Norway has remained a consistent and strategic partner in Somalia’s journey toward stability, state-building, and long-term development. Through sustained investments in peacebuilding, institutional strengthening, and resilience, Norway continues to support efforts that address the root causes of fragility while delivering tangible results for communities. 

Over the past years, the Norway-UNDP-Somalia partnership—through joint UN initiatives such as Saameynta, Dowlad-Kaab, and the Internal Displacement Solutions Fund (IDSF)—has achieved significant milestones. Some of the key results to which Norway provided co-funding include supporting more than 74,000 internally displaced people with durable solutions, and benefiting 5,000 community members through improved household income and increased availability of locally processed food products through the Saameynta programme. More recently, through the Dowlad-Kaab programme, more than one million people have benefited from improved municipal infrastructure and services, over 450 government staff have been trained in governance and service delivery, and over 1,200 people have been engaged in district development planning processes. With support from the Internal Displacement Solutions Fund, Somalia formulated and launchd the Solutions Pathways Action Plan – a costed framework to support 1 million IDPs – and established the national Durable Solutions Centre.

In this edition of UNDP Somalia’s “IN THE SPOTLIGHT” series, Norwegian Ambassador to Somalia Siv Cathrine Moe reflects on the impact of this partnership, key achievements over the past year, and Norway’s priorities as Somalia navigates a critical phase of transition and recovery.

Excerpts: 

Q: What are Norway’s strategic development priorities for Somalia?

Norway's support aims to build the foundations necessary for a functional and stable Somalia. We support stabilization, state-building, humanitarian assistance, and resilience-building activities. Somalia faces persistent conflict, weak governance, and limited economic opportunity. By supporting stabilization through the Nordic International Support Foundation (NIS), state capacity through the World Bank, broader development through the Somalia Joint Fund (including UNDP), and international non-governmental organizations such as the Norwegian Refugee Council, Norwegian Church Aid and ADRA, we address the root causes of fragility. These investments are critical. They increase the legitimacy of the formal state, which competes with Al-Shabaab in service provision. Others, such as the National Identity Card project, are transformative in moving Somalia along the trajectory of recovery from conflict. Somalia’s stability is important to prevent humanitarian disasters, counter violent extremism, and foster global trade as it borders a key trade route.

Q: Looking back at 2025, how would you assess the impact of our partnership in Somalia? 

Firstly, our support through the Somalia Joint fund (SJF) is a long-standing commitment from the Government of Norway. By channeling our funding through a joint UN fund, we not only support individual UN agencies at country level but also promote a one UN agenda enabling UN agencies to cooperate more closely together.  Our support through the SJF is helping ordinary Somalis and strengthening institutions. Through our partnership, and working with civil society, we have facilitated resolution of clan conflicts across Somalia's Federal Member States, securing agreements involving elders, women, youth, and government. At the national level, the Reconciliation Framework was launched. Peace education is now formally embedded in higher education. Through our support, over 118,000 citizens, including 38,000 internally displaced persons, have obtained legal identity documents. This is an important milestone in combating money laundering, a step towards holding direct elections, and will contribute significantly to combating corruption and improving the financial sector. We also value our partnership in supporting civil society to play a more active role in peacebuilding. We however need to move beyond “inputs," such as the number of people trained, infrastructure built but emphasize on the actual outcomes we’re trying to achieve e.g., more accountable institutions, conflicts resolved and political agreements on contentious issues.

Q: Looking ahead, what would you consider the major priorities in the coming years?

UNDP has been a critical partner in Somalia. Through the SJF, you have implemented important work for us on stabilization, human rights, peace building, reconciliation, and state building. The UN political mission and the wider UN family also provide important political access and convening power. When supporting institutional reform in a politically charged environment, that positioning matters. By pooling our efforts with others, we have ensured more integrated programming. Looking ahead, as the UN Transition Mission in Somalia comes to its close, there is a risk we may lose expertise that provided critical analysis underpinning our work. UNDP should therefore continue to prioritize a deep understanding of the local political economy. Our focus on women and girls and human rights is critical, and we will follow investments in these areas through the SJF closely.

Q: What message would you like to share with the Somali people and stakeholders regarding your commitment to supporting Somalia’s development journey?

Somalia is an important partner for Norway, and we are committed to advancing our shared objectives around peace, security, and mutual prosperity. At a moment when many donors are reducing their support, we are maintaining our commitments in 2026 at the same level as 2025. That is a deliberate choice and a signal of our belief in Somalia's trajectory. Somalis are a resilient people. We believe in the institutions being built to serve the people. These will take time to reach the level where they can adequately serve the people, but we’re keen to provide help in areas where the government shows genuine reform and ownership.