By Ahmed Abdirizack

Throughout the Strategy’s development, priority was placed on maximizing citizen participation through a people-centered approach. Such engagement not only promotes inclusivity but also fosters a strong sense of ownership. Over the course of several months, I took part in many of the 43 consultations held across the country, reaching nearly 1,500 participants. These included civil society actors, religious and traditional leaders, justice service providers, women’s and youth groups, and IDP communities.

In Jowhar, I met Sahra, a 52-year-old woman from Alla-Aamin IDP camp, who told me it was the first time in her life she had been invited to participate in shaping national policy. Her story echoed a broader truth: for many Somalis, this was the first time their voices were truly being heard.

In Kismayo, within Jubaland State, participants demonstrated a deep sense of responsibility and eagerness to contribute meaningful insights. Actors from both the justice sector and civil society showed a shared commitment to transformative justice reforms — not only for their own Federal Member States but for Somalia as a whole. This collective aspiration reinforced the value of citizen engagement in shaping justice reform.

Participants consistently urged facilitators — from both federal and state Ministries of Justice and Religious Affairs — to ensure that their contributions were reflected in the final Strategy. Abdi Mohamed, a lawyer I met in Kismayo, put it clearly: “It’s our collective responsibility to contribute to national planning, and the government’s duty to meaningfully reflect our voices.” His words captured the spirit I witnessed throughout the consultations.

The enthusiasm and active participation displayed in these sessions are a promising sign of the Somali people’s readiness to drive meaningful justice transformation. According to participants, these consultations offered a rare but valuable opportunity for people to contribute their ideas and innovations to national policy. They also helped lay the groundwork for the National Transformation Plan.

Inclusive consultation enhances citizen ownership and ensures that policies are grounded in the lived realities of those they affect. By involving a diverse range of voices, consultations increase the relevance, legitimacy, and public acceptance of national strategies. This approach also promotes transparency, accountability, and sustainability in governance by allowing decision-makers to anticipate challenges and design more adaptable policies.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has observed that such in-depth discussions foster stronger social cohesion and a deeper sense of ownership among communities. This connection increases people’s investment in the policies, legal frameworks, and strategic plans they help shape.

Given the depth of citizen engagement during the development of the National Justice Sector Strategy, we believe its implementation will be significantly strengthened. We’ve seen strong public buy-in and commitment across all Federal Member States and the Banadir region.

Engaging citizens from the outset ensures that the Strategy is not only more widely accepted but also more practical and implementable. This participatory model places community voices at the heart of the justice system, making the 2025–2030 plan more inclusive, dynamic, and impactful. Our experience shows that citizen participation fosters trust, strengthens ownership, and enhances both the effectiveness and long-term sustainability of our justice reform efforts.

Ahmed Abdirizack is Project Associate at UNDP Somalia and a Somali Youth Development Delegate for the Arab States region. This blog piece is the second in a series on designing Somalia’s first Justice Sector Strategy. Read the first one: “How we plan to design Somalia’s first Justice Sector Strategy.

About the Project

The UN Joint Justice and Corrections Programme (JJCP) for 2023 – 2027 aims at promoting people-centred justice sector reform and service delivery. It will support formal and informal rule of law actors at local and FMS levels to design and implement integrative justice solutions through generative dialogues, promote political dialogue, and accompany learning, collection of data, and coordination, to facilitate the process towards a Somali Justice and Corrections Model which is people-centred, owned, sustainable and adopted