Peace-, State- and Trust Building in Practice : The implementation of the New Deal TRUST principles and international peacebuilding engagements in the Somali Region

Sammanfattning: Referred to as a graveyard for foreign aid and simultaneously a great example for progress in terms of implementing the New Deal for Engagements in Fragile States, Somalia is recovering from a protracted war, multi-dimensional fragility and deep mistrust. This research analyses how international actors contribute to peace, state and trust building in the Somali region by implementing the New Deal TRUST principles on a national level and by engaging in the peacebuilding process in Galkacyo, Central Somalia on a local level. Through a qualitative approach and case study design, the research relies on data collected through qualitative content analyses of reports, official documents and evaluations as well as data collected through key informant interviews. Informants involve persons working for the European Union, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme in New York and Somalia, the Civil Society Platform for Peacebuilding and Statebuilding, Interpeace Eastern and Central Africa Regional Office and the New York University with connection to the New Deal and or peace and statebuilding engagements in the Somali region. The findings, generated from the collected data, are analysed through a theoretical framework based on Wallensten’s (2015) theory on ‘Quality Peace’, Eriksen’s (2017) theory on Statebuilding and Barbalet’s (2009) and Eccles (2015) theory on trust building. The research finds that the implementation of the TRUST principles is scattered in terms of progress. ‘Use and strengthen country systems’ and ‘Strengthening capacities’ are the two principles delivering most progress according to the majority of the informants, whereas ‘Risk sharing’ and ‘Timely and predictable aid’ perform worse. The implementation of the first principle, ‘Transparency’, mainly referring to the sharing of documents, inclusive decision-making and reporting of aid to the Somali Aid Coordination Unit at the Prime Minister’s Office, has made moderate progress. At a local level, Interpeace engages in the Galkacyo peacebuilding process by providing strategic, financial and technical support to local structures, e.g. a joint Peace Committee and joint security force. The research identifies a tendency that the implementation of the New Deal TRUST principles has had limited impact on a local level. The development of the emerging FMSs has added an extra dynamic to the conflict in Galkacyo, a city divided by the two administrative regions Galmudug and Puntland. Furthermore, whether donor behaviour has changed in fragile states as an effect of the New Deal is debated. The engagements on a local level in Galkacyo tend to contribute to peace and trust building among clashing communities, however, limited impact can be identified on the statebuilding process and on peace and trust building vis-à-vis the Federal and State Governments.