Horn of Africa

Over the course of the next month, CIC is looking at the Somali New Deal Compact and discussing how its development and implementation have impacted its effectiveness as a peacebuilding framework. This post is third in a series.

Over the course of the next month, CIC is looking at the Somali New Deal Compact and discussing how its development and implementation have impacted its effectiveness as a peacebuilding framework. This post is second in a series. The first was on the Somali New Deal Compact’s implementation to date.

This year, CIC’s Somalia team has been closely analyzing peacebuilding efforts in the country. Most recently, we took a close look at the Somali New Deal Compact with an eye to its effectiveness as a peacebuilding tool. With a conference on the Compact scheduled to take place in Copenhagen this November, it is important to reflect on how this framework was developed and to study how it has been implemented to date.

After a marathon negotiation session, the Open Working Group (OWG) on the Sustainable Development Goals finalized its outcome document.

 Somalia has long faced a diverse and daunting set of challenges. Countless political actors have unsuccessfully struggled to build a stable central government capable of holding territory and delivering services. In many ways, the fundaments that have fueled instability and violence for decades remain, but since the September 2012 election of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, there has been palpable optimism amongst many Somalis and international actors, and there is a sense that we may be in a window of opportunity to make durable gains in Somalia.