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Somalia: Marginalising women in Somali politics

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Somalia: Marginalising women in Somali politics

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Somalia has recently selected its parliament on Somali soil for the first time since the civil war of the late 1980s. This is a significant achievement since regional power brokers such as Ethiopia and Kenya, with the financial and logistical backing of the European Union, the United States and the United Nations, concocted Somali governments in neighbouring countries. 

Such success is unfortunately marred by controversies, with continuous allegations of corruption in the selection of the members of parliament, as well as persistent charges that millions of international donor funds intended for Somali security and basic infrastructure ended up in the pockets of a few men in top leadership positions. 

While international news coverage of the above shady political process is repeated ad nauseam, the status of the 30 per cent quota for women in current parliament-approved constitution rarely gets any ink.  

My reading is that international media outlets as well as Somali journalists take it for granted that failure of fulfilling this quota is best explained by the Islamic faith of the Somali people. This is often cited as being in conflict with decrees imposed from outside by international actors who allegedly paid for the hefty cost of $60m for the current constitution, and who also provide the salaries of former MPs and senior government leaders.


Read more at Al Jazeera, published 24 August 2012 (opinion).

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Somalia has recently selected its parliament on Somali soil for the first time since the civil war of the late 1980s. This is a significant achievement since regional power brokers such as Ethiopia and Kenya, with the financial and logistical backing of the European Union, the United States and the United Nations, concocted Somali governments in neighbouring countries. 

Such success is unfortunately marred by controversies, with continuous allegations of corruption in the selection of the members of parliament, as well as persistent charges that millions of international donor funds intended for Somali security and basic infrastructure ended up in the pockets of a few men in top leadership positions. 

While international news coverage of the above shady political process is repeated ad nauseam, the status of the 30 per cent quota for women in current parliament-approved constitution rarely gets any ink.  

My reading is that international media outlets as well as Somali journalists take it for granted that failure of fulfilling this quota is best explained by the Islamic faith of the Somali people. This is often cited as being in conflict with decrees imposed from outside by international actors who allegedly paid for the hefty cost of $60m for the current constitution, and who also provide the salaries of former MPs and senior government leaders.


Read more at Al Jazeera, published 24 August 2012 (opinion).

News
Issues