Hargeisa (20 September 2005) – The Civil Service Institute in Hargeisa, Somaliland was officially opened at the University of Hargeisa yesterday by HE Nuh Ahmed Osman, the Minister of the Presidency. The CSI is a public-private partnership between the Civil Service Commission and the University of Hargeisa, and focuses on developing the capacity of the civil service in such areas as management, planning, office skills and accounting. Private companies and NGOs will also be able to contract training services for their staff.

Currently around 150 civil servants are studying at CSI in its first round of job-related courses, which include Managing Meetings, Human Resource Management, Basic Accounting, Office Administration, Essential Management Skills and Strategic Planning.   With a further eight courses scheduled to start in October 2005, the Institute expects to have provided over 400 course places to civil servants by the end of 2005.   This will be achieved with a permanent staff of five, plus instructors on contract.

Abdirahman Ismail Hussein “Adami”, the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission and also Chair of the Board of Advisors which oversees CSI operations, stressed CSI’s crucial role in strengthening the skills base of civil servants, given Somaliland’s recent troubled history, stating, “The creation of the Institute represents a major achievement for Somaliland and I commend the ministries of Planning and Finance for providing 20% of the Institute’s budget this year.”

The need for recovery following the destruction during the war in the early 90’s was echoed by, the respected Somaliland Elder,   Haji Abdi Hussein who expressed the hope that the Institute would also be able to meet the training needs of sectors other than just the civil service, and requested the international community to help fund this expansion.     

Chief Technical Advisor for UNDP Somalia Governance and Financial Services Programme, Mike Bicker, identified four major challenges facing the Institute: Relevance, in accurately identifying and then responding to the needs of the Civil Service; Developing the Capacity of CSI to offer courses at Certificate level and above within two years; Efficiency, in ensuring that the Institute’s administrative systems effectively support the provision of training, and; Financial Sustainability, in identifying opportunities for the Institute to provide training courses and other related products to the private and NGO sectors and, thus, to generate income for the Institute.   Bicker also pledged UNDP’s commitment to developing CSI capacity and to “energetically seek funding in order to continue its financial and technical support to the Institute”.

In his final remarks before officially declaring the Civil Service Institute open, HE Nuh Ahmed Osman stressed his Administration’s expectation that the Institute should not only improve the skills of civil servants, but would also address attitudes to work and other social issues affecting Somaliland society.