By Zakaria Hassan - Reporter
Somalia, 18 November 2025 — The Second National Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Conference has opened in Mogadishu, bringing together government ministries, development partners, civil society groups and technical experts to discuss how to strengthen accountability and ensure public resources deliver measurable results.
The conference, organised by the Federal Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development (MoPIED), aims to establish a unified national framework for evaluating government projects — an area officials say has long lacked standardisation.
Speaking to Dawan Africa , Mahamuud Ali Nuur, the Acting Chairperson of the National Evaluation Association, acknowledged long-standing weaknesses in how projects are assessed.
“Projects often do not meet their objectives. As Somalis, we tend to blame one another, but before evaluation can happen, we must first have national standards in place. We currently have a one-year interim mandate, and our priority is to establish a Somali standard to measure performance,” he said.
The gathering also examined how to improve tracking of public expenditure and strengthen the role of national institutions in oversight.
More from Somalia
Minister of Planning Mahamuud Abdirahman said the government must ensure transparency in how taxpayer funds are used.
“We must verify that every project is implemented as intended and that Somali taxpayers’ money is spent exactly where it is meant to be,” the minister said.
Officials from the newly established National Evaluation Association, which is tasked with building a coherent national evaluation system, said the absence of uniform standards has hindered accountability across government institutions.
The conference — now in its second edition — seeks to identify gaps, review progress and agree on new measures to improve monitoring and evaluation across federal and state institutions.
Organisers said the event aims to reaffirm Somalia’s commitment to transparent governance and strengthen oversight of public programmes at a time when demand for accountability is rising.
