鈥楨mbedded鈥� Assistance: Finn Church Aid鈥檚 Secondment in Somalia
This paper explores the 鈥榚mbedding鈥� of highly-skilled staff members within local government agencies
Abstract
Donors face distinct challenges in operating in fragile states and supporting the building of state capacity. This paper explores one type of assistance 鈥� the 鈥榚mbedding鈥� of highly-skilled staff members within local government agencies 鈥� through a unique case study of Finn Church Aid鈥檚 experience with secondment in Somalia. Building upon FCA鈥檚 previous work in Somalia, its staff member worked as part of the Transitional Federal Government鈥檚 Ministry of Constitutional Affairs and Reconciliation to assist in the implementation of the roadmap designed to end transitional governance in the country. Although a number of such initiatives exist, few studies have explored how, why, and whether they work. Drawing on unique access to FCA staff and documents, as well as interviews with Somali stakeholders, donor representatives, and others, the paper explores FCA鈥檚 experience and impact through this initiative, one way in which a non-state actor has provided tangible, relatively low cost support to a fragile state.
Citation
Lepist枚, R.S.; Gisselquist, R.M.; Ojala, J. Embedded Assistance: Finn Church Aid鈥檚 Secondment in Somalia. UNU-WIDER, Helsinki, Finland (2015) 14 pp. [WIDER Working Paper No. 2015/037]