Somalia

For years women in Mogadishu have been on the side-lines in the fight against al-Shabaab, but more recently they have begun to play a more active role by providing critical information about suspicious activity and people to security agencies, officials told Sabahi.

Somali Ministry of Women and Human Rights in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund and United Nations Children's Fund opened a three-day training in Mogadishu Sunday (July 6th) on ways to combat gender-based violence (GBV), Somalia's Goobjoog News reported.

More than 50 women will receive capacity building training in responding to GBV, including rape.

Somali Ministry of Women and Human Rights in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund and United Nations Children's Fund opened a three-day training in Mogadishu Sunday (July 6th) on ways to combat gender-based violence (GBV), Somalia's Goobjoog News reported.

More than 50 women will receive capacity building training in responding to GBV, including rape.

Sierra Leone is demonstrating that it understands the important role women can play as peacekeepers. Half of the 50 Sierra Leone military personnel participating in a recent workshop by USIP on negotiations and communication in peacekeeping were women, an important development considering the unit will be deployed in Somalia.

Women from the 17 districts of Mogadishu have staged anti-Al Shabaab protest in Mogadishu in support of lasting peace and tranquility across the war-ravaged nation on Sunday, Garowe Online reports.

In recent years, Somali women and girls living in makeshift camps in and around Mogadishu have experienced a wave of sexual violence. Local and international rights organizations have blamed both government soldiers and militia groups. In a report released Thursday, Human Rights Watch called on the Somali government to adopt reforms to deal with widespread sexual violence against women.

Somalia's new cabinet should urgently adopt meaningful reforms to confront rampant sexual violence, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Over the past year, women and girls endured high levels of rape and sexual abuse, including by government soldiers, in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.

At an early age, Faduma began to learn an art that has been passed down her family from generation to generation. Her hands are slightly worn and slow-moving as she demonstrates how to weave the edge of a straw mat to the woman beside her.

The Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) Ambassador Mahamat Saleh Annadif has applauded the relentless efforts of Somali women in shaping the country's destiny during a meeting with female representatives of the Somali civil society.