The European Union (EU) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) officially handed over the new Information Management Centre (IMC) to the Government of Somalia.
The launch is part of ongoing joint efforts by FAO in conjunction with the Government to enhance technical and operational capacity to produce and provide water and land (WAL) information products and services that inform policy, planning and future development initiatives in the country.
The IMC is part of the European Union-funded Integrated Land and Water Resources Management (ILWRM) project, which focuses on establishing a centre in each of the two regions of Puntland and Somaliland. The Puntland Centre will generate regionally relevant data, information and knowledge to inform the sustainable development of WAL resources in each territory.
“This Centre will support the Government in management of land and water resources, and ultimately the people of Somalia as we are all the stewards of these assets for now and for the future. We take pride in supporting the establishment of this Centre, and I envision to see it as a centre of excellence in providing state of the art services to develop the land and water resource base of Puntland. These efforts also require joining hands among the partners – EU, FAO and the Government – beyond the establishment done now,” said His Excellency Mr Said Abdullahi Deni, the President of the Puntland State of Somalia.
Joint work
The Centre represents joint work with the Puntland government, and a new chapter in Somali leadership of its natural resources. The result of this joint work is the capacity within partner ministries to progressively assume responsibilities and uses the knowledge generated to design and implement activities.
FAO will continue to provide technical support and capacity building to partner ministries to enable them to carry out relevant responsibilities, with FAO technical support tailored to the needs of the ministries concerning their mandates and capacity gaps. This reflects FAO’s commitment to build such capacity in Somalia and the broader region and is a first step in the planned phased transition towards national ownership of the SWALIM programme.
“This Centre contributes to the FAO’s regional initiative on building resilience in Africa’s drylands. Indeed, it strengthens institutional capacity and decision-making support for Somalia’s agriculture, livestock, fisheries and NRM sectors, and will thereby contribute to the strengthening of Somalia’s agri-food systems into the future,” said Etienne Peterschmitt, FAO Representative in Somalia.
“FAO is privileged to have contributed to IMC establishment, nevertheless the sustainability of this nascent initiative requires continued efforts and synergy among the partners represented here,” he added.
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