By Asha Elmi - Reporter
Qatar, 7 December 2025 – Somalia has directed all international health partners to align their programmes with the government's health agenda, saying national leadership and coordinated planning in the sector are essential to the country’s recovery, Health Minister Ali Hajji Adam said on Saturday.
Speaking at the Doha Forum, Adam said Somalia’s journey from prolonged fragility had shown that “resiliency begins with sovereign leadership of our health agenda.” He said the government’s approach “is built on top of this institutionalized in-country coordination.”
The minister said Somalia has established the Somalia Health Sector Coordination Committee, describing it as “the mandatory decision making body where all external partners, UN agencies, international NGOs [and] bilateral donors align their health program with our national transformation plan and our Health Sector Strategic Plan.”
He said health projects operating outside government direction have limited impact.
“No health project will achieve its maximum impact if it lacks governmental role or is not implemented in Somalia as it is not aligned by the government-led priorities,” he said. The new framework, he added, has “drastically reduced fragmentation and forced a shift from dozens of parallel donor driven projects to… prioritized national efforts.”
Adam said Somalia has adopted a One Plan, One Budget system to move away from off-budget, externally run projects. This includes the World Bank-managed Somalia Health Sector Pooled Fund.
“We are demonstrating that fiduciary governance and transparency are possible even in the complex environments,” he said. The approach, he added, directs resources toward “maternal and child health, infectious disease control, and building our primary health care backbone.”
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The shift also redefines development roles. “The results become that partners are now investors in our plan, not implementers in their own,” he said.
The minister said Somalia sees strong potential for “win win collaboration… that respect our ownership,” particularly with Gulf and South partners.
He highlighted priorities including resilient infrastructure, digital health and capacity exchange. “We seek partnerships to build and equip network of resilient, solar power primary and secondary hospitals that can withstand climate and operational shocks,” he said. He pointed to Qatar Charity’s neonatal intensive care work at Banadir Hospital and the King Salman Centre’s dialysis support in Mogadishu.
On technology, Adam said Somalia aims to “deploy integrated digital health platforms for patient records, disease surveillance and telemedicine across our territory,” noting the country does not need to “replicate legacy systems.”
He said Somalia is also pursuing triangular cooperation, pairing Gulf financing with expertise from Egypt, India and Rwanda to train health workers and manage pharmaceutical supply chains.
Regarding private and philanthropic actors, Adam said: “Our message is clear, we are welcoming them… but they must integrate.” Foundations may pilot innovations only “with clear path to scale within our national systems.” Private providers must join national reporting and quality assurance frameworks. “We are not a blank canvas,” he said. “We are architects of our own future and all actors must build on our blueprint.”
Adam added that Somalia is strengthening public financial management to “build the trust” of partners.
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