Women, Conflict and Peace: Learning from Kismayo INCREASING WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION AND Life & Peace Institute and Peace Direct share a commitment to supporting INCLUSION IN JUBBALAND PEACE PROCESSES local civil society in Somalia, with a focus on promoting active roles by women in peace and governance. In particular, the two organizations seek to increase WOMEN, CONFLICT AND PEACE: understanding and analysis of women’s contributions to conflict and peace, in support of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda as part of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325. In 2016, Life & Peace Institute launched a women-centred transformative dialogue-to-action project in Kismayo, later expanding to other areas of Somalia, in partnership with Somali Women Solidarity Organization. Through this initiative, Learning women shared their experiences, attitudes and solutions to the conflict through spaces in which participants from different identity groups were brought together. Women-to-women reconciliation and relationship-formation has led to practical joint peacebuilding work across clan divides, and women-led collective advocacy from on critical issues associated with the peace and statebuilding process in Somalia. Building on this work, Somali Women Solidarity Organization, Life & Peace Institute and Peace Direct undertook this study, in order to amplify local insights and experiences of violent conflict in Kismayo and wider Somalia. The findings Kismayo show that intra- and inter-clan conflict requires efforts by both women and men, through processes in which women are critical – by supporting and engaging A STUDY REPORT directly in violence. It also evidences that women are able to construct unique APRIL 2018 pathways to peace, often taking exceptional risks to do so. The study demonstrates, primarily, that the inclusion of women in transforming the drivers of violence in Somalia, and in peace processes and the achievement of political settlements, is not only a policy aspiration but a fundamental requirement for sustainable peace. LIFE & PEACE INSTITUTE ◆ PEACE DIRECT ◆ SOMALI WOMEN SOLIDARITY ORGANIZATION INCREASING WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION AND INCLUSION IN JUBBALAND PEACE PROCESSES WOMEN, CONFLICT AND PEACE: Learning from Kismayo A STUDY REPORT APRIL 2018 Life & Peace Institute Peace Direct Somali Women Solidarity Organization Women, Conflict and Peace: Learning from Kismayo © Life & Peace Institute 2018 Graphic design: Georg Lulich Grafisk Form 2018 This report has been produced by the Life & Peace Institute, in partnership with Peace Direct and the Somali Women Solidarity Organization, with the support of the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) and the European Union (EU). The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the institutional policies or views of Sida and the EU. The publication is the sole property of the Life & Peace Institute, Peace Direct and the Somali Women Solidarity Organization. The copyright of all content, including text, illustrations and design rests with the Life & Peace Institute, Peace Direct and the Somali Women Solidarity Organization and may not be copied, transmitted or reproduced, in part or whole, without the prior consent of the three organizations. 3 Lead agencies in the research Life & Peace Institute The Life & Peace Institute (LPI) is an international centre with headquarters in Uppsala, Sweden. The institute supports and promotes non-violent approaches to conflict transformation through a combination of research and action, and contributes to the prevention and mitigation of violence as preconditions for peace, justice and non-violent coexistence. LPI has over 30 years of peacebuilding experience with a specific focus on the Horn of Africa and Great Lakes regions. LPI has been carrying out peacebuilding work in Somalia since the early 1990s, with a focus on grassroots, community-led conflict transformation and emphasis on strengthening the capacity of local organizations and institutions. In Kismayo, LPI has been implementing, in partnership with Somali Women Solidarity Organization, a transformative women-to-women dialogue process with diverse women, starting from an intra-clan level in 2016 and moving forward to an inter-clan level at the time of compiling this report. Peace Direct Peace Direct is an international non-governmental organization dedicated to supporting local people to stop war and build lasting peace in some of the world’s most fragile countries. Peace Direct supports 11 local partners in 10 countries around the world to stop violence escalating and build long term peace. The organization speaks out for local people to ensure that the world hears their voices and to challenge world leaders to support them. Peace Direct has a unique network of 30 local peacebuilding experts. They conduct research and have profiled more than 1,500 local peacebuilding organizations for Peace Insight, the lead online resource on local peacebuilding. Visit: www.peaceinsight.org. In Somalia, Peace Direct works in the city of Kismayo in partnership with local organization Social-life and Agricultural Development Organization (SADO) to prevent violence and build community resilience. This work supports disaffected at- risk youth to build livelihoods, get jobs and earn an income, giving them a practical alternative to joining militant groups. The work with SADO also supports young people and women to play a more active role in community cohesion, development and peacebuilding. Somali Women Solidarity Organization Somali Women Solidarity Organization (SWSO) was formed in 2006 as a community-based organization engaged in promoting solidarity and increasing women’s participation in decision-making processes. It is active across Lower Jubba, with headquarters in Kismayo and field offices in Dhobley and Afmadhow. SWSO has actively engaged in peacebuilding work over the years, including work with the UN, Pact Kenya and LPI, in particular at the grassroots level to enhance the capacity of communities to understand and respond to insecurity. SWSO also advocates for the interests these communities at both national and international levels. 4 acknowledgements Acknowledgements This research project is only made possible by the many women and men who gave their time to share often deeply personal accounts of their experiences and who gave permission for their perspectives to be used in this report. In particular, sincere thanks to Halima Godane, and colleagues from Somali Women Solidarity Organization, without whose knowledge and guidance this study could not have been undertaken. Special thanks to Peace Direct’s study coordinator, Mukhtar Diriye Khalif, who provided oversight of the data collection and whose draft report provided invaluable context analysis for this final report. Further thanks to Life & Peace Institute colleague Mohamed Shale Billow for his coordination and expert advice. Additional appreciation is extended to the Life & Peace Institute, Peace Direct and Social-life and Agricultural Development Organization teams, in particular Muzzamil Abdi Sheikh, Faduma Abukar, Beatrice Kizi Nzovu, Meymuna Mohamed, Flavie Bertouille, Anna Crumley-Effinger, Jody Henderson, Luke Errington-Barnes and Jamal Adan Mohamed for their contributions to the research design and analysis. And thanks to Kristina Lundqvist and Kate McGuinness for final editing. The facilitation of the design and analysis was led by Judith Gardner, author of the final report and whose guidance was instrumental to the whole process. We are grateful to Sida and the EU for supporting this research. 5 table of contents Table of contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 5 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS 8 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 9 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 14 1.1 BRIEF CONTEXT ANALYSIS: KISMAYO 15 1.2 THE STUDY 16 Key concepts 16 Global framework: gender, peacebuilding and political settlements 18 Women and peacebuilding in the Somali context – the gendered nature of clan identity 20 1.3 METHODOLOGY 21 Reflection: what is and is not captured in the findings 26 Validation of findings 27 1.4 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES 27 Security 27 Breaches in the data collection process 28 1.5 THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS 28 CHAPTER 2. WOMEN AND CONFLICT IN KISMAYO 30 2.1 HOW WOMEN HAVE BEEN IMPACTED BY CONFLICT 30 Impact on marriage and family relationships 33 Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV): rape and attempted rape 34 Death and loss of close family members 35 2.2 HOW WOMEN RESPOND TO THE IMPACTS OF VIOLENT CONFLICT 37 2.3 HAVE ANY WOMEN GAINED FROM VIOLENT CONFLICT? 41 ‘Conflict is always negative’ 41 CHAPTER 3. HOW WOMEN CONTRIBUTE TO VIOLENT CONFLICT 43 3.1 THE MAGNITUDE OF WOMEN’S INVOLVEMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WAR 43 Male perspectives 46 Financing and investing in war 46 Women as causal agents 47 Mobilization, motivation and logistical support of male fighters 49 Women and clanship 50 3.2 WOMEN AND GIRLS IN COMBAT ROLES 51 Female fighters 51 Gender and combat: the limitations on women and girl fighters 53 Non-combatant women’s violence: ‘finishing off the wounded’ 54 6 table of contents 3.3 WOMEN’S ENGAGEMENT IN CONFLICT 55 Motivations and tipping points 55 3.4 CLANNISM AND CLAN LOYALTY 57 3.5 WOMEN-ON-WOMEN VIOLENCE 58 3.6 RESISTANCE TO CLANNISM 60 CHAPTER 4. WOMEN AND PEACEBUILDING IN KISMAYO 62 4.1 HOW WOMEN CONTRIBUTE TO PEACE 62 4.2 PROMOTING PEACE WITHIN THE FAMILY 64 Parenting for peace 64 Persuasive intervention 65 4.3 ENDING CONFLICT THROUGH WOMEN’S COLLECTIVE ACTION 66 Women-to-women reconciliation