Hargeisa, 27 November 2015-- Through the UN Joint Programme on Local Governance and Decentralized Service Delivery, UN-Habitat is supporting the implementation of a Financial Management Information System (FMIS) in Somaliland. FMIS is a World Bank–supported automation solution that enables governments to plan, execute, and monitor their budget by assisting in the prioritization, execution, and reporting of expenditures.

It is anticipated that the new system will contribute to the efficiency of operations for both national and subnational structures. To this end, the programme assessed the relevant ICT needs and then provided the necessary equipment, including computers, servers, routers, printers, and Citrix hardware.

In addition, personnel from the Ministry of Finance were trained on specific software, including Microsoft SQL Server and Windows Server. The staff participated in the installation and configuration of the servers in order to gain much-needed expertise to help roll out the system in the future. Hargeisa Municipality is among the first institutions to benefit from the new system.

As part of this ICT infrastructure support, the programme also provided computers and other accessories to the local governments of Burao, Berbera, Borama, Gabiley, Odweyne, Sheikh, and Zeila, as well as the Ministry of Interior, the Auditor General’s office, and the Association of Local Governments of Somaliland. Speaking at the equipment handover ceremony, the Auditor General of Somaliland thanked UN-Habitat and the joint programme for their consistent support to develop both local and central government financial management capacity in a bid to improve transparency and accountability.