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