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East Africa: Women's Political Participation in Greater Horn of Africa is at Dangerous Impasse
We Cannot Wait Consortium, 7 April 2022
We as the women's rights activists of the We Cannot Wait Consortium* are in mourning after the loss of MP Amina Mohamed Abdi who was killed along with 47 others in a suicide bomb… Read more »
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Somalia: Women Struggle to Make Their Voices Heard in Politics
DW, 5 April 2022
Although Somalia now has a quota system for female lawmakers, women are frequently held back from pursuing leadership roles due to pervasive cultural and social barriers. Read more »
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Somalia: Promised 30% Quota for Women Lawmakers Unlikely
VOA, 8 March 2022
The chair of the Somali Women Association, Batulo Ahmed Gaballe, does not have much to celebrate this International Women's Day. Read more »
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Somalia: UN Lauds Somali Women for Peace Contribution
Radio Dalsan, 8 March 2022
The United Nations has commended the Somali Women's resilience and unfaltering resolve for gender equality and partaking fully in all spheres of life; called on Somali leaders to… Read more »
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Somalia: How Did Somaliland End Up With Zero Woman MPs?
African Arguments, 10 January 2022
While rightly lauded for its elections, the self-declared states' lack of female representation points to a deep problem in its democratic health. Read more »
Somali Women Struggle to Make Their Voices Heard in Politics
Although Somalia now has a quota system for female lawmakers, women are frequently held back from pursuing leadership roles due to pervasive cultural and social barriers.
It's not easy being a female politician in Somalia.
Men have long dominated national and local leadership roles in the Horn of Africa nation, largely due to deeply ingrained traditional prejudices.
Somalia has established a 30% seat quota for female lawmakers. But the Somali Women Association has accused regional clan presidents of overlooking or turning down potential candidates, leaving the quota unfilled.
For young Somali women determined to make a difference, change begins with better representation of women in the executive branch of the government.
Only four women hold ministerial positions within Somalia's current federal government, while 14 women hold seats on the upper house and 51 in the lower house, reports Mohamed Odowa and Ineke Mules for Deutsche Welle.
InFocus
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Officials have asked the White House to send several hundred troops to Somalia, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. In the final weeks of his presidency, ... Read more »
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The U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has announced a visa restriction policy on the issuing of visas for those believed to be responsible for, or complicit in undermi Read more »
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The U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that famine is stalking Somalia, as years of climate-related disasters destroyed crops, dried up water sources and created a Read more »
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Somali leaders have agreed to conclude the long-delayed parliamentary and presidential elections by February 25, 2022. Somalia's international partners welcomed the deal made on ... Read more »
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The federal electoral agency is urging all regional polls supervisors to ensure that at least 30% of seats in the Lower House go to women. In a letter to state el Read more »
The UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, foreground right, meets women leaders in Mogadishu (file photo).
