Sponsored by Somaliland policy and Research Institute (SOPRI)

TO: H.E. Mr. Dahir Rayale Kahin,
President, The Republic of Somaliland
Hargeisa, Somaliland

Mr. President,

March 27, 2007

We express our gratitude to you, and members of your government for the excellent reception and hospitality accorded to the Goodwill Mission. We also thank the leadership of the legislative branch (The House of Representatives and Guurti), the leadership of the political parties, regional and local community leaders, as well as members of civil society for their hospitality, openness and support.

As you are aware, the Goodwill Mission was mandated by the Somaliland Convention held in the Washington DC area in September, 2006, which was attended by about 1,000 members of the Somaliland Diaspora and friends of Somaliland. The mandate of the Goodwill Mission was to determine how the Diaspora can best contribute to Somaliland's development and the welfare of its people. In particular, to assess the progress Somaliland had made over the past 16 years (what some have described as Africa's best-kept secret), scope the many challenges the country faces, both internally and externally, and provide recommendations on how to address these challenges, including where the Diaspora can help. The Mission benefited from extensive discussions with a wide segment of Somaliland leadership and society, and visited different parts of the country. The attached Report represents synthesis of the Mission's findings and recommendations, summarized in the Executive Summary and discussed in more detail in the main text.

While the Goodwill mission does not pretend to have all the answers, the Report represents a good-faith effort by committed Somalilanders, whose only objective is to see Somaliland prosper, build on the successes already achieved, overcome the remaining obstacles, and realize its potential as a respected and accepted member of the community of nations. In what follows, we would like to highlight some of the main conclusions of the Report.

Somaliland has made tremendous achievements without much help from the outside world; it has established peace and stability despite all the instability in the Region and a strong basis for a democratic and participatory governance structure based on a national Constitution approved through a nation-wide referendum. The country has a well-functioning and in many ways vibrant private sector, an active civil society, and a strong print media. In certain ways, Somaliland is doing better than many developing countries, particularly in Africa and especially in the neighborhood, that are internationally recognized and which get substantial amount of external assistance.

The Report also notes the tremendous challenges and problems the country faces. If not addressed, these problems can undermine the achievements so far made. These include: weak and strained working relationship among political entities of the country, trading blames instead of cooperating to address the country's problems. The current political discourse is personalized and polarizing, and the existing state organs and political parties appear to lack articulated vision and coherent strategies for leading the country, while at the same time resisting the entry of new parties into the political system. Infringement on basic constitutional rights, such as freedom of the press, is becoming evident. There is lack of transparency in public finance management, and apparent mismanagement of public resources and revenues.

Read the report on our next issue of Somaliland Times or (SOPRI.ORG)