[{"bbox": [83, 105, 1145, 186], "category": "Text", "text": "currently on **conducting the overdue elections**, these tensions are undermining the state building efforts and progress towards key milestones, such as **the finalisation of the provisional constitution, the agreement on the federal model, and the electoral system**."}, {"bbox": [83, 197, 1145, 331], "category": "Text", "text": "The political tensions and deep-seated grievances also represent a significant obstacle to achieving progress on the **security front**. Al-Shabaab continues to control significant parts of the country and carries out regular attacks against civilians as well as Somali and **Africa Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM)** forces. Despite the commitment in the Somalia Transition Plan (STP) to take over the country's security responsibility by 2023, **Somali security forces remain heavily dependent on international support** and cannot ensure the protection of the population."}, {"bbox": [83, 342, 1145, 526], "category": "Text", "text": "On the economic front, Somalia achieved an important milestone in March 2020 by reaching **Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative Decision Point**, which in turn resulted in the normalisation of the relationship with international financial institutions and the potential **locking of significant financial resources** most notably from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This notwithstanding, the political developments over the past year have led to the de facto suspension of direct budget support to the Federal Government of Somalia, who compounded by the economic impact of COVID-19, floods, drought and the locust invasion, is in a **precarious fiscal situation**."}, {"bbox": [83, 540, 1145, 675], "category": "Text", "text": "Given the current context, **credible elections and an orderly and peaceful transition of power** will be key for stability but also for reinvigorating **overall reform dynamics**. Achieving the EU's **strategic objectives** in Somalia is a long-term endeavour requiring sustained support. In the framework of EU's long-term engagement, the support needs to be structured in such a way to allow for a **dynamic response to the evolving political and security situation, while responding to recurrent natural disasters exacerbated by climate change**."}, {"bbox": [83, 699, 1145, 913], "category": "Text", "text": "In the **education sector**, Somalia still has one of the world's lowest school enrolment rates and poverty remains the main reason for parents not to send their children to school. **Less than 40 % of school-aged children currently attend school**, and less than half of those starting primary school finish it. Fewer than 10 % of school-age children attend secondary school, although there are large regional variations. Access to education in rural areas is another challenge and **gender inequalities** are found throughout the education system. Only a quarter of the female population and half of the male population is literate and pastoralist communities are particularly disadvantaged. Young people under 30 years old constitute 70 % of the population and most of them have not had access to proper formal education or relevant skills training."}, {"bbox": [83, 937, 1145, 1125], "category": "Text", "text": "**The Somali authorities do not have the financial resources to roll out fee free primary education**, while the **institutional capacity** of the different Ministries of Education to provide oversight and quality assurance **remains low** and requires further investment; sustainability requires deliberate strengthening of community-based education structures to create pathways through which schools can tap into locally available resources. In the short run, however, due to hardship imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, floods, and locust invasion, the ability of communities to contribute is heavily constrained. External assistance remains essential to reach the most marginalised children through targeted actions."}, {"bbox": [83, 1150, 1145, 1575], "category": "Text", "text": "**A fundamental challenge** to operationalising a fee free universal primary education system is the **lack of public resources** in Somalia, resulting from very low tax collections overall, and a low relative share of education spending in the overall budget. In this context, the still ongoing 11th EDF financed **State and Resilience Building Contract** is highly complementary to the current action to provide (a) an overall platform for policy dialogue on macro fiscal issues (e.g. domestic resource mobilisation, composition of the budget, key reforms to safeguard the integrity of public spending); (b) direct financial assistance to create space for additional priority spending; and (c) incentives to drive key sectoral reforms paving way for better teacher development and management practices, regulation of private provision of education and arrangements for inter-governmental education management. Equally important is the **EU's comprehensive strategy towards security** in Somalia, which directly affects education in terms of competition for scarce public resources, and (the absence) of security is an important factor affecting access to education. Similarly, ongoing and future actions envisaged in the MIP to promote **gender equality** in general may have a potentially big impact on social norms and specifically enrolment of girls. A separate TVET action is currently foreseen as part of AAP 2022 to target more longer-term trainings, specifically in support of the green economy as well as TVET systems strengthening. Business Incubation initiatives financed by the EU in Somalia and in the region will encourage incubator-universities engagement making a further and more strategic push on the academic side to enable them to play a bigger role in terms of research and innovation."}, {"bbox": [83, 1600, 1145, 1655], "category": "Text", "text": "**Other key donors** in the sector include most notably the **Global Partnership for Education** (GPE, for which the EU is the local coordinating agency), with disbursements currently averaging about USD 22 000 000 per year. The"}, {"bbox": [1051, 1662, 1157, 1687], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 5 of 23"}]