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STATUS OF WOMEN REPORT - SOMALIA

University of Southern California

School of Social Work
SOWK 522
Assignment #1: Status of Women
SOMALIA
By:
Daniel R. Gaita, MA
January 18, 2016
Professor Elizabeth Swart

STATUS OF WOMEN REPORT - SOMALIA

Status of Women Report: Somalia

I.

History and Demographics of Somalia

A. Politics
Somalia is currently in transition from an expired Transitional Federal Government
(TFG) towards a Federal Parliamentary Republic as part of its Roadmap for the End of
Transition which seeks to fully establish a Federal Government and form within it a permanent
set of democratic institutions. The TFG is comprised of an executive branch and a legislative
branch and his headed by the President of Somalia to whom a cabinet reports to the Prime
Minister (CIA, 2016).
According to the CIA, Somalia has over 17 political parties. However, the Somalia party
system is a work in progress influenced greatly by moderate Islamic Sufi groups along the lines
of their Sunni Muslim (Islamic) national religion. Technocrats are holding the majority of newly
established ministry positions new to the Somalia political arena. Additionally, high-level federal
delegations were dispatched across the nation to defuse clan-related tensions in several regions
(CIA, 2016).
Previous Somalia governments have not ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and there has been no gender policy or gender
specific legislation in Somalia up to date. Despite advocacy for a quota of 30% women
representation in all political institutions, this was not included in the Provisional Federal
Constitution adopted on the 1st of August 2012. However, the Somalia Constitution, Article 133
sets out a process for amendment of the Constitution. The United Nations Development Program
(UNDP) will encourage the inclusion of the 30% quota for women into the Constitution as well
as the specific development of a Gender Policy (UNDP, 2015).

STATUS OF WOMEN REPORT - SOMALIA

With the end of the Somalia Transitional Government in August 2012, the political
landscape for women is gradually changing. As of 2015, Somalias South Central Regions new
Cabinet is 20% female. The new Federal Parliament is 14% female. The Transitional Federal
Government Cabinet is 3.7% female. The Transitional Federal Parliament is 12% female and the
Independent Federal Constitution Commission is 36% female (UNDP, 2015).
The percentage of women voters is not measured due to the 1991 re-emergence of
customary law and the extended use Sharia law has resulted in a return to clan based forms of
political representation almost always exclusive of women from most political and judicial
structures (UN, 2012). However, according to the CIA the age of suffrage in Somalia is 18 and
alleged to be universal (CIA, 2016).
B. Demographics
Somalia has a population of approximately 10,195,000. The urbanized population is
38.2% with about 50% below the age of 15. (CIA, 2016) The birthrate as of 2012 was 44.2 per
1000 with the fourth worst infant mortality rate of 91 deaths per 1000 births (UNICEF, 2013). A
reported 45% of girls aged 20-24 were married before the age of 18 (UNDP, 2012) Women make
up approximately half of the population and the national life expectancy is only 47 years (UNDP,
2015b), or 54 years according to a 2013 UNICEF report.
C. Education
Since the civil war outbreak in 1991, numerous problems had arisen with regard to
access to education in rural areas and along gender lines. To address these concerns, educational
policies are being developed in compliance with world standards, such as those outlined in the
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), (Ministry of Education, 2013).

STATUS OF WOMEN REPORT - SOMALIA

Less than 20% of the population of Somalia is literate and of this only 13% are women
(UNDP, 2015b). Another 2006 Somalia Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey placed the adult
literacy rate for women at 26% compared to men at 36% (UNDP 2012).
Only 37% of girls who transitioned from primary school took the Form Four exam in
2011/2012. While the demand for secondary school education continues to grow steadily, girls
make up only 28% of students at that level. Poor learning outcomes are reflected in the high
repetition and drop-out rates and low examination pass rates with less than 38% of those
enrolled in First-Grade during 2001/2002 successfully progressing to grade five in 2006/2007
(UNICEF, 2013).
According to UNICEF, the percentage of primary school participation for girls between
2007 and 2010 was 23% and 42% for boys; the net attendance ratio was respectively 15% and
18%. Only 15% of the teachers are women, with the majority being unqualified. (UNICEF,
2013). According to the Somalia Ministry of Planning and development, in 2008-2009, 62,608
females were enrolled in primary school compared to 108,322 boys; at the secondary level girls
numbered 5,646 compared to 14,843 boys. University enrollment was only 25% by females.
(UNDP, 2015).
D. Economy
Somalia has a Gross Domestic Product according to a CIA report of $2.37 billion
(official exchange rate) and GDP purchasing power parity of $5.9 billion (2010 est.) (CIA,
2016). The GDP is primarily composed of three sectors: agriculture, 60.2%; industry, 7.4% &
services, 32.5% (CIA, 2016) Additionally the nation is provided Official Development Income
from other nations amounting to approximately $10.9 billion (UNICEF, 2013). 2012 exports
were estimated at $515.8 million in 2012 and imports at $1.2 billion in 2010 (CIA, 2016).

STATUS OF WOMEN REPORT - SOMALIA

Women constitute 56.6% of the labor force where measures are feasible. Women
primarily work in the agricultural sector with 36% working in the non-agricultural sector and
19% working in civil service (UNDP, 2015). Women work in menial positions, involving
sacrifice, risk and humiliation, often only making enough money to sustain themselves and their
families (Gardner, 2007) they also experience higher unemployment than men (74% for women
and 61% for men)(UNDP, 2012) The unemployment rate sits at 45.5% overall (57.7% in urban
areas and 42.8% in non-urban areas). According to other reports the main sectors are
agriculture, fishing and forestry mining (65%), and industry including construction and
utilities (11%) and services (24%)(UNDP, 2006).
Few women are employed in the areas of the economy where high profits are enjoyed
via exports and imports such as livestock export and in the fishing industries where women are
hardly represented. 14% of households are headed by women in urban areas, and 12% in rural
areas, expanding the already critical element of hardship as women take on roles as providers of
basic needs which are often extracted from scarce natural resources such as land, water and
vegetation (UN, 2002).
II.

Status of Women

The Gender Inequality Index for Somalia is the fourth highest globally. Somalia has
extremely high maternal mortality, rape, female genital mutilation and child marriage rates
(UNDP 2012). Violence against women and girls is common, even though statistics are difficult
to find since most women would not dare to lodge a complaint out of fear of being killed. Across
the country, traditional or customary law is applied more instead of the state judiciary, and sexual

STATUS OF WOMEN REPORT - SOMALIA

and gender based violence often goes unpunished, particularly as traditional Somali society does
not openly discuss these issues due to fear or retribution (UNDP 2012 & 2015).
The participation and role of women in politics and decision-making spheres is extremely
limited, albeit changing gradually throughout the transition towards a Federal Parliamentary
Republic. (UNDP 2012 & 2015)
With a primarily pastoralist economy, livestock represents the familys wealth and has
traditionally been the property of men. However, women often manage the sale and exchange of
livestock based products such as milk and ghee, using their earnings on household needs.
Womens participation in wage employment in the nonagricultural sector is the highest in
Puntland at 40%, followed by Somaliland at 36%, and 33% in South Central (UNDPSDG 2015).
It is important to note that in these areas, where data is able to be collected, the reported
strides being made are not fully reflective of the nation as a whole but rather a representative
sample of only a few areas where progress is actually being measured.
Womens access to health services are limited, and Somalias maternal mortality rates are
amongst the highest in the world, at 1,600 per 100,000 live births (UNDP 2015) which is
compounded by high fertility rates (6.4%) and a low number of institutional deliveries (9%).
Prevalence of contraceptives is 1% (UNICEF, 2013). The number of pregnant women
who receive one antenatal care visit with coverage is 26% and only 6% for women who see a
health professional up to four times. Only 33% of women have a skilled attendant at birth, and
only 9% have institutional deliveries. (UNICEF, 2013).
According to the World Health Organization, approximately 98% of women in Somalia
undergo Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) (WHO, n.d.) and it is mostly performed on girls
between the ages four to 11 years in its most severe form; infibulation is reported to be practiced

STATUS OF WOMEN REPORT - SOMALIA

in 80% of cases (UNDP, 2007). Regretfully, since 90% of 1,744 women in a study between the

ages of 15 and 49 in North East and North West Somalia reported that they supported the custom
of FGM (World Bank, 2004), we can comprehend why there is a barrier to its eradication.
When considering the concept of a study like that cited by the World Bank above, it is
essential to note that the concept of confidentiality in a nation like Somalia is a foreign
mechanism especially as it relates to womens studies. As a result, it is nearly impossible to attain
accurate study data while the women are in their native land and tribal areas. For them, it is
perceived best for their safety that they not speak out against common customs as they do not
enjoy the protections of first-world law enforcement, family services or even a functional judicial
system.
As evidence to the above argument, during the month of September 2012, UN partners
registered 277 cases of sexual violence in Mogadishu alone 237 of which were rapes. Legal aid
partners also reported an increase in sexual and gender based violence cases in the months of
September and October 2012 in Mogadishu. What makes this even more tragic is that one-third
of these attacks took place against women in camps, of which one-third were carried out by men
in uniforms (UNDP, 2015).
Epilogue
I was a 20 year-old US Marine when I first witnessed the gender dysfunction of the
Somalia culture. I was deployed to Somalia in support of Operation Restore Hope/Continue
Hope. I witnessed women being beaten and raped during night raids into their often times grass
or brush huts. We were under specific Rules of Engagement that barred us from interfering with
matters of cultural norms. In fact, we were not authorized to fire at anyone unless they had a
weapon pointed at US or towards any UN coalition forces.

STATUS OF WOMEN REPORT - SOMALIA

I could have killed these rapist and sent them to hell while sending a message that we
were watching their conduct and holding them accountable. But the rules of engagement dictated
otherwise. What made this worse was the realization that we were soon to abandon them due to:
the political unpopularity of the operation, a week U.S. President, and a poorly executed US
Army Delta Force raid, also known in the civilian world as Black Hawk Down. So we left
them to be tortured, rapped and murdered as we pulled out of that country.
Today my dreams (nightmares) are of me being forced to leave my wife and kids behind
in the same environment. It is a perpetual torment that gets worse as my three daughters get
older. I am ashamed that I did not do more to help those women and girls and forever resentful of
Bill Clinton for taking us away from them in order to facilitate his political endeavors. The
women of this world deserve better.

STATUS OF WOMEN REPORT - SOMALIA

References:

CIA (2016) The World Fact Book. Retrieved from,

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/so.html
Gardner, J. (2007) A Gender Profile for Somalia. NORAD & the EC Somalia Unit
Production.
UNICEF (2013) Somalia Statistics. Retrieved from
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/somalia_statistics.html
United Nations (2002). Somalia: Socio Economic Survey 2002. Retrieved from
http://www.un.int/wcm/webdav/site/somalia/shared/documents/statements/10868
02685.pdf
United Nations Human Settlement Programme (2006). Somaliland, Puntland State of
Somalia: The Land Legal Framework: Situation Analysis
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (2012). Somalia Human Development
Report 2012: Empowering Youth for Peace and Development.
United Nations Development Programme Somalia (UNDP) (2015) Gender in Somalia.
Retrieved from http://www.undp.org/content/dam/rbas/doc/Women's
%20Empowerment/Gender_Somalia.pdf
United Nations Development Programme Somalia (UNDP) (2015b) Gender Equality and
Womens Empowerment Strategy. Retrieved from
http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/projects/SOM/00060507_Gen
der%20Strategy%20for%20Somalia%20Final.pdf
United Nations Development Programme (UNDPSDG) (2015) Sustainable Development
Goals. Retrieved from
http://www.so.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sdgoverview/
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (2007). Millennium Development
Goals Report for Somalia. Retrieved from http://www.so.undp.org/MDG
%20Report%20for%20Somalia%20English%20Version.pdf
United Nations (2012) UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
Somalia Humanitarian Strategy 2012-2015 (unpublished).
World Bank and United Nations Population Fund (2004). Female Genital
Mutilation/Cutting in Somalia.
World Health Organization (WHO) (n.d.) Female Genital Mutilation and other Harmful
Practices: Prevalence of FGM. Retrieved from
http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/fgm/prevalence/en/index.html