Training of legal advisors for the Legislative Assemblies of the Somali Federal Member States.
The Training-of-Trainers workshop, conducted in Nairobi, Kenya from 10 to 15 May 2023, brought together legal advisors for the Legislative Assemblies of Somalia’s five Federal Member States to foster knowledge and experience sharing. This workshop was part of a project, titled ‘Capacity Building and Legal Advice for the Federal Member State Legislative Assemblies in Somalia’ supported by the German Federal Foreign Office. The First Secretary and Head of Humanitarian and Stabilisation Affairs for Somalia at the German Embassy in Nairobi, HE Martin Stein attended the official launching of the program and made the opening remarks.
During the six-days training program, participants had the opportunity to delve into diverse countries’ experiences regarding federalism and legislative institutions’ effective functioning, as well as strengthening women’s participation in the work of legislative assemblies. The training focused on key areas such as distributing competencies within a federal system, ensuring compatibility between federal and state law, and deepening the knowledge related to plenary and committee planning and minute-taking procedures. One session was dedicated to emphasising the importance of women’s representation in the law-making process and their involvement in government oversight, highlighting the significance of promoting women’s interests at all levels of governance.
Presentations by the Foundation’s Research Fellows sparked engaging discussions among the participants, who analysed each issue and shared their perspectives on relevance and adaptability to the Somali context. Following each session, the participants engaged in practical exercises, examining factual scenarios and specific challenges.
The workshop recognised the contributions of local advisors within their respective assemblies while identifying additional areas where the state legislatures require further support and collaboration from the Foundation.