Survey on reconstruction project launched in Somalia

A largest survey ever on reconstruction project has been launched in Somalia with scores of experts with 7,200 questionnaires traveling to the remotest corners of the Horn of Africa nation, the UN said on Wednesday.

The United Nations-backed Somali Joint Needs Assessment (JNA) will see experts consult all sections and regions of Somalia in an effort to rebuild a war-torn country that has been without a functioning government for 15 years.

The JNA, led by the UN and World Bank, is a major technical analysis by 135 experts, 70 of them Somalis, in consultation with a wide segment of Somali people, aimed at securing a clear picture of present reconstruction and development priorities in the war- torn country.

A statement issued by the UN/World Bank JNA office in Nairobi said the national experts will reach areas that are currently inaccessible to international team members, querying the many concerned Somalis from civil society and regional authorities in order to ensure all voices are heard and included in the ongoing Post Conflict Needs Assessments.

"We are very proud that our Somali technical counterparts are taking the lead to seek and obtain information from the most inaccessible areas to enrich and strengthen the quality of the Somali Reconstruction and Development Program," said David Bassiouni, UN Senior Technical Coordinator for the project.

The statement said among those who will be consulted are business groups, youth, women, religious and traditional leaders, parliamentarians and regional authorities.

Post conflict needs assessments is a tool that donor countries, the UN and the World Bank have developed and refined over the years to help stop and avoid conflict in war-torn societies that are ready to move from conflict to recovery.

The questionnaires cover six subjects: governance, safety, rule of law; macro-economic policy framework and data development; infrastructure; social services and protection of vulnerable groups; productive sectors and environment; and livelihoods and solutions for the displaced.

Recent political developments to get Somalia back on its feet have included last month's convening for the first time inside the country of the Transitional Federal Parliament in the town of Baidoa.

Source: Xinhua