Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 25 April 2019 to Questions 245922 and 245923, how he measures the success of the UK's support for democracy and human rights in Somaliland.

​UK assistance is making a significant contribution to supporting Somaliland’s ongoing democratisation process, including through: improving the accountability of the judiciary and public security structures; strengthening the technical capability of the National Electoral Commission; and building understanding between government and journalists through support to a new media law. Nevertheless, there remain significant challenges on which we are engaging with the Government of Somaliland, for example, on the continued political marginalisation of women and minority clans, and the ongoing arbitrary detention of journalists. We also remain concerned by the lack of progress in the preparations for 2019 parliamentary and local elections, including the passage of electoral legislation in Parliament, and have called on all three political parties to demonstrate their commitment to democratisation and make the necessary compromises to move the process forwards substantively and ensure elections take place on time ‪on 12 December 2019.