Mogadishu – A group of Somalia’s international partners* welcome the successful discussions on debt relief and financial governance between the Federal Government of Somalia, the Federal Member States and the Banadir Regional Administration, held on 14 September in Addis Ababa. The international partners add:

We welcome the renewed cooperation towards debt relief as well as to advance public financial management reforms across the country.  

We commend the ongoing concerted policy and reform efforts to build fiscal sustainability throughout Somalia, thereby laying the foundation for more inclusive growthand unlocking development resources to address the drivers of poverty and vulnerability.  

Successful completion of the debt relief process will benefit Somalis in every part of the country by enabling access to greater resources from the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and helping to unblock private finance.  For the process to be completed, sustained and concrete co-operation between the Federal Government and the Member States on financial and governance issues will be essential.

We welcome and encourage further efforts by international partners to prepare the steps that would be needed for debt relief, should Somalia reach Decision Point, including preparing to release IFI resources and identifying sufficient grant finance.

We encourage the Federal Government and the Federal Member States, Banadir Regional Administration, the Executive and Legislative branches to sustain this positive reform momentum as well as to pursue constructive and effective dialogue to ensure timely progress on outstanding national priorities.  

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* – African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), Belgium, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia, European Union, Germany, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Italy, Norway, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), United States.