Somalia

Somalia has recently selected its parliament on Somali soil for the first time since the civil war of the late 1980s. This is a significant achievement since regional power brokers such as Ethiopia and Kenya, with the financial and logistical backing of the European Union, the United States and the United Nations, concocted Somali governments in neighbouring countries.

After two decades of civil war and being subjected to violence and unthinkable hardships, Somali women are now expected to have a voice in the country's government, Press TV reports.

If the African nation's constitution draft is passed into law, Somali women will be given 30 percent of the seats in the new Constituent Assembly and will be a part of the permanent Somali government set to take office at the end of August.

Representatives from more than 40 governments are meeting in London today to discuss the future of Somalia and its transition to a new caretaker government.

Somali women in the UK are calling on UK prime minister, David Cameron, to ensure that they aren't left out of negotiations.
Leaked conference documents did not mention women's rights or their place in the future politics of the conflicted country.

As the UK hosts a major conference aimed at ending two decades of conflict in Somalia, Faduma Aden Mohamud, 37, explains how she manages to survive in Mogadishu, selling samosas and cold drinks in a refugee camp to support her large family.ve in Mogadishu, selling samosas and cold drinks in a refugee camp to support her large family.

Sheikh Fu'ad Mohamed Khalaf Shongole, the chief of awareness raising of al-Shabaab, the radical Islamist group opposing the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, has insisted that unmarried girls should join the Jihad (holy war) against the pro-government forces.

As Somalia's transitional government and various stakeholders meet Wednesday to discuss the inclusion of the country's clans in the new government, women politicians have called for a greater role in the leadership of this East African nation.

No serious discussion on the advancement of women's rights in the 21st century can ignore the plight of Somali women. The unfortunate reality of a failed State coupled with the rise of extremist religious ideology have deprived women in Somalia of their fundamental human rights: the right to protection from harm, the right to an education, the right to good health, the right to a basic standard of living, and the right to freedom.

The women's Leadership for Peace and Security in the Greater Horn of Africa project was launched in 2009. The project seeks to maximize the participation and contribution of women in national and regional peace building processes. Forty women from the Greater Horn of Africa are the backbone of the project (G40) held a high level mission in Hargeisa, Somaliland on Women Building Peace from the 10th to 14th February 2012. P.M.

The First Lady of Somaliland Amina Sheikh Mohamed Waris inaugurated an international conference on the theme of “Women's Leadership for Peace and Security in the Greater Horn of Africa” on Friday in Hargeisa.

The 40 women conference participants dubbed G40 will in the five days of their discussions come up with an action plan that strategizes on enhancing the status and role of women in the Horn of African region.