JUNE 2014
to youth groups and the labor workforce. In addition, these
groups work to enhance the quality of the education sector
by supporting ICT4education programs.
However, NGOs have limited impact on ICT policy.
Recently, the group ARTICLE 19 has lobbied the Somali
government to enact more liberal media laws. ARTICLE 19
and the Center for Law and Democracy, among others, were
among the loudest voices calling for a redrafting of the 2007
Somali Media Law. Their efforts have so far been confined
to advocating through civil society, helping draft media
laws, and convening conferences. These efforts have yet to
yield concrete results, although consultations are ongoing.
The international aid organizations most firmly involved in
the Somalia policymaking environment include the UNDP,
WHO, FAO, and UN/OCHA. The Amoud Foundation
and the Adar Foundation, both Somalia-based, are also
important players.
Conclusion
The ICT sector in Somalia has been revolutionized during
the last 20 years of conflict. The private sector has taken
advantage of the absence of strong state institutions and
policies to invest in infrastructure and technology with
virtually no oversight from the government. Without taxes
and fees, the private sector has made enormous profits.
Political polarization means policy fragmentation. Each of
the three main regions in Somalia – Puntland, Somaliland,
and South-Central – introduced its own set of policies
and regulations governing the ICT sector. This posed
fundamental challenges to the ICT sector, as it has had to
tiptoe over various rules and procedures.
The existing policies do not cover issues at the national
level. This creates an absence of national policies, strategies,
and a regulatory framework. It also exposes the ICT
sector to legal weaknesses and undermines its efforts to
meet international standards. More importantly, it leaves
consumers unprotected from contractual violations and
infringements of their fundamental rights.
key challenges the government faces in constructing a
comprehensive media policy: a weak central government;
a geographically and politically fragmented media
environment; a strong private telecom sector that benefits
from a lack of regulation; and a preference by many actors
for the traditional xeer and sharia law systems, instead of a
formalized ICT regulatory environment.
These challenges – in part artifacts of a 20-year-long civil
war and political instability – are extremely difficult to
overcome, given the limitations of the state institutions
both in policy development and implementation.
Given the limitations of state institutions and the
government’s other priorities, it is unlikely that a new media
law will be passed – and more importantly, be implemented
– during this government’s term, which ends in mid-2016.
While it is unlikely that ICTs in Somalia will be regulated
under a unified national regulatory framework in the near
future, it is certain that the issue will prompt continued
and much-needed discourse among various stakeholders,
which can be vital to shaping policy outcomes with practical
solutions.
Works Cited
African Union / United Nations Information Supoprt Team for
Somalia (IST) (2012). Somalia: Media law and policy review.
Retrieved from http://www.law-democracy.org/live/wp-content/
uploads/2012/08/Somalia-Media-Law-Review.Dec12.final_.pdf.
Constitution of the Republic of Somaliland (2000). Retrieved from
http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_constitution.htm.
Manta, W. (13 May 2013). A two-day consultation meeting on media law
reform concluded in Garowe. Retrieved from http://www.qaranimo.
com/2013/05/13/a-two-day-consultation-meeting-on-media-lawreform-concluded-in-garowe/.
Republic of Somaliland Press Law of 2004, No. 27/2004. (2004).
Retrieved from http://www.somalilandlaw.com/press___media__
law.htm#Presslaw.
Somali Republic (2007). Somali Media Law of 2007. Retrieved from
http://www.article19.org/data/files/pdfs/laws/somalia-media-law.
pdf.
SomaliaReport (23 May 2012). Puntland’s media landscape. Retrieved
from http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/3268.
Stremlau, N. (2012). Somalia: Media law in the absence of a state.
International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics, 8(2/3), 159–174.
The absence of national policies and regulations that can
steer a national agenda on ICTs is perhaps one of the biggest
challenges facing the SFG. This report has outlined the four
Page 11