Mayors and senior government officials from the Federal Republic of Somalia are set to hold a forum in Kigali that will be followed by field visits to different parts of the country.
Set to take place from Monday, 14 to 18 February 2022, the forum will be hosted by the Rwanda Association of Local Government Authorities (RALGA).
The forum is organized by the Somali Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation (MoIFAR) with support from UN-Habitat and the UN Joint Program for Local Government (JPLG).
It is expected to provide a platform for participants to reflect on the governance structures of the Horn of Africa country and pressing governance and development issues such as urbanization, decentralization, displacement, disaster management, and localization of services.
Rwanda’s success story in terms of local government will serve as a case study in reconciliation, state-building, economic development, institutional development, and decentralised service delivery.
During their one-week visit, the Somali mayors will also conduct field visits in public and private institutions among other places to learn from Rwanda’s home-grown solutions.
Ladislas Ngendahimana, RALGA’s Secretary-General, commended Somali authorities and the UN Habitat for selecting Rwanda to host the forum and ensured RALGA’s commitment to make it successful.
"We are thrilled that Rwanda was chosen to host this forum. This indicates the trust in Rwanda’s Local Government efficiency in fostering decentralization and local economic development, so we are honored."
The head of the Somali Mayors' delegation, Said Abdullahi Alasow, the Director General in the Ministry of Interior Federal Affairs and Reconciliation, states that Somali Mayors could not have found a better country than Rwanda to organize their forum.
"For the past two decades, this country has made a remarkable stride in terms of national unity, reconciliation and economic development, so Rwanda has accumulated many successes that can inspire Somalia in our national reconstruction journey."
Since 2008, the UN Joint Programme for local governance has been supporting the implementation of several local government reforms in Somalia, including the formation of the Association of Local Government Authorities in Somaliland (ALGASL) and the Association of Local Government Association in Puntland (ALGAPL).
This programme, in close collaboration with relevant Somalia authorities, is facilitating the creation of the Somali Mayors Forum to consolidate its interventions in the Federal Republic of Somalia.