"Somalia is at war since 1991. In the last 17 years, there have been 14 peace agreements, all of which failed. No surprise that Somalia is called a failed state. But I do not believe that this is the final word for my country." Asha Hagi, a member of the Somali transitional parliament, put it that way in September 2008. Half a year later it looked as if she was right. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia, stated to the UN Security Council in New York in March 2009 that the country "is back from the brink". The 15th peace agreement, negotiated in Djibouti, was successful so far, and there was a new government in Mogadishu.
Asha Hagi has fought for this peace agreement. When, in December 2008, she received the Right Livelihood Award (often called the "alternative Nobel price"), the UN Special Representative lauded her indefatigable engagement for peace and stability: "She has put all her energy into this exercise." And she did it all over the years. In 1992, together with other women, she founded Save Somali Women and Children (SSWC). Like herself, her fellow combatants were well educated, but many of them sat between two chairs because they had married husbands from other clans. At the heyday of hostilities, this was an extremely inconvenient position, because the family of origin would regard her now as belonging to the enemy, while the in-laws of the husband's family wouldn't fully trust her either. Asha Hagi freely acknowledges how much she suffered from this. But then, she remembered that her only identity nobody could deny her was, to be a woman.
Based on this, she turned a female deficit – the lack of a unambiguous belonging to a specific clan – into an advantage – the option of becoming an "ambassador" between different clans. Later on, the idea of a "sixth clan" emerged from this: the clan of Somali women. And this clan demanded for inclusion into the peace negotiations. 92 Somali women assembled on May 2nd, 2000, in front of a large military tent in Arta, Djibouti. "We knew that peace in our country would come from cross-clan reconciliation, not official negotiations among warlords and faction leaders", one delegate said later. The women demanded a quota, but for many men it was simply unimaginable to be represented by a woman. After much wrangling, the women could finally push through a minimum number of 25 women in the Transitional National Parliament, with its total number of 245 representatives. The "sixth clan" does not understand itself merely as representing women, but as a representation of common Somali interests and as mediator between the hostile, men-dominated groups.
During the next round of the peace negotiations, Asha Hagi belonged to the agreement's signatories, as a representative of the "sixth clan". The Transitional Constitution of 2004 provided for a minimum of twelve per cent of parliamentarians being women. In reality, in August 2008, the figure was only eight per cent. Asha Hagi had to make the experience that some women allowed themselves to be used by men. "It is not only about quantity, but about quality as well" – once again she has drawn a strategic lesson.
The regional office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation (HBF), based in Nairobi, has had long-standing contacts with Asha Hagi and supports her work since 2002. It also accompanies her battle against female genital mutilation, still widespread in Somalia. SSWC is one of the most important non-governmental organizations in Somalia and works since years under difficult - and sometimes extreme – conditions. SSWC provides humanitarian relief as well as support for education: The organization established a computer training centre in order to empower Somali women to use the latest technology.
Most importantly, however, SSWC in recent years has laid foundations to enable women to participate in the political debate if – as happened in February 2009 – parliament and government return to Mogadishu. In late July 2006, SSWC created the "Women's Political Caucus" as an instrument to defuse conflicts and give women a voice. Amongst its members are a number of prominent Somali women, and the Caucus was recognized as a representation of interests of women, and as a voice on national issues in South-Central Somalia. Since then, the Caucus has met virtually every month; exceptonly in April 2007, at the height of fighting in Mogadishu, its meeting had to be cancelled for security reasons.
In addition, there is a Gender Forum every two months or even monthly, attended by an average of 40 men and women. At the third Gender Forum on November 27-28th, 2006 – in a phase of relative peace – the conference room in the "Hotel Peace" in Mogadishu was filled to the last seat, with 120 participants. This time, SSWC had invited Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed, the chairman of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), his deputy and several members of the Transitional Parliament. "We are not confrontational, we know well how to do these this", Asha Hagi says. While the women argued skillfully and politely, some of the men of the UIC complained afterwards that the women had been too pushy. From her base in Nairobi where, for security reasons, she has had to live for some time, Asha Hagi has kept in touch with Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who became Somalia's President in early 2009.
Discussions at the Gender Forums do not revolve merely around women's concerns, but around everything that is important for the future. In order to involve as many people as possible despite the precarious security situation, all public events are transmitted by radio stations as well. "Right from the beginning we have given much weight to using the media", stresses Asha Hagi.
"The Women's Political Caucus improved the overall understanding of gender and transitional issues", wrote Abdulkadir Hassan Shirwa in an HBF-commissioned evaluation of SSWC's work in 2008. "Looking back into the extremely difficult circumstances in which SSWC operated in the last two years and listening to the life-threatening experience that some of its staff and many members of the Women’s Political Caucus went through, one really remains puzzled how this project went ahead."
(Translation and Editing: Axel Harneit-Sievers)
