Women in Somalia continue to face significant obstacles that limit their political participation. Along with institutional and financial constraints that prevent women from running for office, women also face technical capacity challenges and other barriers including the central role of clan-based power in the electoral process. This central role of clan-based power traditionally opposed women’s political participation and inclusion in decision-making and heightened the harassment and intimidation women candidates faced by their male counterparts and traditional elders. In effect, women are not only discouraged, and sometimes even prohibited, from vying for public office, but once elected, women also find it difficult to participate effectively in key political and legislative processes.

Following Somalia’s 2016/2017 elections, NDI provided members of the Somali Women Parliamentarians Association (SOWPA) with technical support through a workshop designed to enhance their capacity on the core functions of legislatures, including key tools and strategies to influence the legislative agenda, using comparative examples from Kenya, and best practice to inform their work going forward. Members were also trained on strategies to influence the legislative agenda with particular attention on how to analyze and review the impact of legislation on women. Participants included ten female legislators from SOWPA, three of whom were newly elected and seven incumbents who were re-elected.

The workshop commenced with a discussion of the recent Somali elections, during which participants shared their own stories and reflected on the challenges, achievements and lessons learned during the process of attaining a seat in office. Some of the common challenges included lack of campaign finances; traditional elders not allowing women to run as candidates; men competing for seats reserved for women; and threats by male competitors.

The biggest challenge we had as women was that we had no representation at the decision making table during the electoral process. To address this challenge we put immense pressure on the National Leadership Forum

- Hon. Hamza Sheikh Hussein, MP

Ahead of the 2016/2017 elections, leaders of the Somali Federal Government and regional states held the National Leadership Forum (NLF), a conference which established rules for the electoral process. In addition to instructing clan elders to observe the implementation of the 30 percent gender rule, the NLF agreed to reserve the 14 percent of seats that were already held by women in the Lower House prior to the elections, for women candidates only. A statement from Hon. Hamza, who ran for a reserved seat, points to a fundamental reality: measures to increase female representation in government, such as the quota instituted by the NLF, still fail to adequately address many of the institutional and cultural barriers that stand in the way of women candidates.

During the workshop, participants developed a number of solutions to address such obstacles, ranging from awareness and media campaigns, to specific policy development and reform. One key outcome of the training sessions was the parliamentarians’ strengthened commitment to be more engaged at every stage of the legislative process, as well as the heightened confidence in their knowledge and capacity to do so effectively. One member noted the positive impact of these workshops when sharing her personal experience overcoming cultural and institutional barriers, saying:

I want to thank NDI for building our capacities over the years on different subjects; those trainings gave me the courage and the confidence not to give up.

 

In her concluding remarks, the SOWPA Chairperson Hon. Bibi Khalif Mohamed, thanked NDI for organizing such an important training for the caucus, and on behalf of the participants, expressed optimism that the content of the sessions would be beneficial for the fulfillment of their duties as members of parliament.

NDI has assisted women’s caucuses in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) region over the past two years to expand the capacity of women parliamentarians to advocate for their policy priorities and build a network of women political leaders. In the coming months, NDI will continue to support SOWPA and other women’s caucuses from the Women’s Parliamentary Association in East Africa to continue to enhance their effectiveness and common objectives.