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National Authorizing Office

National Authorizing Office

About National Authorizing Office

The Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development is responsible for, and is keen on planning and coordinating the development priorities and activities of all national, regional and local authorities as well as development partners in a more coherent and organized manner in line with the objectives of the Federal Government of Somalia.

National Authorizing Officer is a senior government official appointed by each ACP state (African, Caribbean and Pacific) to represent it in all the operations financed through the European Development Fund (EDF).

In the case of Somalia, The Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development represent as NAO and work with European Union in the framework of EDF and ACP-EU cooperation.

National Authorizing Officer Roles

Political

Representing the ACP State in all appraisal the activities financed from the resources of the EDF.

Operational

Preparation, submission of projects and programs.

EU Agreements

Somalia ratified the Cotonou Agreement on the 3rd of September 2013 and the Secretariat General of the Council of the EU confirmed this ratification shortly thereafter. Following the ratification of the Cotonou agreement by Somalia, it was decided to gradually delegate the function of the National Authorizing Officer (NAO) back to the to the Federal Government of Somalia.

The Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation of the Federal Republic of Somalia, and the European Union signed cooperation agreements for the period of 2014-2020. These agreements which are included in the National Indicative Programme, concern the European Union Aid in favour of Somalia and were drawn up in accordance with the provisions of Articles 2 and 4 of Annex IV to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement, signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000, revised and signed in Luxemburg on 25 June 2005 and revised and signed in Ouagadougou on 22 June 2010.

How NAO Helps The Country

The Office of the National Authorizing Office of Somalia has become operational in December of 2015. Its actions were always aiming to strengthen the cooperation between Somalia and the European Union.

The NAO helps the beneficiary country to be at the centre of its own development management and to manage EU assistance at all stages from programming through to delivery and evaluation. To this end the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (Annex IV, Article 35) stipulates that the government of each ACP State is expected to appoint a NAO to represent it in all operations financed from the resources of the fund managed by the European Union and the European Investment Bank.

The management of the development cooperation between Somalia and EU is evolving towards a greater role for the national authorities. The Cotonou convention, of which Somalia is a signatory, places great emphasis on the role of the National Authorizing Office (NAO) in the development cooperation and has laid the role and responsibilities of the NAO down in Annex IV ‘Implementation and Management Procedures of the Cotonou Agreement.

NAO Major Functions

NAO Achievements

  1. Enhanced the capacities to contribute to the successful facilitation and implementation of EU support in Somalia through enhanced participation of the Somali government in programming and coordination of EU projects and in policy dialogue/coordination meetings; Capacity building of the NAO Office to empower it to participate effectively in programming, implementation, and monitoring of EU funded programmes in Somalia;
  2. Capacitated of line ministries at national and Federal Member State level and other implementing agencies and enhanced to facilitate EU funded programmes in accordance with the provisions of the Somali government and EU rules and procedures.

NAO Director's Message

The Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development is responsible for, and is keen on planning and coordinating the development priorities and activities of all national, regional and local authorities as well as development partners in a more coherent and organized manner in line with the objectives of the Federal Government of Somalia.

The Ministry of Planning recognizes the donors over the past period, supporting us to become a more peaceful, stable and democratic country, enabling us to progressively take ownership over our own security and destiny. The Ministry acknowledges the contributions of our international partners on development cooperation and its humanitarian aid efforts as well as its security missions. Our development cooperation covers several priority areas including state building, economic development, as well as the provision of essential public services to the population as well as the strengthening of our security and the rule of law.

We have fully allocated the resources in our National Indicative Programme and now invested in state-building and peace-building, measures to strengthen resilience and the provision of education service.

My Ministry was honored to have been given the opportunity, to co-invent the Inclusive Local and Economic Development project (ILED) initiative and we are delighted to see the programme expected success come through. The Inclusive Local and Economic Development project (ILED) is to help state authorities to provide services to their population, stimulate local economic growth and protect the most vulnerable in a number of geographical areas: including the regions of the Juba River, the Shebelle River, the Central-North region and Somaliland.