The Role of Partnerships in Economic Reforms of Fragile States: Perspectives from Somalia
Poor and fragile countries are particularly vulnerable to adverse economic shocks (see OECD’s States of Fragility 2020 report). Historically, Somalia has been struggling with poverty and conflict and it is now also dealing with the added burden of negative socio-economic impacts from the COVID-19 crisis. This is in addition to decreasing agricultural yields from flooding and swarms of desert locusts.
Under such circumstances, the international community becomes crucial in sustaining livelihoods and avoiding further setbacks to reaching the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This includes direct development assistance from multilateral and bilateral donors, support for debt restructuring and debt forgiveness but also facilitation of private capital flows, including remittances.
In this webinar Somalia’s finance minister, Dr. Abdirahman Dualeh Beileh and Staffan Tillander, Swedish ambassador to Somalia, will discuss the critical role of fruitful and constructive cooperation between the Government of Somalia and the international community on continuing the path of economic reforms.
In this webinar, we will first hear about the current situation in Somalia from the country’s finance minister, Dr. Abdirahman Dualeh Beileh. Dr. Beileh will discuss the critical role of fruitful and constructive cooperation between the Government of Somalia and the international community on continuing the path of economic reforms. Given the present economic shock and its impact on both government revenues and the livelihoods of the Somali population, international support becomes particularly vital for maintaining the positive trajectory of economic and institutional reforms necessary in order to, for example, strengthen the Central Bank or implement legislation against corruption.
Following Dr. Beileh, Ambassador Staffan Tillander will talk about recent developments in Somalia from the Swedish government perspective, and discuss solutions being implemented to support the Somali government and people in the challenging current situation.
A discussion moderated by Anders Olofsgård with the two speakers will follow, with the final 15 minutes open to questions from the audience. You will be invited to submit your questions during the webinar via the chat function.
The event is organised by Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) and Mistra Center for Sustainable Markets (Misum) at Stockholm School of Economics.