The Association of Local Government Authorities of Somaliland (ALGASL), VNG International and Berbera District organized an introductory  benchmarking workshop between 16 and 19 November as part of the IDEAL programme in Somaliland. 

New insights were gained during these four days of peer-to-peer learning between the municipality of Berbera and IDEAL’s pilot districts: Zeila, Baligubadle and Las Anod. Host district Berbera introduced the other municipalities to different areas of concern such as service delivery, community mobilisation and coordination, sanitation and local economic development efforts. Sharing the ins and outs of the district’s collaboration with the Berbera Economic Forum (BEF) was also part of the programme. 

The participants visited several vital sites including BEF’s main office, Berbera’s local government offices, a centre for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Wajale port, the municipal museum as well as the Technical Institute.

The municipality of Zeila got inspired by Berbera and now wants to improve efficiency and collaboration by fishermen through the joint purchase of vehicles for fish transportations that have incorporated cooling systems.  

To get an impression of the workshop, you can watch this video (in Somali).