The focus of the programme on the district level is based on the premise that democracy should begin from the bottom and develop upwards; and to ensure that the citizens (men, women and youth) become engaged in all processes, including decision making at the smallest level of government, hold district councils to account and women in particular become economically empowered as a way of propelling them into leadership.  All this is undergirded by knowledge, promotion and respect for human rights by both the district councils and the citizens in the selected districts.  In this programme, human rights and economic empowerment of women are considered as enabling conditions that will make it possible for citizens to qualitatively participate and district councils to become accountable. The goal is that democratic governance is attained in Puntland State of Somalia. The programme objective is to have empowered women, men and youth and district councils in 6 district in Puntland exercising democratic governance. The programme will produce the following results:

• District Development Planning
• Spaces for Women Political Participation
• Civil Registration & Voter Registration
• Voter Education & Voter Awareness
• Political Parties & Campaign Information Dissemination
• Dialogue on Transparency & Accountability
• Community Forums on Local Governance, Service Provision and Budget Management
•  Training on Taxation and Tax Justice
• Training on Local Resource Mobilization
• Awareness-raising on the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights
• Training of women on market dynamics
•  Formation of trade associations.