Somalia

MOGADISHU (HORN OBSERVER) – In a press conference joined by local women activists on Monday, Somali women Members of Parliament (MPs) expressed their frustration and lack of political will to include a 30% women quota in the constitutional amendments amidst a heated debate over the Somali Provisional Constitution. 

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 conflict-ridden Somalia.

Men have long dominated national and local leadership roles in the Horn of Africa nation, largely due to deeply ingrained traditional prejudices.

Al-Shabaab claim responsibility for attacks, including that which killed Amina Mohamed Abdi in run-up to elections this week.

A “fearless” Somali female MP was among dozens of people killed in a series of bomb attacks in rural Somalia on Wednesday.

Somalia's federal electoral agency is urging all regional polls supervisors to ensure that at least 30 percent of seats in the Lower House go to women.

In a letter to state electoral teams, the federal agency also published a table showing the number of legislators each state will vote for, out of the total 275 MPs and the respective 30 percent women legislators to come out.

The United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Amina J. Mohammed, visited Somalia on Sunday, to express her solidarity with Somali women’s calls for full and equal participation in political life, and the support of the international community for timely, inclusive, peaceful and credible elections.

A two-day forum in Somalia that brought together women, the youth, academics, women’s rights activists and political experts concluded deliberations on Wednesday with a call for 30 percent women quota in political representation to be guaranteed.

MOGADISHU, SOMALIA - Somalia's top leaders, all men, have struggled for years to tame the Horn of Africa nation's insecurity and corruption. Lawmaker Fawzia Yusuf Haji Adam says it's time for a woman's touch and on Tuesday announced her candidacy for president. But getting enough support from Somalia's lawmakers, the vast majority of them men, will be a challenge.