Inclusive Governance and Core State Functions in Somaliland

This analysis, led by Alex Duncan, and working in close collaboration with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and other donors, aimed to generate feasible programme options for donors to support the development of more inclusive governance and strengthened core state functions in Somaliland. Options in four areas were put forward: a. political reforms; b. capacity building of key governance institutions; c. participatory governance and political inclusion; and d. electoral processes and political space management.

Our approach was based on the recognition that understanding the realities of inclusive governance and state capability, and therefore feasible ways by which donors might support change, requires a grasp of both Somaliland’s political economy and the technical (including managerial and human and financial resource-related) factors that explain exclusion and weak capabilities.