The Governance Programme promotes national and local institutions and serves to steward Somalia’s establishment of good governance and public accountability in an environment where government functions are emerging or non-existent. UNDP’s objective is to address the three identified pillars of Somali needs:

i. Establish good governance through initiatives at the national, regional, and local levels, including drafting of the Constitution;
ii. Enhance the capacity of  local governments: regional, local and district councils;
iii. Enhance the capacity of national institutions that support the ‘machinery of government’ and decision making institution; and
iv. Enhance the capacity of the local civil society and media that support peace and state building.

Toward achieving this agenda, UNDP partners with several UN and non-UN agencies and supports Somali-led initiatives through various joint programmes or bilateral arrangements.

The Governance Programme has currently three projects:

• Local governance — UNDP, together with four other UN agencies, works to place communities at the core of local development, to ensure that the services provided are relevant to a given community and that the local councils are accountable to the people and transparent.

• Somali Institutional Development Project (SIDP) — The SIDP seeks to implement institutional development and capacity building first by targeting the ‘machinery of government’ (parliament and central agencies), followed by professional institutions responsible for public administration.

• UNDP Somalia Constitution-making Support Project - UNDP and Somali partners designed the Somali Institution Development Project for south central Somalia, Puntland and Somaliland