Since 1991 Somalia has lacked a cohesive, central government. Civil war, external interventions and clan conflict have resulted in the country being broken up into a number of semi-autonomous regions. Each region is represented by differing political-military factions vying for central power and control of the country’s natural resources.
The legacy of Somalia’s years of political turmoil and insecurity is serious and substantial economic under development , widespread poverty and deprivation. The country lacks basic infrastructures – roads, clean water, sanitation – while a strong combination of tradition and custom continues to deny access to health, education and full participation in decision-making at any level to the majority of Somalia’s women.
Over 80% of the country’s children are deprived of any form of education. Only 14% of Somalia’s women are literate and the country’s infant mortality rate is one of the highest in the world. Years of conflict have also resulted in an increase in human and civil rights violations. Women have experienced isolation, displacement, violence and rape as a consequence. Many of the country’s women and children are considered ‘Stateless’ and lack even basic protections and freedoms. The additional burden of traditional Somali society – pastoral, nomadic, male, conservative and patriarchal – further discriminates against the country’s women.
While men make every decision, from those concerning where and when to move the precious livestock, to maintaining a complex network of family and clan relationships, women remain excluded from the decision-making process. Their needs and concerns are not addressed at any level and their voice remains unheard. Discrimination and violence against women is widespread and socially accepted; over 98% of Somali women have undergone Female Genital Mutilation, often in its most severe form – Infibulation – while early and forced marriage is characteristic of traditional Somali society. Women’s role in many parts of the country is to bear their husband children, preferably male, and provide the labour necessary to ensure the daily survival of the family. In addition to preparing meals and caring for children, Somali women’s ‘labour’ may also include loading and unloading the camels bearing the family’s possessions, erecting and dismantling the traditional shelters, gathering firewood and water and milking and tending to livestock. With no access to education, health care or information on their rights, all too many of the country’s women are condemned to a life of poverty, subordination and servitude.
Save Somali Women and Children (SSWC)
SSWC was founded in 1992 by a group of Somali women from all sections of the community, as an urgent imperative to address the needs of Somalia’s women and children, regardless of ethnic and geopolitical divisions. Based in Kenya, they work as a non-governmental humanitarian and development organisation with a focus on improving women’s rights and promoting their participation in building peace. They run training workshops on Conflict Management as well as organising an annual literacy programme. In addition, they provide practical support to some of the country’s most vulnerable and marginalised women through rights awareness workshops and campaigns to end Female Genital Mutilation and early and forced marriage. Working with disadvantaged and displaced women, SSWC’s programme of community rehabilitation and income generating projects helps women move out poverty and begin to play a full and active part in their own lives and that of their communities and country.
