SPPECH BY H.E DURAN A. FARAH FOR THE SOMALI PARTNERSHIP FORUM TO BE HELD ON 07/12/2020

The Prime Minister, Ministers, excellencies, distinguished guests, all protocol observed.

It is with great pleasure that I join you in this year’s Somali Partnership forum, I am honored to share this important platform with all of you.

Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has made tangible progress this year. Among this is the roll out of the first government led safety net project. Baxnaano project, which is intended to support 200,000 households across Somalia is progressing well albeit the covid19 challenges. We thank the World Bank for their continued support to Somalia’s recovery efforts.

Another key progress made is the development of the Unified Social registry under Baxnaano project which is progressing well and expected to be fully functional by July 2021. This a key milestone to the debt relief process and we are all eager to have it finalized. Special thanks to our partners who are supporting us in accomplishing this key milestone.

The Ministry, on the other hand is leading on building confidence in government by creating structures to manage unemployment, which is as you are all aware a key concern for our country. Late last year, the National employment policy was ratified. This policy provides a clear roadmap to address unemployment in the Country. Unfortunately, due to Covid19 little progress was made this year however the Ministry has set out plans to see its implementation in the coming months.

As we speak, my Ministry is holding a National Employment conference, the first conference of its kind in Somalia that has brought together key stakeholders with the objective of discussing concrete solutions for addressing unemployment. This conference also provides an opportunity to initiate dialogue required to establish a National Employment Council. This Council is intended to be a high-level body composed of various stakeholders and will be responsible for steering the Implementation of the employment policy.

Last but not least, as a nation we must build the skills that are necessary to foster economic growth. A TVET policy has been developed and is expected to be launched early next year. A joint and sustained action will be required to secure quality training and to create new opportunities for our youth and we will be working closely with our partners to realize this.

Finally, I wish to thank our partners for their hard work and commitment shown towards supporting important initiatives that aim to support our most vulnerable as well as investing in our Country’s human capital.

Thank you.