The Use of Country Systems (UCS) is an increasingly salient issue for both the Somali Government and the international community. UCS refers to variety ways in which international partners can engage with national counterparts to deliver aid ranging from alignment with national priorities to direct implementation by government. UCS can serve as a means to achieve broader ends, including state-building, increased country ownership, and improved value for money; a transition to greater UCS also carries with it risks for donors.

The core ways to use country systems:

• On plan: aid is integrated into spending agencies’ strategic planning and supporting documentation for policy intentions behind the budget submissions.
• On budget: aid is integrated in the budgeting processes and reflected in the documentation submitted with the budget to the legislature.
• On parliament: aid is included in the revenue and appropriations approved by parliament.
• On treasury: aid is disbursed into the government’s main revenue funds and managed through the government’s systems.
• On procurement: procurement using aid funds follows the government’s standard procurement procedures.
• On account: aid is recorded and accounted for in the government’s accounting system, in line with the government’s classification system.
• On audit: aid is audited by the government’s auditing system.
• On report: aid is included in the government’s ex-post reports.