Global Partnership for Education Could Become a “Vehicle for Marginalisation in Somalia”

[Deeq A.]

The political map that Somaliland Administration used to apply for Global Partnership for Education grants.

Mogadishu (PP News Desk) — The Global Partnership for Education, an initiative to expand educational opportunities in developing countries, faces accusations that funders are shirking their duty to do due diligence about applications for grants.

The breakaway Somaliland Administration in Northern Somalia has applied for funds totalling USD 27,155,494 under the rubric of System Transformation Grant, Girls Education Accelerator and System Capacity Grant.

Somaliland Administration included in the application a political map and claims that it is sovereign country controlling Sool, a four-district region (Laascaanood, Taleex, Xuddun and Caynaba). Currently, Somaliland administration controls only Caynaba. Despite ‘educational barriers’ being among the challenges the project aims to address, the shelling of Laascaanood in 2023 by Somaliland forces destroyed schools, health centres and caused the displacement of more than 350,000 people. In the application, the Somaliland Administration did not specify to which districts of its “administrative units” will funds be committed.

In the absence of clarity about how Global Partnership for Education funds will be used in Northern Somalia there is a growing risk that the timely educational initiative will not create a value for “the education of all boys and girls in 59 low-income countries”. Rather, it could become a vehicle for marginalisation if certain administrations do not submit bona fide applications for GPE grants.

© Puntland Post, 2024

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