Somaliland Police And Judiciary Receive UNDP-Donated Vehicles

Somaliland Ministers of Interior and Judiciary receiving 2 Land Rovers, 16 Hilux pickups and one Land Cruizer donated by UNDP to Somaliland police and courts

Hargeysa, Somaliland, June 14, 2008 (SL Times) – the United Nations Development Programme on Thursday handed-over a total of 19 brand new vehicles to the Somaliland government in Hargeysa.

The vehicles which will be used by the Somaliland police and courts departments, were meant to enable these two institutions improve their communication operations and effectiveness.

13 of the vehicles were given to the police while the judiciary received the remaining 6.

It was understood that under its ‘Rule of law’ programme, the UNDP has over the last 5 years provided various types of support including training and institutional capacity-building to both the Somaliland police and judiciary.

According to Mr. Abdouleaye Mar Dieyi who is the UNDP deputy Director General of the Bureau for Arab States, the UNDP’s assistance to Somaliland has in the past years focused on 3 main areas: rule of law and security, governance and recovery and sustainable livelihoods.

“Within these areas inputs are tailored to specific priorities in Somaliland based on consultations with our counterparts, main beneficiaries and development partners and the interventions of the 3 programme components are carefully coordinated to create synergies between the activities and maximize the impact of program output towards achieving the intended outcomes,” said Mar Dieyi who flew from New York to attend Thursday’s ceremony for handing-over the UNDP-donated vehicles to the Somaliland government.

The occasion was also attended by Mark Bowden the UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Assistance for Somalia and UNDP’s Resident Representative who said that the UNDP has doubled the resources it put into Somaliland from 3 to 7 million dollars last year.

He also pointed out the significant contribution to the effectiveness of UNDP operations in Somaliland that is expected to come from structural changes that allow a lot of delegated authority to programmes here.

Commenting on the delivery of the vehicles to the Somaliland side, Mr. Bowden said “It is very practical and tangible sign of cooperation with the Somaliland government in institutional building and in the promotion of the rule of law. At the end of the day it is some of the practical contributions like vehicles that make a difference to the capacity to operate and be effective and accountable on the ground.”

Meanwhile, the UNDP’s country director for Somalia, Bruno Lemarquis has disclosed that his organization will expand its presence in Somaliland by establishing offices in other regions outside Hargeysa. He said by reaching out to other regions, “the UNDP will be in a better position to have dialogue with the community, to assist their needs and to respond to them.”

Mr. Lemarquis said the next step for his agency’s approach will be to do more in the area of livelihood assistance.

The human rights component of the UNDP’s Somaliland programme has often drawn criticism from the public as lacking effectiveness. Although some human rights training was for instance provided to the police, however the impact has so far been weak.

According to a former senior police officer, the UNDP should continue providing assistances to both the police and judiciary while seeking security and judiciary reforms. The two ministries of Justice and Interior which together receive the bulk of UNDP assistance are at the same time considered to be among the most corrupt and unaccountable government agencies in Somaliland.

Source: Somaliland Times

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