Women, Peace and Security in Somalia: Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325

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Women, Peace and Security in Somalia: Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 Women, Peace and Security in Somalia: Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 A UN-INSTRAW Background Paper August 2008 The United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW) promotes applied research on gender, facilitates information sharing, and supports capacity-building through networking mechanisms and multi-stakeholder partnerships with UN agencies, governments, academia and civil society. Associazione Diaspora e Pace (ADEP) is an association of Somali women living Italy that works for the empowerment of Somali women, both in Somali and as migrants in the Diaspora, in collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and local authorities. Women, Peace and Security in Somalia: Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 A UN-INSTRAW Background Paper Lead author: Toiko Tõnisson Kleppe UN-INSTRAW Responsible: Hilary Anderson-Taborga Reviewers: Nicola Popovic, Marian Ismail and Farhia Aidid Aden United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW) César Nicolás Penson 102-A Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Phone: 1-809-685-2111 Fax: 1-809-685-2117 Email: [email protected] Webpage: http://www.un-instraw.org Copyright 2008 All rights reserved Acknowledgements UN-INSTRAW and the author would like to thank the members of the Associazione Diaspora e Pace (ADEP) for their input and comments, and for their practical and theoretical work with the project: “Gender and Peace in Somalia – Implementation of Resolution 1325.” The seven members of ADEP are Faduma Abdulle, Ghani Adam, Farhia Aidid Aden, Sareeda Cali, Marian Ismail, Fahma Said Abdikarin and Lul Mohamed Osman. The author would also like to thank the participants of the two project seminars in Italy for their contributions. The project “Gender and Peace in Somalia: Implementation of Resolution 1325” was financed through a contribution from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Italy (Ministero degli Affari Esteri). The project has also received funding from the Region of Puglia, the Province of Milan and the Municipality of Bari. Women, Peace and Security in Somalia: Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 A UN-INSTRAW Background Paper Contents Abbreviations……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4 1. Background 1.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 5 1.2. UN Security Council Resolution 1325…………………………………………………………… 7 1.3. UN-INSTRAW/ADEP Project………………………………………………………………………….. 10 2. The Somali conflict and peace process 2.1. Post-colonial Somalia……………………………………………………………………………………. 11 2.2. The Somali Conflict from 1991 onwards………………………………………………………. 13 2.3. The Somali Peace and State-building Processes…………………………………………. 14 2.4. The return of armed conflict…………………………………………………………………………. 16 3. Women in Somali society 3.1. Clan, class and gender in Somali culture……………………………………………………… 18 3.2. Somali women: between war-making and peace-building…………………………. 21 4. Women's roles and peace-building in the Somali Diaspora 4.1. Resources and challenges of the Somali Diaspora………………………………………. 23 4.2. Changing gender roles among the Somali Diaspora……………………………………. 24 4.3. Relations between women of the Diaspora and women in Somalia……………. 26 5. Conclusion – Women, Peace and Security for the future of Somalia 27 6. Bibliography 30 Women, Peace and Security in Somalia: Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 A UN-INSTRAW Background Paper Abbreviations AMISOM African Union Mission to Somalia ARPCT Alliance for Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism ARS Alliance for Re-Liberation of Somalia CSO civil society organisation CISS Coordination of International Support to Somalia COSIC Council of Somali Islamic Courts FAO Food and Agriculture Organization FGM female genital mutilation ICU Islamic Court Union IGAD Intergovernmental Authority on Developments IOM International Organisation for Migration JNA Joint Needs Assessment NGO non-governmental organisation OCHA United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs SIDA Swedish Agency for International Development Cooperation SNA Somalia National Alliance SSDF Somali Salvation Democratic Front SWDO Somali Women's Democratic Organisation TFC Transitional Federal Charter of Somalia TFG Transitional Federal Government of Somalia TFI Transitional Federal Institutions of Somalia TFP Transitional Federal Parliament of Somalia TNA Transitional National Assembly UNDP United Nations Development Fund UNFPA United Nations Population Fund UN-INSTRAW United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women UNSC United Nations Security Council 4 Women, Peace and Security in Somalia: Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 A UN-INSTRAW Background Paper 1. Background This background paper aims to provide a background to the issues that will be discussed at the International Conference on Gender and Peace in Somalia: Implementation of Resolution 1325 , held in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania from 2 to 4 September 2008. This conference, co- organised by the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW) and the Associazione Diaspora e Pace (ADEP) and financed by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Italian Embassy in Nairobi, concludes the project of the same name. The paper presents an overview of the Somali conflict and peace process from the perspective of Somali women, considering especially the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (Resolution 1325) in Somalia. It gives a short introduction to Resolution 1325 and to the UN- INSTRAW/ADEP project, followed by a context- United Nations Department of Peacekeeping specific analysis of women's roles in Somali culture Operations Cartographic Section, Map No. and society. Section three gives a historical 3690 Rev. 7, January 2007 background of the conflict and of the participation of women's organisations in ongoing peace and state-building processes. Section four looks at the roles of men and women in the Somali Diaspora, and the relations between Somali women of the Diaspora and women still living in Somalia, and concludes with a brief discussion of the International Conference. The background paper focuses on the peace and State-building processes in Southern and Central Somalia, in addition to a gender-sensitive analysis of Somali Transitional Federal Institutions (TFI). The political development and gender policies of the authorities of Puntland and Somaliland will therefore be considered in less depth. The paper is based on a desk review and on the outcomes of two seminars held in Italy within the framework of the project, the first one in Milan on 23-24 February 2008 and the second in Bari on 3-4 May 2008. 1.1 Introduction Since Siad Barre's regime collapsed in 1991, a highly chaotic civil war has plagued Somalia. The country has been without an effective government for more than seventeen years and the war has left the civilian population to suffer endless waves of violence. Only the north- western region of Somaliland, which has claimed its independence, and the autonomous region of Puntland in the Northeast, have relatively functioning public administrations. 1 More than one million 2 people are internally displaced, and even more people have left the country to resettle in other countries of Africa, the Persian Gulf, Europe, Australia and North America. 1. Bryden & Steiner 2000, p.17. 2. UNHCR, 20 November 2007. 5 Women, Peace and Security in Somalia: Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 A UN-INSTRAW Background Paper The humanitarian crisis caused by the war has made Somalia one of the poorest countries in the world, with almost half of the population living on less than a US$1 a day and with a life expectancy of no more than fifty years.3 The birth rate is more than six children per woman, and on average forty-five women die every day in childbirth, while one out of four children die before the age of five. 4 Somalia has the lowest primary school enrolment in Africa, especially for women: the gross enrolment rate of girls is only 15% (in comparison to 27% for boys) and female adult literacy rates are almost half of male adult literacy (27% for women compared to 50% for men). 5 The situation in Somalia has worsened dramatically in recent years; in particular the current global food crisis has hit the country hard. The Somali shilling fell by 136% during spring 2008 and food prices have gone up exponentially over this same period, forcing Somalis to pay over five times more than last autumn for basic products such as rice and oil. 6 In vast areas of Somalia, more than 24% of people were suffering from acute malnutrition by the end of spring 2008, and some parts the country were already very close to famine. 7 In May, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reported that 2.6 million Somalis needed food assistance, 8 a number that is expected to reach 3.5 million by the end of 2008 if the humanitarian situation does not improve. 9 In addition, the armed clashes between government forces and their Ethiopian and American allies, and armed opposition groups, have contributed to the humanitarian crisis. Over 60% of the population of Mogadishu has been displaced since November 2007 10 as a result of the fights against the Islamic Courts, also known as the Islamic Court Union (ICU) and later as the Council of
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