Somali women have a history of inclusion in mediation efforts. Not only have they played this role as part of Somali tradition but also as part of the implementation of the UN Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda.
The WPS agenda originated as a set of UN Security Council resolutions aimed at increasing the participation of women in peacebuilding and preventing sexual violence against women and girls during conflict. These norms may have international origins, but they have been supplanted by decades-long reproduction by Somali women and men alike.
Somalia was an early adopter and served as a key experimental site for this framework, with Somalis of different walks of life continuously and dynamically engaging with the agenda’s key pillars since 2002. Even prior to that, in 2000 – as international feminist civil society actors were still lobbying for the UN Security Council to adopt Resolution 1325, which was to become the foundation of the WPS agenda – Somali men and women made an historic decision to include women in the Somali National Peace Process in Djibouti.
Having long been infused with the unique activism, visions and political aspirations of Somalis, interpretations of the WPS agenda have over the years acquired a unique local flavour, though it is still seen by many as largely a foreign intervention.
By and large, interactions between notable Somali activists and international proponents of the WPS framework have resulted in outcomes that carry numerous social and political benefits. They helped grow the numbers of women delegates to notable peace conferences, and instituted gender quotas to bolster women’s participation in national politics. Such interplay did enable new political spaces for many Somali women.
Today, the WPS framework has evolved into a set of strategies that seek to promote justice, human rights, and the participation of women in national and local politics. And it can be a useful lens to understand and deal with the consequences of this conflict.
A window of opportunity
The next few months will be a key test in how Somalia transitions creatively and peacefully out of this election season. This juncture presents a new opportunity to decide how existing international frameworks can constructively address timely issues while maintaining Somali ethos.
Despite its long-standing engagement with WPS, however, Somalia still lacks a national action plan for its implementation that sets priorities and responses fit for today’s challenges, including sexual violence and the continued sidelining of women from critical political processes.
Such a plan could serve as a necessary blueprint to tackle women’s current needs (including treating sexual violence as a justice issue) while addressing new forms of political contestations where women and girls are disproportionately affected.
The recent crisis is an urgent call for Somalis and an international community of supporters to turn their attention to a Somali national action plan that weaves Somalia’s historical – and indigenous – commitments and salient global norms with fresh and innovative ways to respond to society’s new health and political predicaments.
Somali women are well-positioned to be discerning arbiters and effective mediators as the electoral process continues to unfold. Revamping independent electoral commissions and ensuring that women are represented in these commissions are two ways forward. Not only will these align with the WPS agenda with its emphasis on participation, they also echo Somalia’s own historic achievements of including women in large-scale mediation efforts. Activists, observers and ordinary citizens must also demand that leaders are held accountable for the intense violence and displacement of this year.
As consensus to move forward with elections crystalises, Somali leaders, now more than ever, must commit to implementing the 30 percent quota and meaningfully engage women in resolving the deadlock. Only by taking immediate action can the government help improve the security of Somali women and girls, guarantee their access to justice and secure their participation in the political life of the country.
Director of the Middle East and Africa department at Albany Associates
