set out priorities in areas of political stability, reform of the security and justice sectors and initiatives to address sexual and gender based violence.  Work must then begin to implement the commitments, and this work must feed into discussions and decisions on Somalia’s New Deal compact for engagement in fragile state.  This compact is due to be completed at  a conference in Brussels in September and needs to build on the agreements made in London to set out concrete, measurable plans on how Somalia will be supported to implement its peacebuilding process. The London conference is an opportunity to start turning political commitments into reality.

Abdullahi Mohamed Shirwa is Chairman of the Somalia South-Central Non-State Actors (SOSCENSA) platform, and is a founding member and current Chairman of the Somali Peace Line.

El Khidir Daloum is Saferworld’s Director of Programmes for Sub Saharan Africa.

This comment piece was first featured on the Guardian development site.

Read Saferworld's recommendations for the conference.