Somali Women in Peacebuilding

by Monika Tsvetanova

Women’s role in peacebuilding has increasingly been recognised due to their contributions to reconciliation processes throughout Somalia. Somali society considers women as symbols of peace and the new life that comes with peace and stability. Despite their marginalisation in all aspects of decision-making and governance, their political participation has been correlated with peace and state-building in Somalia, illustrating the need to elevate their involvement in such matters.

Clans

Female participation in political or reconciliation matters has been limited due to their affiliations with the differing familial clans, creating the ideology that their loyalty is unpredictable. This also excludes them as clan delegates in negotiations and decision-making that can impact the fortunes of the clan. Simultaneously, these multiple clan affiliations can provide women with a structural role as peacebuilders, permitting them to encourage both parties to engage in a more peaceful manner and prevent further conflict. Due to their peaceful symbolism, young women are traditionally exchanged by opposing clans once they have reconciled. Svensson (2012) describes women as “bridge builders and remain the glue that holds families together, creating communities across clanlines.” Marriages arranged as a result of this seals the peace between the former enemies, further demonstrating the various examples of peacebuilding by women.

Along with holding symbolism for peace, a recognised gendered role for women is to build peace and limit conflict. Women’s efforts towards peacebuilding at a local, regional and national level in Somaliland since 1991 are widely acknowledged. Excluding women from traditional peace processes despite this role is due to the prescribed gender responsibilities, with the attitude that ‘women can build peace but only men can make peace’.

Women’s ability to intervene and end conflict between clans results from their identity as well as exogamous marriage preference. Relationships possessed by males in the clans will be their blood ties and agnatic descent, contrasting heavily to those of women. Females are connected to various other clans outside of their agnatic group. Marriages can be beneficial in establishing connections between the father of the woman and their close kin. However, if conflict occurs between the two clans women find peaceful resolutions to resolve it, proving their significant role in peacebuilding.

Influencing Peace

Influencing elders and others in conflict intervention has also been an impactful aspect of women’s peacebuilding. They have gathered resources to finance peace conferences and encourage demobilisation which differs from the male focus which mainly concerns a political settlement with the assumption that peace will arise accordingly. Such ideologies emphasise the importance of the societal female roles, with their vision of peace providing reconciliation and positive growth in their community.

Peacebuilding conferences in Somaliland, in Borama and Sanaag (1993) and Hargeisa (1996), would not have taken place without the collective of women pressuring the elders to intervene to end the conflicts. Despite these efforts, female participation in these conferences only extended to being fundraisers. Development was however made when pressure was placed on clansmen, with ten women permitted to observe peace meetings in Boroma in 1993 and eleven at the 1996 Hargeisa Conference; they still did not receive voting rights. The former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed the vital role women play in “preventing conflict and building and maintaining peace”, as well acknowledging that “women are prevented from full participation in peacemaking and peacebuilding”. Women’s participation in such processes is a result of women’s organisations enabling them to achieve these objectives at a national or international level, illustrating the efforts they have gone through to be actors in peacemaking.

Women's Rights

Leadership has been a dominant characteristic possessed by Somali women, with some arguing that engagement in peace work from Somali civil society organisations did not occur until women obtained a leadership position. Women involved in the 1995 Beijing Conference on Women were inspired to use their experience to establish the Coalition for Grassroots Women Organisations, a platform for peacebuilding uniting women’s voices and efforts. They have worked on promoting women’s rights and offering support as well as providing a major contribution to peacebuilding in Somalia and stimulating the engagement of civil society organisations.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, was adopted in 2000 by the UN Security Council. This resolution reaffirms the vital role women possess in preventing and resolving conflicts and peace-building, as well as stressing the importance of their ‘equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security, and the need to increase their role in decision-making with regard to conflict prevention and resolution’. The Arta Conference coincided with this resolution, with female lobbyists being successful in convincing Djibouti President Omar Guelleh to secure an allocation of 25 seats for women in the 245 member parliament and involvement in talks.

With the UNSC Resolution 1325 increasing women’s participation, the number of women elected to the federal parliament was 12% in 2012, with this doubling to 24% in 2016. These results were welcomed by women’s organisations as well as arguing that this allocation is lower than that reserved for women and further efforts would be needed to increase female participation. Some women’s groups such as Save Somali Women and Children demanded 50% of parliamentary representation and criticised the lack of equal opportunities. In comparison to this, in Somaliland’s 2005 parliamentary elections only two out of 82 seats were taken by female candidates, with only one of the two being elected, emphasising the progress achieved since then. Despite this improvement and significant effort, the promised quota of 30% has not been guaranteed, with female participation still remaining low. A contributing factor to this could be due to the importance placed on elders, who traditionally promote peace through meditation and communication. Gichuru (2014) also assessed the level of women’s participation and evaluated that the substantially low participation was also due to the prolonged conflict endured by the country for decades.

Women's Initiatives

The conflict resolution provided by women’s organisations has been immense, along with the successful use of their platform to promote women as political figures and their leadership abilities. Caroline Rusten, a representative of UN Women in Somalia, said: "Somali women have been portrayed mostly as victims, and insufficient recognition has been given to their role and contribution as transformational agents". She recognised women as agents of political change and stated that full inclusivity will reward a more dynamic and sustainable society.

Women’s achievements have been pivotal in establishing an improved society and promoting peace throughout the years. Former female fighters formed the Women Pioneers for Peace and Life in 2003, becoming ‘peace pioneers’. They organised peace campaigns and utilised the respect they gained as fighters to intervene with the military and commanders to minimise conflict in Mogadishu, emphasising their pivotal peacemaking role. Another notable accomplishment was the Ismail Jumale Centre for Human Rights, founded by Mariam Hussein, the widow of the human rights lawyer, Ismail Jumale. This allowed the monitoring and recording of human rights violations to ensure serious measures were taken to achieve justice. Moreover, Halima Abdi Arush, who lost her husband as well as family members in the Somali conflict, founded the IIDA Women Development Organisation of Merca. This aimed to disarm and retrain young militiamen, requiring their commitment to refrain from violence and return their weapons. Around 156 men were demobilised and were given tools, training and start-up capital.

Overall, women have demonstrated immensely impactful initiatives to encourage peacebuilding throughout several decades. Achieving such volumes of participation amongst women whilst they were excluded from political influence further emphasises their desire for change and a harmonious society. They have aided in disempowering mercenaries, reducing clan conflict, stabilised peacebuilding through ensuring civil society representation, as well as fighting for their participation in politics. However, Somali women still endure restrictions due to gender-based inequalities and the cultural barriers omitting them from equal political participation. Support for women needs to be widespread in order to eradicate these barriers and achieve a sustainable society without conflict.