UN MPTF Phase III

The last reporting period, 2022, was a transitional year for the UN MPTF III. It was re named Somalia Joint Fund (SJF), and it adopted revised Terms of Reference, an Investment and Resource Mobilization Strategy and a Risk Management Strategy. These 3 documents are integral to the fund's functioning and chart a new course until the new end date, 31 December 2030. The new fund has adopted reforms with the aim to improve the efficiency and delivery of the joint programmes in the fund. This then ensures that the overall objectives of the fund will be met. This reporting period 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023 was critical year as we begin to assess the impact of the SJF reform agenda. The UN Somalia Joint Fund (SJF) submitted the 2023 annual narrative and financial reports on time. The annual narrative and financial reports both adhere to the standard formats that have been agreed with donors. At the operational level, the SJF achieved the following: 1. The SJF was officially launched in Mogadishu on 10 May 2023. The Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) was represented by the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Planning, Investment and Economic Development. Donor countries, including Sweden attended the launch. This launch marked the end of a thorough consultation phase that informed the SJF's repositioning and reaffirmed the Fund's potential role in deepening partnership between Somalia and its international partners through quality funding for quality results. 2. In July 2023, SJF launched its first call for proposals. It received 23 concept notes from 15 UN entities in partnership with their national counterparts. The strong interest from the UN Country Team (UNCT) is seen as an indication of confidence by UNCT on the potential of the SJF as a financing mechanism for integrated UN programming in close collaboration with the government. 3. The first SJF Management Group Meeting, co-chaired by the Minister of Planning, Investment and Economic Planning and the DSRSG/RC/HC was held on 22 November 2023. 15 concept notes were approved for development into proposals by the Participating UN Organizations (PUNOs). 4. The SJF launched the first two programmes. a) Joint Justice and Corrections Programme (Rule of Law Pillar) and b) State-building and Reconciliation Support Programme (Inclusive Politics Pillar). 5. The SJF Secretariat also re negotiated existing donor agreements to reallocate 7.6M USD in funding to new programmes. These included unspent balances from closed projects. At the programmatic level, the following results were achieved: 1. Inclusive Politics: In this reporting period, through the newly approved State-building and Reconciliation Support (SRSP), sustained efforts were made to improve the federal-state relations through continuous National Consultative Council (NCC) meetings and dialogue with focus on power sharing, fiscal federalism, electoral processes and security operations. With the support of SRSP, the FGS steered initiatives aiming to enhance service delivery and social cohesion and strengthen transformative processes in Somalia that have the potential to shape the federalist structure. 3 NCC meetings occurred in March, May and August 2023 resulting in key political agreements, main one being on elections and chapters 1-4 of the new constitution agreed. However, Puntland did not participate nor endorse the NCC agreement. Additionally, the SRSP supported the National Identity and Registration Authority (NIRA) to roll out ID registration by establishing four enrolment centers. 23,794 people were enrolled, 16.65% were women. 2. Rule of Law: The Justice and Corrections Programme (JCP) was launched in July 2023, and started with engaging civil society on the Justice and Corrections Model. It is reported that a pivotal moment occurred in December 2023 when civil society organizations were included in these discussions for the very first time. There was emphasis on the importance of public awareness and education on the judiciary. The key take away was for the JCP's work to democratize and foster social cohesion through inclusive public campaigns to ensure that Somalis understand and support the new legal provisions. Reintegration forums were held to foster dialogue and communication between justice chain stakeholders and local communities for successful prisoners reintegration back to their communities. 3. Human Rights and Gender: The Joint Programme on Human Rights continued implementing the Monitoring Response Mechanism (MRM) on grave violations against children. The Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting (CTFMR) verified 1,742 violations affecting over 1,300 children. The violations included abductions, recruitment, maiming and sexual violence. The Women Peace and Protection Programme developed a manual on conflict related sexual violence to enhance the capacity of the state and non state actors in preventing and responding to incidents of conflict related sexual violence. The Women Parliamentary Caucus at both federal and state levels, was established, showing commitment to advancing gender and women's empowerment within legislative frameworks. 4. Climate and Resilience: This window is reported to have significant growth potential and has generated strong interest from members of the UN Country Team. 7 concept notes have been approved and this portfolio is expected to expand rapidly in 2024. 34,863 households, predominantly headed by women, transitioned to energy efficient cook stoves, resulting in a reduction of charcoal consumption and promoting sustainable alternatives. A Micro irrigation system was established in Baidoa by installing drip water conveyance pipelines for a 9 hectare irrigation farm At policy level, the FGS approved 8 Natural Resource Management policies. These include: a) National Environment Policy; b) National Environmental Management Bill/Act; c) National Water Policy; d) National Climate Change Policy; e) National Charcoal Policy; f) National Forestry Policy and Strategy; g) National Energy Policy and h) National Rangeland Management Policy. It is now important to follow up on government's capacity to implement and monitor progress. 5. Community Recovery and Local Governance: The 3rd phase of the Joint Programme for Local Governance (JPLG) concluded in 2023. JPLG ws implemented in 59 districts in Somalia and reached between 30 and 50% of the population, according to the SJF Annual report 2023. JPLG is recognized as a key player in the establishment of effective governance structures at all levels. At district level, JPLG's decentralized policies have ushered in tangible improvements in essential services such as health care, education, and access to clean water. For example, JPLG supported the rehabilitation of 443 education facilities in 18 districts, benefiting 541,420 students (58% girls); 281 health facilities in 16 districts serving a catchments area of 3,219,780 people; and 10 water points in 5 districts catering for a population of 57,551 people. The decentralized policies have laid the ground work for supportive legislation, such as the establishment of the Local Governance Laws. These laws have played an important role in shaping district council formation, delineating intergovernmental issues and clarifying the roles and responsibilities of district executives and citizens. On fiscal decentralization, JPLG contributed to the establishment of transfer mechanisms for resource allocation and enhanced revenue generation through automation, digitalization, and the creation of a conducive business environment. As a result, targeted districts are now generating investment funds, supported by improvements in legislation and policies promoting tax collection and management. Civic education activities resulted in 101,313 citizens engaged directly and reached 4,530,490 citizens indirectly through various media outlets, fostering awareness and participation in local governance and development. The gains made by 15 years of implementation of the JPLG programme have informed SJF's strategy for its Community and Recovery Local Governance window. Going forward, SJF will seek to develop a new portfolio that takes JPLG forward while ensuring increased attention to the requirement for more programmatic support to newly recovered areas. Leveraging on SJF's coordination function, community recovery and local governance will be closely linked with the Fund's inclusive politics, rule of law and climate and resilience programming. 6. Economic Development: The most notable achievement is that the Somalia Economic Conference was held in May 2023, organized by UNIDO. This conference showcased Somalia as a business destination. It featured the 2nd Italian-Somalia Business Trade forum and the Somalia Private Sector Partnership Meet, bringing together 109 Somali SMEs and 9 international companies. The review of the existing legislation for the re establishment of the labour courts was completed. In addition, a Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Strategy paper to inform FGS to stimulate economic activities through establishment of SEZs was prepared and submitted to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. 7. Social Development: UNFPA continued to make significant progress in enhancing access to Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services in 2023. It reinforced its commitment to maternal and newborn health by operationalizing 74 Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (EmONC) facilities, which played an essential role in delivering critical maternal and newborn health care services. 12 Mobile Outreach Units were deployed by UNFPA to extend essential Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) services to vulnerable communities, resulting in 4,943 women and girls receiving quality care, including 481 skilled birth deliveries. Additionally, UNFPA's support for the Campaign to end Fistula led to surgical treatment of 108 fistula patients and to the development of the National Obstetric Fistula Strategy. Also good to note that initiatives in family planning continued to gain significant progress, with 60,457 women or reproductive age accessing modern family planning methods. This seen quite a bit of resistance in the past. The Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment (GAWE) unit contributed to the prevention, response, and mitigation of Gender Based Violence (GBV) through survivor centered approaches. Advocacy efforts focused on the enactment of legislative frameworks protecting women and girls form GBV, including support for the Sexual Offences Bill and the zero FGM Bill. Risk Management: In the midst of unprecedented levels of risk and limited human resources, the Risk Management Unit (RMU) in continued work to further improve the efficiency and accountability of aid delivery in the country. In 2023, RMU faced increased demand for its services . On due diligence, the Contractor Information Management System (CIMS) continued to be a vital tool for enhanced due diligence, providing the UN and donors with an up to date view of NGOs and suppliers' risk profiles. 55 Partner Verification Reports were developed, offering customized risk profiles using CIMS and external data sources. There was also an increase in the number of donors and UN agencies sharing details of capacity injection support they offer to the FGS. This date was integrated into RMU's Capacity Injection Reporting Tool (CIRT), enabling better coordination, identifying capacity gaps and aligning salary supplements with government's standardized salary scale. On capacity strengthening, RMU worked with NGOs ti review their organization specific risk registers and integrate risk matrices in their work plans. The RMu also provided technical input to the FGS's draft NGO Bill, which aims to create a more conducive environment for NGOs to operate in Somalia. 2023 Financial Performance: For the period 1 January to 31 December 2023, 6 contributing donors to the SJF made total deposits of USD 33,353,813,against commitments of USD 34,785,126, showing a deposit rate of 96%. This was a 28% decline compared to the corresponding period in 2022. Sweden did not disburse to the SJF in 2023 because an appraisal of the SJF in ongoing and is expected to be completed in 2024. Only 3.4M USD was transferred to grants, about 15% of the total expenditure. This is attributed to 2023 being the first year of implementation, only two projects were approved for implementation. With a robust call for proposals done in 2023, 2024 is expected to have a significant improvement in contributions and more expenditure for joint programmes. The detailed financial report is attached to this report and is also posted on the MPTF Office GATEWAY https://mptf.undp.org/fund/4so00

The overall objective of the UN MPTF is to contribute to State Building in Somalia and the implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP 9), which reflects the Federal Government of Somalia commitment to the multi dimensional root causes of poverty and contribute to reducing the impacts of poverty experienced by households and individuals.    Despite the current political impasse and the challenges brought about by the failure to reach a political agreement between the FGS and FMSs on the elections, failure to complete the constitutional review process, some good progress has been made through the UN MPTF II in the areas of Inclusive Politics; Rule of Law; Human Rights; Women, Peace and Security; Economic Empowerment and Resilience as detailed in introduction of this appraisal.   This contribution will build on gains made and lessons learnt by UN MPTF II while continuing to lobby the FGS and FMS to reach political settlements, critical for Somalia's political and development future.   Specifically, this intervention will contribute towards improved inclusive and accountable politics, stabilisation, improved security and the Rule of Law; and enhanced social development through specific programming on reproductive and maternal health care. Strengthened gender and human rights; building resilience; improved management of environment and natural resources; providing durable solutions to long term displacement and improved governance within all pillars, will be mainstreamed in all programmes.  Analysis indicates that poverty in Somalia is driven by political fragility, conflict, insecurity and lawlessness, and exacerbated by climate emergencies. Political stability, security and the rule of law must improve to create the conditions in which efforts to support and climate proof economic growth can succeed. Social development is needed to fuel and sustain economic growth, through human capital development, social protection and disaster risk management.  Sida assesses that UN MPTF III addresses these poverty drivers and by building on gains made by UN MPTF II, will increase the chances of achieving the objectives of this contribution.