To improve access to its products and services, SWALIM has opened two liaison offices in Somalia, one in Hargeisa to serve Somaliland and the other in Garowe to serve Puntland. Due to the political climate in the central and southern region of Somalia, it has not been possible to set up a liaison office. However a liaison officer has already been engaged in Mogadishu. 

The purpose of the liaison offices is three-fold:

• Increase access to SWALIM products

Functionally, the liaison offices provide a platform for clients based in Somalia to request and access water and land information. The offices host an archive of water and land information products, served through a digital catalogue and a reference library. The reference library mainly holds key water and land reference documents such as reports of pre-war studies and FAO water and land documents.

The liaison offices also support the development of regional water and land datasets and contribute to building the capacity of Somalis to collect, manage and maintain water and land data.

The offices are open to clients every day from 8.00am till 12:00 noon. Enquiries and requests can also be made through telephone and email. Products in electronic format are provided free of charge. 

• Link to Government Ministries

In most countries, land and water data collection is managed by government ministries to ensure long-term continuity. SWALIM explores opportunities for closer collaboration with government ministries as potential institutions to take up the land and water data collection networks in the future. For this reason, the liaison offices play a key role in building collaboration between SWALIM and government ministries.

Through this collaboration, SWALIM explores opportunities for developing the capacity of relevant ministries to maintain and manage respective land and water datasets. To encourage participation and involvement of all relevant ministries, inter-ministerial coordination committees (IMCC) have been set up in the different regions.

The IMCCs guide and coordinate government ministries collaboration with SWALIM and the liaison offices. In the long term, SWALIM aims to transfer the functions of the liaison offices to Somali authorities or institutions with the capacity to manage water and land information. 

• Link to International and Local NGOs

The liaison offices also facilitate collaboration with other partners in Somalia.

To contact the liaison offices, e-mail to: Somaliland - (aismail@faoswalim.org ), Puntland - (OAbdulle@faoswalim.org), Central-South - (himan@faoswalim.org), Nairobi - (enquiries@faoswalim.org).