Hargeysa, Somaliland, February 13, 2010 (SL Times) – A meeting will be held tomorrow in Hargeysa between government authorities and international organizations to review how hundreds of millions of dollars in aid funds where spent in Somaliland in 2008/2009.

The money was allocated under a five-year UN plan that called for investment to improve social services, reduce poverty and establish good governance.

Besides highlighting the achievements and understanding the failures of the program, the meeting will seek agreement on the next steps to be taken in order to ensure effective implementation of the plan for the coming three years (2010/2011/2012).

Some of the main objectives of the program included putting effective and lean civil service in place coupled with a sound and transparent public financial management system.

The program also aimed at the establishment of independent media commission and enhancing media coverage of rural areas, in addition to capacity building for media professionals.

It is however widely believed that the program has so far failed in achieving any of its above objectives in any meaningful way.

For more information on the program budgetary allocations, see tomorrow’s edition of the Somali language daily newspaper Haatuf.

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