Keep the peace to live in peace. It pays. When we established Puntland State of Somalia in August 1998, although Northeast Regions were comparatively stable save Mudugh, there were sub-clan fiefdoms and menancing clan militiamen and numerous illegal checkpoints all along the roads and main highway, on top of religious extremist elements like Al-Itihad Al-islaami. Puntland State, through moral and legislative authority, had cleared up these elements of societal anarchy within a short period of time. Full and enjoyable peace returned to Northeastern Regions of Somalia. From humanitarian situation to recovery and development, Puntland had moved forward to the status of self-government and delivery of public services, no matter how unsatisfied people felt, based on their expectations from an elusive government, following a vicious civil war in the history of this troubled nation.
Compare Puntland scenario with those Somali regions which are still experiencing violence and humanitarian crisis. There, nobody is talking about recovery stage from the Civil War. They still need humanitarian intervention.
During our Teams’ Joint Needs Assessment (JNA) of Somalia with the United Nations and World Bank in 2005-2006, we had discovered that different parts of Somalia needed different development approaches. Our conclusion was that Puntland and Somaliland had moved to development stage while the rest of Somalia was mostly in humanitarian stage. Ununiform development needs in Somalia is still a reality on the ground, and those regions in humanitarian or recovery stages couldn’t be allowed to hold back those which are in development stage, when considering aid distribution and technical assistance programs. Peace and stability must be the criteria to gauge development needs.
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