ACF / John Clinton
Action Aid / Ronnie Marangu
ADRA / Luiz Camargo
AFSC / Zaina Kisongoa
ARC / Abdinur Abdi
ECO / Ismael Mwaura
GIZ / Marius Lang
IAS / Grace Anyango
ICVA / Marco Rotelli
Medair / Marian Wetshay
Mercy Corps / Jelena Savic
Mercy USA / Dahir Abdullahi
Oxfam / Sultana Bengum
PAC / Abdirashid Abdile
SNC / Abdurahman Sharif
SNC / Naitore Kariuki
Solidarités International / Jenniffer M’vouama
SOS CV Somalia / Rosemary Mutie
SOS CV Somalia / Zahra Ahmed
SRDA / James Saita
WV / Simon Nyabwengi
AGENDA
1)Regional Updates: Somaliland, Puntland, South
2)London Conference on Somalia & Mogadishu Consultation
3)Interaction Workshop & Washington DC visit
4)Steering Committee Elections
5)Humanitarian Notification Systems for Deconfliction (HNS4D)
6)Key Meeting Updates: HCT meetings, SHF Advisory Board
7)Meeting/Training Updates (Advocacy Training, Media Briefing, Localization Workshop)
The meeting was started off with welcoming remarks from the chair of the meeting,, Director of the NGO Consortium and thereafter a round of introductions from all members present.
Min 1:6:2017 Regional Updates:
Somaliland
There is a new fundraising committee appointedby the president to handle the existing drought that has hit Somaliland and other parts of Somalia.
The first meeting was held on the 22nd of May 2017, this was an introductory meeting held with NGOs and the committee. Among the directives is to havethe INGOs staff deduct contributions. There are varying opinions on this since some organizations have given contributions towards the droughts appeal.
Puntland
Recovery and resilience planning- There is in place an earlyrecovery and resilience planning as we phase out from the emergency phase. MOPIC and UNDP were jointly involved doing consultations around the country on these issues; consequently they will ensure NGO voices in the consultations.
A team of specialists to strengthen the resilience portfolio has been appointed. Of importance to by the consultants is inclusion of resilience on the droughtresponse.
There are alsoconversations on how NGO will engage with the resilience pillar.
There are suggestions to have SNC sit at the SDRF. HADMA and OCHA were involved on this.
South Central
Baidoa
Ministry of planning of south west has requested agencies to submit their plans and activities.They have been requested to submit information on their plans without budgets, where failure to comply may lead to disciplinary action from south west state. A follow up email on the 29th of May has been given.
Mogadishu.
Information from the office of the RC/ HC- Meeting with the Prime Minister where the International community has asked for more accountability to the Somali Government
Consequently the Government stated that accountability should be from both sides and that all parties should work to effect this, and that the Office of the PM has requested that thepresence of senior management should be shifted to Mogadishu.
The Prime Ministerwantscomprehensive brief on the status of this relocations. In response, the HC has brought up the issue of facilities existing in Somali.
They have asked for a meeting with NGO country directors to deliberate on the request and discuss what issues will be required to have office presence in Mogadishu.
The resilience pillar under the NDP is also being discussed with a proposal to have the NGO Consortium sit at the SRDF steering committee. Some NGOs have interests in specific pillarsand the request is that they work in teams under the workinggroups.
Harmonized NGO policy in Somalia- A consultant was hiredby UNDP, and FGS has asked the consultant to draft an NGO bill from the FGS. Currently Draft has been circulated to the NGO policy taskforce. The idea is to present it to the FGS then have a wider range of consultations.
Logistics challenges at the port- There have been reports on logistical issues being experienced by NGOs in the Port. Consequently, there is a logistics cluster that is in existence that is meant to support these issues around taxation, clearance of Goods etc. In this case, members should be informed that that the the first point of contact should be the logistics cluster, and in the event that the challenges still persist, and then more channels of addressing the issues will be resorted to.
The issue of access has also been discussed at the HCT, where limited access especially by road has been experienced. It was determined that UNSOS helicopters can also be used as a last resort and at a cost recovery basis. It is important to indicate that this should be usedby an NGO as a last resort by NGOs
Action Points
1)SNC to find out if contributions meant to be given by NGOs staff in Somaliland as drought contributions are mandatory or voluntary
2)There is a request to have a meeting on the request to have senior management moving to Mogadishu to interested to forwardtheir requests to Naitore to give
3)NGOs asked to engage with consultants researching on earlyrecovery resilience and drought.
4)Some NGOs have expressed interests in specific pillars in the NDP. That have a coordinate approaches especially in the working group that will feed back on the NDP process to the whole NGO Community.
5)Challenges of the drought at the DOCC with very long procedures of access, members requesting that this be addressed.
Min 2:6:2017 LondonConference Update.
On 11 May 2017, the UK hosted a major international conference in London, to accelerate progress on security sector reform, build on the international response to the ongoing drought and humanitarian crisis, and agree the new international partnership needed to keep Somalia on course for increased peace and prosperity by 2020.
The Conference was divided into four themes,
Improved security- Improving security is vital to preventing the return of open conflict across Somalia, and for enabling its broader political and economic development.
Political reform and governance- The Conference delivered increased commitment from the international community on political reform and governance, to help build a more inclusive, federal and democratic state – setting a clear path towards one-person, one-vote elections in 2020.
Economic development- Supporting Somalia’s economic recovery is a shared priority: a stronger economy that offers Somalis livelihoods, jobs and generates domestic revenue will be essential to Somalia’s sustainable development and stability.
Humanitarian response- At a time when half of the Somali population is without reliable access to food, the Conference was also opportunity to step up the international response to the ongoing drought and humanitarian need.
New Partnership for Somalia- The Conference also agreed on a New Partnership for Somalia between the international community and Somalia that sets out the terms of international support for Somalia’s transition to a more peaceful and prosperous country by 2020
Side events
In addition to proceedings on 11 May there were a number of side events on 10 May. These covered themes such as the contribution of the Diaspora and civil society to Somalia, progress in accelerating Somalia’s economic recovery, and supporting refugees and their host communities in the region.
There were several outcomes on the London conference.
- A new partnership for Somalia for peace, stability and prosperity a framework for mutual accountability and accelerated progress
- The signing of the Security Pact to provide security for Somalia.
- The London Conference communiqué
A humanitarian breakfast was held where NGOs were given a chance to speak and have deliberations.Kevin Watkins the Save the Children President gave opening remarks.
The meeting was co- chaired by among others the UKSecretary of State for International Development Priti Patel.The meeting brought about commitmentsby donors with majority of the donors echoing more of what they had pledged in eth beginning of the year.
On the cancellation of debts for Somalia, Italy cancelled their debt and announced it during the conference, with Gulf donors indicating that they will cancel their debts so long as the bigger donors are ready to cancel theirs to. SNC has requested our international NGO colleagues to be keen on doing advocacy around cancelling the debt for Somali which will be key for Somalia’seconomicrecovery. The UK colleagues are yet to tell us how much debt is there for UK, but the largest donor with a huge amount by Somalia is the US with 500 million dollars
The follow up will be a security conferencein Somalia to be held in November 2017. A High Level Partnership Forum HLPF that will be held after six months and will be held on a regular basis thereafter,
The African Union is also meant to do follow up meeting no specific date’smentioned yet
NGO colleagues to do advocacy on debt relief for Somalia that will aid in debt relieve
The HRPwas presented at eh Londonconferee by UNOCHA where they were appealing for 1.5 b usd.Currently 66million has been given from the 1.5 billion appealed
Diaspora event.- Consultations were done on the 2nd of May 2017chaired by UNHCR, where there were messaging done that was highlighted at the diasporaevent. The role of diaspora recognized in development of Somalia with eh president promising to have a National Diaspora Agency.
Min 3:6:2017 Interaction Workshop & Washington DC visit
There was a meeting attended by Luiz Camargo and Abdurahman, annual coordination workshop bi Interaction. This is a meeting held by all coordination bodies.
Among the issues of discussion were linking the humanitariandevelopment nexus and the localization of aid. A summary of the workshop is to be shared with the team.
The team also went to meet with members’ if the congress and the senate, with OFDA , they met and updated them on their take in Somalia situation in General.Of worth noting is that congress had given out 90 million usd from the four famines. This is anhas been noted as a timely release of the funds, however there was no certain clarity on when the funds will be released, NGOs welcomed to contribution and thereafter carry out lobbying and advocacy on the release of the funds , and to ensure that the money is able to be disbursed to the field
Lack of funding on protection issues with the increased cases of return is Somali was also brought up in the meeting with NGO colleagues
Action Point:
- A summary of theInteraction workshop is to be shared with the team from SNC.
Min 4:5:2017 Humanitarian Notification Systems for De-confliction (HNS4D)
There has been a directive from all INGOs and NNGOS agencies operating in Somalia may want to send information for Somalia for de-confliction purposes to comply and send the information on de-confliction. There is uncertainty around what might happen as regards the communities in Somalia once offences start taking place. It is however on a voluntary basis. The HCT meeting held on the 30thj of May 2017 has also addressed this issue.
It should therefore be left on individual agencies to address his issues and make executive decisions organization wise. However for more information membersmay approach INSO Somalia for advice.
5:5:2017 Steering Committee Elections
There is a call for nomination for steering committee;there will be 3 INNGOs and 3 NNGOs. Any members interested should apply.
Min 6:5:2017 External meetings
HCT Retreat
There was a meeting organized on the 30th May 2017, It was a one day retreat where the objectives was to take stock of eth actions taken in 2017, Set objectives for the remaining part of the year as well as address recommendations of the STAIT mission report.
Among what was agreed was, HCT Purposes to work for the country, as well as be able to account for their role and the work they give In Somalia.
Other aspects of discussion were briefing on mutual accountability framework and HCT TORs revision, resource mobilization, engagement with federal governments and state governments.The HCT Resource mobilization action strategy was also in discussion.
SHF Advisory Board
This team met on the 29th May 2017. IRC Save the children and Adeso are some of the SHF members. In brief 36% of the SHF allocation has gone to local NGOs, this is a great achievement in comparison to the past.
SHF has therefore requested that assessments be done on a rolling basis rather than one by one on packages. They have asked for an approval on the budget on 450, 000 usd to new partners on a rolling basis.
There is an SHF operating manual on how SHF approval processes within the clusters and the recommended timelines work. This document will be shared
Here is a document on lesson learnt on this document.
The levels of funding for 2017 are at an allocation of 27 million usd, with the number of NGOs, being 47 NGOs, (23 NNGO and 24 INNGOs) with most of the funding going to NGOs. The biggest cluster was WASH, FS, nutrition and protection as well as health,. Education got 11% with NFI and shelter getting the least allocation.
The levels of funding up to this point are around 36 million overall, slightly better than last year but with no dramatic change considering that we are in a drought response situation.
Action Point
- The SNC to share the SHF operating manual.
Min 7:6:2017 Meeting/Training Updates (Advocacy Training, Media Briefing, Localization Workshop)
Advocacy Training:
There was an advocacy training on the 14th– 16th May 2017 – was held I Hargeisa, what was part of the training was basic, aspects of training.
The rationale of the training was To strengthen the advocacy and lobbying skills of Somali advocates, To discuss and analyze good and bad advocacy practices and what works in Somali Context, To identify immediate and effective advocacy issues for teams to work on to engage newly earned skills, To discuss the best channels for advocacy, To create an enabling environment for Somali advocates to help promote better and stronger coordination and collaboration on issues that are important and relevant.
The response given by members is to have more days of training, we hope to have one in the coming months and we encourage that more NGOs nominate their staff to attend the training.
Of importance to highlight is the organizations around Hargeisa were the majority, it would be paramount to balance the organizations going forward.
Media briefing
There was a media briefing event that was held on the 2th May 2017 co- organized by the IAWG, the Somalia NGO Consortium Members
The objective of the media event was to explore and frame current progress, efforts and challenges towards averting possible famine in Somalia and addressing the severe drought in the region.
The meeting was attended by 13 media houses and a total of 77 participants.
Among the outcomes of the meetings were;
Localization Roundtable
There was localization roundtable held on the 22nd and 23rd of May 2017.
The 1st day of the workshop will bring together over 15 local NGOs and experts to identify issues on aid delivery and prepare key messages on aid localization in Somalia and Somaliland. The 2nd day of the workshop will involve a structured dialogue between local NGOs, INGOs, the UN and donors. Participants will look at the challenges faced by local NGOs in Somalia/Somaliland and identify ways to mitigate. To view proceeding report, please follow this link
AOB
- ICVA will have a7th June we will have a webinar on the NWOW (New Way of Working) This was one of the major outcomes from the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) that was also followed by Advancing the New Way of Working, Istanbul Workshop. Turkey, 18-19 May 2017.Those interested can reach out to Marco Rotelli from ICVA to organize onhow they can join the webinar
There being no other business the meeting was concluded.