UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 13) The Ministry of Women and Human Rights (MWHR) advocates for the inclusion of vulnerable groups in this crucial process. This Ministry is focused on making sure that groups such as women, youth and minorities receive equitable representation in the new regional States' institutions. The FGS works with AMISOM to ensure that newly established States have access to humanitarian assistance.

Para 20) ... In addition, efforts are being put into including vulnerable groups, such as women, minorities and youth in the decision-making process by giving them adequate representation in the different committees debating these issues ...

Para 26) The government has supported 26 legal internships since the last UPR report, including female interns. Providing them with exposure in the public sector, including key ministries, courts and the police, where they gather on-the-job work experience. These graduates are now working with the police, the Attorney General's office, the judiciary, legal aid centres, NGOs and the Parliament.

Para 62) The FGS is committed to work with and utilise the significant experience of the civil society organisations (CSO), which has been built during the civil war period. Somali CSO have been widely consulted by the government on a wide range of topics for which the government has been formulating policies. Several ministries and senior Government officials have held regular discussions with civil society actors including ... women associations.

Para 85) Seats of the Federal Parliament to fill the women's minimum quota of 30% have been agreed upon. However, it has proven challenging to implement this agreement as it has no legal grounds to support the enforcement of the aforementioned quota. After the country's general election in September 2012, only 14% women were elected as MPs. The percentage of female ministers in the first cabinet after the election was 20% (2 out of a total of 10 ministers). Nevertheless, the government is optimistic that women participation in politics and governance will increase significantly in the coming years. The MWHR is campaigning throughout the regions of Somalia to encourage local representatives to include women in the federal states formation process.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 68) SLNHRC stated that the political participation of women was still minimal in "Somaliland", with only one woman in the parliament and only four women among cabinet ministers.

National Report:
Para 36) The Somali Ministry of Interior has developed the amended Somali Citizenship Bill, which was originally enacted in 1962. The amended bill is currently at the level of Council of Ministers, where it will be tabled for discussed and endorsement. A significantly positive amendment in the draft Bill is the safeguard for equal nationality rights for Somali women.

UN Compilation:
Para 47) The Independent Expert noted that Somalia continued to have the lowest school enrolment rates in the world and a particularly weak education system. Inadequate investment and discrimination limited access to education for women, girls, internally displaced persons, refugees and persons with disabilities. Despite programmes to improve school management systems, the capacity of teachers and school feeding programmes to increase enrolment and retention of girls in schools, there continued to be a disparity in school attendance between boys and girls, due to the ongoing conflict situation, the lack of safety for girls, and harmful practices, such as female genital mutilation and early and/or forced marriage. Girls with disabilities, girls in farming and nomadic communities in rural and remote areas, pregnant girls and girls in camps for internally displaced persons and refugees faced compounded forms of discrimination.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 16) JS6 observed that Somalia did not have a comprehensive legal framework that addressed the rights of women and children. The National Development Plan (2017-2019) proposed the development of a National Children's Policy and Act drawing on Somalia's international obligations. In accordance with this plan, in 2017-2019, the government launched a number of policies such as the ratification of the African Charter, the FGM Bill, the Disability Act, the Somali Sexual Offences Bill, the Child Rights Bill and the Juvenile Justice Bill. However, JS6 noted that, to date, many of these policies are drafts and not enacted or implemented by the State.
Para 17) JS4 noted that since nationality in Somalia was transferred through the patriarchal line, women’s equal citizenship and equality in the family was undermined, as well as that of their children.

National Report:
Para 17) The 2016 indirect elections were held, following a political agreement on the electoral system, an agreed formula for safeguarding the participation of women, the election management body as well as putting in place an independent electoral dispute resolution mechanism. In comparison to the 2012 elections, the 2016 parliamentary indirect elections were relatively fairer, transparent and more inclusive. During the 2016 indirect elections, Somalia adopted a 30% quota mechanism for women’s political representation. The 2016 women quota campaign successfully led to female parliamentary candidates winning 25% of the parliamentary seats (up from 11% in 2012) and the highest percentage of women in the Council of Ministers (23%). The FGS recognises the need to improve this representation of women to the required level and is striving to achieve this through a definitive electoral model.
Para 44) On 4 – 6 March 2019, Somalia organized one of the largest women gatherings in the Somali Women’s Convention, which brought together over 350 women and girls, from Federal Member States, Civil Society Organizations and other stakeholders. The convention was a culmination of a rigorous and inclusive consultative process over several months led by the MoWHRD and the steering committee comprised of women with different backgrounds and from the different FMSs. The main aim of this convention was to deliberate and identify key obstacles faced by women in their participation in public affairs and how these obstacles could be overcome.
Para 45) The outcome of the convention was the first-ever Somali Women’s Charter, which codifies the demands of the Somali women in areas such as the constitution, addressing sexual violence, access to justice, female genital mutilation and women’s political and governance participation at all levels of government. The Charter is ground-breaking is in its reach, scope, inclusivity and ambition. It called for sustained advocacy and engagement on the obstacles facing women noting that the issues raised by women in the forum needed to be anchored in laws including the constitution that is currently under review. Somalia first unveiled the Charter during the 63rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women held in New York in March 2019, highlighting the commitment of the Government to the implementation of the Charter. The Charter’s outcome continues to influence the campaign for the participation of women in public affairs including the current electoral process.
Para 46) Furthermore, Somalia has reviewed the National Gender Policy (NGP) in order to align this policy to the National Development Plan-9 (NDP-9 / 2020 - 2025) as well as the Somali Women’s Charter. This policy will provide substantial support to the platform for the promotion of equal rights in Somalia for men and women. The NGP was developed through a series of inclusive consultations with all the relevant stakeholders, such as women groups, youth, civil society organizations, traditional elders and local community leaders. In addition, the NGP creates an effective and actionable roadmap on addressing gender equality and women’s empowerment. The key components of the NGP are anchored across the national processes focused on areas such as humanitarian affairs resilience and recovery. The NGP establishes the mainstreaming of gender equality priorities into the NDP-9 and advancement of civic social, economic, political, legal and socio-cultural circumstances of the different vulnerable groups and marginalized communities across Somalia.

UN Compilation:
Para 19) The Independent Expert stated that Somali women and girls continued to face challenges in access to education and representation and participation in public life. She was concerned that despite the call for the equal participation of women in every aspect of institutional and national life contained in the Women’s Charter for Somalia, and for women to occupy at least 30 per cent of the positions in the three branches of government, the private sector and independent commissions, women made up less than 25 per cent of federal and state institutions. Neither the electoral law enacted in February 2020 nor the Provisional Federal Constitution contained a minimum quota of 30 per cent for women’s representation in decision-making positions at all levels of government. The male-dominated clan system, influenced by an interpretation of sharia law that limited women’s participation, hindered progress.
Para 31) The Independent Expert observed that the Somali justice sector encompassed the traditional xeer system, sharia law and a formal legal system. Inadequate infrastructure and funding and the weak capacities of judicial personnel had had negative impacts on the institutional capacity of the courts, and representation of women in the judiciary remained low.
Para 50) The Peacebuilding Support Office of the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs noted that improvement in women’s participation could be seen, but less so for progress in women’s representation in decision-making bodies and in the country’s peacebuilding and State-building processes. For example, women might have participated in community processes, such as serving on local community dispute-resolution committees, or engaging in community planning processes, economic development opportunities or vocational training opportunities provided by projects in the Peacebuilding Fund portfolio. However, women remained underrepresented at higher level decision-making, with low levels of representation in district, state and federal governance structures. For example, only 22 per cent of the representation on the district-level peace and stability committees were women; 24 per cent of parliamentary seats were filled by women despite a quota of 30 per cent; and only one member of the permanent committee of the federal parliament was a woman.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 52) HRW observed that restrictions imposed by the government to limit the spread of Covid-19, including restrictions on movement and measures to ease congestion, along with price hikes and reduced remittance flows, further limited access to livelihoods and health care for displaced communities, and exacerbated existing gender- related abuses and inequalities.