Brief Description

In November 2017, the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs (MOCA), the Independent Constitutional Review and Implementation Commission (ICRIC) and the Oversight Committee (OC), the key stakeholders in Somalia’s constitutional review process, developed a Roadmap and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) based on consultations and negotiations with the President and Prime Minister of Somalia. These documents also reflect the results of two major consultative gatherings between regional and federal role players held in Kismayo and Mogadishu in October and November 2017.

The Roadmap for constitutional review defines three key objectives, namely, to have a national constitution completed within the mandated timeframe by December 2019, to ensure that the review process is based on national dialogue and public consultation with the Somali people and key stakeholder, and to educate the Somali citizens about the process through broader civic education programs that empowers the society at large to contribute, and engage in the review process, possibly ensure their constitutional rights are well captured.

Furthermore, an MoU was signed between MoCA, the OC and ICRIC, as foreseen in the Provisional Constitution specifically in Articles 133, 134 and in Law No. 199 of 3 July 2013. The MoU defines the cooperation between these three constitutional review bodies and defines the basic principles, as well as shared and individual duties and responsibilities as well as dispute resolution mechanisms.

The Roadmap and MoU define the guiding principles for the constitutional review process, namely a fixed timeline, Somali ownership, continuation and recognition of the work done by the 9th parliament, inclusivity, transparency, participation, accountability as well as partnership and cooperation. This UNDP programme envisages to assist the key stakeholders in upholding these principles while carrying out their respective mandates. This UNDP capacity development programme is fully aligned with the national vision of the constitutional review process and the respective planning schedule and the key deliverables outlined in the Roadmap, namely: regularization of the constitution, negotiations on political issues, allocation of powers between the Federal Government and the Federal Member States (FMS), tabling and publication of the 9th Parliament’s Constitutional Options report, civic education and public participation, national dialogue and consensus-building forum, review and adoption of the constitution, referendum or national validation, and alignment of FMS Constitutions with the Federal Constitution.