The territory that used to be British-Somaliland until 1960 has not been internationally recognized, since it declared its independence from crisis-ridden Somalia in 1991. Even its own history has not always been peaceful.
When its leaders assembled in 1996-7 for the second major peace conference in Somaliland's capital Hargeisa, a number of women also wanted to speak and decide – especially so because this conference was designed to decide upon who should become the President and the Members of Parliament. Finally, 15 women were allowed to listen – and had to hear that no seats and votes in the parliament or in the government could go to women, simply because those positions would be filled on the basis of clan representation. But which clan does a woman represent: that of her origin, or that of her husband?
Shortly after the conference, however, an institution of female representation emerged nonetheless. 30 women's groups and other non-governmental organizations in Hargeisa combined to found NAGAAD Umbrella Organisation. The Heinrich Böll Foundation (HBF) has supported this co-operation from its very beginnings and provided decisive contributions to NAGAAD's organizational infrastructure. With 46 member organizations, the umbrella organization today is the most important women's organization in Somaliland.
The very first project was an information and meeting centre for rural women. NAGAAD also organizes training programmes of various kinds – such as a gender workshop for men and meetings with clan elders, sultans and religious leaders in 2008, where the difficulties resulting from the clan structure for the political participation of women were discussed. Furthermore, since 2002 NAGAAD began to hold public Gender Forums. Themes vary widely: debates were held about women in the media, about early marriage, about the role of women in politics or about the impact of khat, a drug in widespread use primarily by men, but also some women. The Forum events are usually well attended. When, in 2008, the discussion focused on the complementary efforts of women and men in improving living conditions in the immediate environment, about 75 people attended regularly.
NAGAAD also supports women to become candidates for political offices and works towards increasing the number of women in government institutions. The organization played a substantial role in the development of the national Gender Policy, done by the Ministry of Family Affairs in co-operation with civil society organizations. The cabinet passed the Policy in late 2008, but discussion about it in the parliament (House of Representatives) and the Guurti (House of Elders) is still pending.
An attempt to include, into the electoral law, a women's quota for local-level elections was agreed to by the House of Representatives, but failed in the Guurti. Thus, for the time being, there will be no quota.
Without such a minimum requirement, however, progress is very slow when it comes to the political representation of women in Somaliland. When NAGAAD held its 10th anniversary conference in December 2007 with 110 participants, it was made clear that the transition to democratic elections has not fulfilled the expectations. After the 2002 local elections only 2 among 320 people elected were women, and during the parliamentary elections in September 2005 only two out of seven female candidates were successful. While some are happy about the increase from zero to two in the House of Representatives with its 82 members, others deplore the lack of solidarity among women during voting.
However, in 2009, a woman wants to become mayor. Khadija Hassan Hussein, working at the Ministry of Local Development and a member of the governing party UDUB and of NAGAAD, wants to run for a mandate. "I tell the people that, as a woman, I do not belong to any clan. So I'm not seeking to perpetuate the needs of certain people to the detriment of others."
(Translation and Editing: Axel Harneit-Sievers)
