Somalia: Strengthening State Institutions for better service delivery


The Multi-Partner-Fund (MPF) provided an umbrella to prepare the World Bank’s (WB) re-engagement in Somalia. It has become a powerful tool for donors to pool resources and enabled the WB to engage with Somali authorities to gradually advance reform implementation related to revenue and financial policy, as well as public financial management (PFM). Through this project, Switzerland supports the incremental strengthening of core state institutions in Somalia and contributes ultimately to stability and socio-economic recovery of the country.

Country/region Topic Period Budget
Somalia
Governance
nothemedefined
Public finance management
Domestic revenue mobilisation
Public sector policy
01.03.2023 - 31.12.2025
CHF  5’749’000
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. And the lack of robust financial institutions has contributed to increased fragility and poor indicators in the health and education sector. In light of that, Somalia’s development financing aims to support an ambitious agenda which is central to moving the country towards greater stability and more inclusive development. This is a strategic moment for the MPF - the strategic alignment of the MPF and the growing International Development Association (IDA) portfolio will help in building back better and recover from the impact of the crises facing Somalia. As major pillar in the state institutions building process, the WB MPF increases service deliveries to Somali citizens and helps to stabilize the country, including during humanitarian emergencies (i.e. drought-related), which is in line with Switzerland’s interest of increased stability in the Horn of Africa.
Objectives Strengthened state institutions deliver better services and restore economic resilience for peaceful and stable Somalia.
Target groups Government institutions - Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and Federal Member States (FMS) 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

Modality 1: World Bank MPF support

1) Improved domestic revenue mobilization and inter-governmental fiscal relations between the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and Federal Member States (FMS)

2) Enhanced Public Financial Management control and institutional effectiveness of the Somali Government institutions

3) Improved delivery of systems for inclusive health services in Somalia 

4) Increased urban and rural resilience in Somalia 

Modality 2: Support for technical expertise Linked to Outcomes 1 & 2 

Modality 3: Partnership with Institute of Federalism - Linked to Outcomes 1 & 2  

Results

Expected results:  

Outcome 1:

  • Policy dialogues facilitated on key issues of relevance to the MPF objectives (disaggregated by intergovernmental and international partners).
  • The Central Bank of Somalia and Federal Ministry of Finance demonstrate: i) strengthened governance and financial reporting to enable capitalization; ii) activation of critical institutional systems to enable corresponding banking arrangements, iii) improved supervisory oversight and capacity to tackle financial integrity. 

Outcome 2:

  • FGS demonstrates progress on key reforms and benchmarks on public financial management, inter-governmental fiscal relations, and public administration. 

Outcome 3:

  • Expanded access to health care in Somalia as evidenced by: i) number of female health care workers in place with MPF support. ii) Number of women and children visited by female health care workers.

Outcome 4:

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


Results from previous phases:  

While the capacity of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) to deliver core state functions remains limited, the WB was nevertheless able to effectively support critical fiscal reforms through the MPF. Some of the key achievements include: 

  • Increased domestic revenue mobilization by 30.7% since 2019. Improved financial management and increased accountability, which has helped the country reach the HIPC Decision point.
  • The MPF jump started the critical work to help establish and strengthen government systems and capacity to support crisis response, including increased coping mechanisms related to the ongoing drought. 
  • The MPF-financed initial investment helped coordinate a fragmented donor landscape, increased Somali ownership, and enabled gradual harmonization of policy dialogue around safetynet and social protection issues in Somalia.
  • Increased use of country systems (on-budget and on-treasury) 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
Project partners Contract partner
International Financial Institution (IFI)
Swiss Academic and Research Institution
  • Other Swiss academic and research institutions
  • World Bank - International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
  • Institute of Federalism


Coordination with other projects and actors Links with other projects on local service delivery and institution-building including JPLG and IAG, (Governance), SomReP (Food systems), FAO (Food systems), DSI (protection), PSPH (Health), UNFPA (Health)
Budget Current phase Swiss budget CHF    5’749’000 Swiss disbursement to date CHF    4’806’000
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)