Foundation organised a workshop on local governments in federal systems for staff at the Ministry of Interior and Federal Affairs in Somalia
The Max Planck Foundation organised a workshop on the 8 February 2016 for the Somali Ministry of Interior and Federal Affairs (MoIFA) on local governments in federal systems. The workshop is part of a series of knowledge building training and was attended by 25 participants who work at the Ministry on questions directly or indirectly related to the federalisation process in Somalia.
Covering a wide range of countries, participants learned how federal systems institutionally, fiscally and democratically organised their local governments. Under the guidance of the Max Planck Foundation’s Technical Legal Advisors, the workshop provided participants with an insight into comparative experiences on local government together with a close examination of Somalia’s past and current local government arrangements.
Local governance is a particularly salient topic for MoIFA as it undertakes efforts to strengthen local government structures in Somalia (where they exist) and support their establishment, where they are emerging. Moreover, with the formation process of Federal Member States coming to an end, a number of important issues related to local governance are expected to come to the fore and require the Ministry’s attention.
It is expected that this workshop has provided the participants with relevant knowledge and tools to contextualise and analyse the role of local governments in enhancing democracy, promoting development, and strengthening the federal system in Somalia.