Workshop series for Parliamentary Support Staff in Somalia continues.
The training of parliamentary support staff of the Somali Legislative Assemblies under the German Federal Foreign Office funded project ‘Capacity Building and Legal Advice for the Federal Member State Legislative Assemblies in Somalia’ continued with a workshop on the topic Clerical Support to Public Engagement and Outreach Meetings.
The presentation covered the conceptual framework rationales, dimensions and strategies of public engagement, parliamentary outreach more specifically, and other countries’ experience with parliamentary public engagement and outreach. To make the presentation more practical, the participants of the workshop were then asked to develop a public engagement and outreach strategy for their state legislature or revising existing public engagement and outreach strategies, where they already existed.
The workshop was held for the parliamentary support staff of the South-West State Assembly in Baidoa on 22 February 2024, for the parliamentary support staff of the Puntland House of Representatives in Garowe on 4 March 2024, for the parliamentary support staff of the State Assembly of Galmudug in Dhusumareb on 7 March 2024, and for the parliamentary support staff of the State Assembly of Jubaland in Kismayo on 8 March 2024. The workshop series ended with the last workshop held for the parliamentary support staff of the State Assembly of Hirshabelle on 20 April 2024.
In all five locations, participants appreciated the presentation and the practical exercise, which allowed them to develop a draft public engagement and outreach strategy for their respective State Assembly or review existing strategies from a comparative perspective, learning from other countries’ experiences, and comparing their own situation to international best practices.