Somali Public Agenda is a non-profit public policy and administration research organization based in Mogadishu. Its aim is to advance understanding and improvement of public administration and public services in Somalia through evidence-based research and analysis.
At Somali Public Agenda, we believe that all Somalis deserve better public services including access to affordable education, healthcare, housing, security and justice delivered via transparent and accountable authorities.
Our Work
In order to advance the understanding and improvement of public services and governance in Somalia, we apply policy-oriented and evidence-based research. We intend to design public programmes and projects at both the service delivery and policy-making levels. We also expect to conduct practical and sustainable training on governance and service delivery.
Research: Somali Public Agenda contributes to the understanding and improvement of public administration in Somalia through research and analysis on various issues that affect public policies and provision of public services. SPA regularly publishes research reports, governance briefs and commentaries (always in both the Somali and English languages) on decentralization, public bureaucracy, and local administration; democratization and elections; financial governance; security, justice, and rule of law; urban planning and land administration; employment; and, education system and health services. These publications often inform citizens, policymakers, practitioners and the international actors on governance and public service issues in Somalia.
Dialogue: Public Agenda Forum is a platform and space for discussions on governance and public service issues in Somalia. The Forum (including Gaxwo & Gorfeyn monthly meetups) serves as an avenue for critical examinations of issues of public priorities. Different segments of society including researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners are invited to meet and discuss issues on equal terms. The Public Agenda Forum convenes dialogue with policy-makers and public figures, and organizes workshops, policy design sessions, seminars and book/report launches. Often the findings of the Forum discussions help inform Somali Public Agenda’s governance briefs.
Public Service Design: Based on the findings and policy recommendations of our studies, we design public policies, programmes and projects with the relevant authorities through our Center for Public Policy and Service Design. In collaboration with policymakers, public administrators and the community, we design knowledge based public services. Before government invest resources in the policies, programmes and projects designed, we envisage to experiment with the public service at a small-scale level to test the efficacy of the services designed.
Training: Based on the findings of our research and our co-designing work, Somali Public Agenda through its Center for Learning and Development offers short training courses to contribute to the building of administrative cadres that can deliver public policies and programmes to the community. The Center for Learning and Development aim is to connect the civil servants, policy makers and non-profit sector workers with communities and provide administrations with the technical skills necessary to formulate and implement solutions for public service challenges. Moreover, the center offers training to Somali professionals who have desire and passion to join the public sector as well as professionals engaged in the civil service and non-profit sectors.