Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (Somalia/Somaliland)

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) has been working in Somalia since 1964. After two decades in which cooperation consisted solely of transitional and humanitarian assistance, GIZ resumed its activities in further sectors, including infrastructural development and food and nutrition security, in early 2015.

Cooperation between Germany and Somalia focuses on the following areas:

• infrastructure and reconstruction
  
• health
  
• rural development and resilience.
  

On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the European Union, GIZ is currently coordinating six projects in Somalia. One of these projects assists local road-building authorities to rebuild the main transport routes. GIZ is also working with various Somali authorities and institutions and with private sector partners on developing a sustainable strategy for the maintenance of the road network. Restoring the road network also builds Somalia’s economic capacities, enabling goods to reach their destination more quickly and reliably while also achieving substantial cost savings.

A further project supported by GIZ aims to improve health care and advisory services for pregnant women, mothers, newborns and young children by training Somalis as midwives, obstetricians and nutrition advisors. The project also assists Somali health authorities to improve their efficiency and local coordination capacities.