Editorial

A report by the Nairobi-based firm Wasafiri Consulting came across the Stability Fund’s desk this week, which looked at the challenges and opportunities for international donors of working with local organisations in Somalia.  It started with the quote by an un-named donor representative “If we are not there to build local capacity, what are we there to do?” and goes on to describe how “much investment in capacity building appears directed toward delivering donor projects, rather than improving local impact”.

The concerns highlighted in the report resonate strongly with the Stability Fund, where we view partnership with Somali organisations whether government, private companies, civil society or others as key to what we do.  That’s why this issue of the Stability Fund newsletter focuses on partnership – with the Prime Minister’s Office, with local government in Dhusamareb and Abudwak, with the company Solargen Technologies and the NGO AVORD.  In all of these cases, the ideas and decisions about where the money goes come not from the Stability Fund team, but from the various organisations involved and from the partnerships that have evolved between them.  What better way to build capacity and deliver local impact in Somalia than to put the decisions in the hands of Somali organisations?