Somali Women and the Constitution: Resource or Burden?

Somalia was the first African country to constitutionalize gender equality. Somalia was a society based on equality and pioneered in many aspects. For instance, the first African woman to fly an airplane was a Somali woman.
What lead to this great success was great leadership with good policies that recognized women’s role in society and their contribution to the economy. Another reason was the nations access to public services such as free education and free healthcare.
Then war broke out in 1991, everything changed drastically for the worse. All the development that was in the initial phase came to an end and Somalia has since then been named the worst country for women several times.
Somali women are not vulnerable. Their perspectives and capacities are important for social development, but since the country’s collapse Somali women have been exposed to violence, rape and abuse, at the same time they are also the ones who represent poverty, illiteracy is strongest and are at the same time absent from decision-making processes.
After many years of war and conflict, the situation in Somalia is changing to better now. The Somali constitution that once elevated women’s position in society is again under construction. And in this conference we want to lift up how will the new constitution ensure women’s rights and safety? And how will it strengthen women’s position in society?
With these challenges in mind, we invite to a debate in Oslo with prominent Somali politicians and we will discuss the following topics with them:

• How does the country plan to solve problems with gender inequality, as well as the refugee crisis?
• How will the new constitution ensure women’s rights and safety?
• How can the 2020 election strengthen women’s participation in politics and society in general?

These are some of the questions we will explore during this conference in English and in Somali.

The invited speakers are:

• Halima Ismail Ibrahim – Chair of National Independent Electoral Commission
• E. Dr. Ali Said Faqi – Somali Ambassador to Benelux and the European Union
• Abdurahman Hosh Jibril – Minister of Constitutional Affairs of the Somali Federal Government

Articles written about the conference

Den uforglemmelige reisen til Moqdisho:-

https://www.ubahaden.com/den-uforglemmelige-reisen-til-moqdisho/