Somalia: Support to political associations in Puntland

Primarily through a large numbers of trainings, the intervention has managed to enhance the capacity of political associations/parties and their members on their roles, responsibilities and operations. It has developed operational documents and guidelines to make the organisations more fit for purpose and more gender inclusive. The first outcome of the programme was focused on gender equality, women's participation, gender in politics and related topics, which have aimed to strengthen women and inclusivity in political associations and in the Electoral Commission. The programme targeted three levels of women in politics - women in political parties, female concillors elected and women candidates in the forth coming election. The programme also established a multi-parti women's network where women across parties could share and find solutions to common challenges. The efforts made women and men involved in the preparations for elections and the formation of political parties accept the space for women within the associations. One women quoted in the evaluation stated that: "The skills that I acquired gave me the courage to contribute to decision making processes in our party. I participate in party meetings. Previously, I used to just listen and make decisions based on the men's influence. Currently, I take my own position and represent the needs of the women in the party." This statement clearly shows that activities have influenced the particpants and strengthened their ability to promote their issues within the political space. Party manifestos were adjusted to include women empowerment and institutional development for gender equity and equality. Other participants highlight that trainings improved their ability to take on their tasks and responsibilities in office properly. Also, skills in communication, public speaking, campaign messaging and much more was highlighted as skills gained. On a party level, progress was also shown as women were nominated to be a part of the Puntland Electoral Committee. All in all, the programme managed to achieve its objective of increase the skills of women active in politics to contribute to decision making, policy making and advocacy. The programme also managed to strengthen the coordination and collaboration between women in politics. The second outcome was focused on the institutional development of political associations in general - on policy development, campaigns, communication, leadership and so on. This had an effect on the political parties' understanding of the mandate of parties in a democratic society, it improved their engagement with citizens ahead of the election and gained knowledge on policy formulation. The programme also provided a platform for dialogue between the political associations and the Transitional Puntland Electoral Commission. This platform helped improve and make progress in the dialogue on the "one person one vote" concept, planning for the election and electoral processes. They also agreed on an amendment of the electoral law to make it possible for a larger number of political parties to take part in the parliamentary elections.

Outcome 1: Female political association/parties members have contributed to decision-making, policymaking and advocacy, as a network and have enhanced their skills; Outcome 2: Political parties/ political associations and their leadership have enhanced their understanding and skills of the role of political parties, institutional development and policy making. Cross cutting activities will include the learning that will take out during and after the project implementation including research, monitoring, evaluation, reflection and learning and capacity building of the consortium.