Second Training-of-Trainers Workshop on Federalism for Somali Technical Advisors

The Foundation organised second Training-of-Trainers workshop to assist actors involved in the Somali federalisation process

From 7–11 October 2015, the Foundation conducted the second in a series of four Training-of-Trainers (ToT) workshops to Somali Technical Advisors in Nairobi, Kenya. The workshop brought together experienced Research Fellows of the Foundation and four Technical Advisors embedded in the Somali Ministry of Interior and Federalism Affairs (MoIFA) and the Boundaries and Federation Commission (BFC), the two organs spearheading the ongoing federalisation process in Somalia. The acting German Ambassador to Somalia, Mr. Christian Resch, paid the participants a courtesy visit during the workshop.

The capacity building workshops are part of a wider project to assist the Somali federalisation process, which is financed by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented by the Max Planck Foundation. The workshop series is designed to enhance the substantive knowledge of the Technical Advisors on issues of federalism and political decentralisation. Considering the lack of experience in federal administration in Somalia, the workshop series seeks to provide crucial support to the federalisation process.

Following up on the first ToT workshop, the second ToT workshop focused on the most recurring issues in the Somali federalisation process. Accordingly, the Technical Advisors were exposed to the law and practice in other federal countries in relation to fiscal federalism, the division of powers in relation to natural resources, the status, administration and financing of capital cities, mechanisms of ensuring the compatibility of constituent unit constitutions with the federal constitution, and the constitutional status, structure and mandate of local governments in federal states.

The Technical Advisors will translate each of the issues covered during the workshop into several one-day trainings for members of the MoIFA and the BFC in Mogadishu, Somalia. Based on the first ToT workshop, the Technical Advisors had already conducted the first round of follow-up trainings in September 2015. A total of five one-day trainings each will be delivered to the members of the MoIFA and the BFC before the end of 2015. The third ToT workshop has been tentatively scheduled for January 2016.