Women Dismantling Militarism
Facts, Articles,
and Ideas from
the Global Fund's Militarism Initiative
Peacebuilding in Somalia
Save Somali Women and Children (SSWC)
Kenya & Somalia
In 1992, one year after the Somali civil war erupted, Save Somali Women and Children (SSWC) was founded in Mogadishu. Not only were the Somali population living under armed conflict, there was tremendous political instability and increasing poverty. SSWC is the first cross-clan Somali organization. The group's founding sisters came together from across clans to support women and children in Somalia, overcoming their differences in backgrounds and affiliations.
Based now in Kenya, SSWC continues to support and promote women and children's rights, especially in the process of participatory peacebuilding in Somalia. GFW grants have helped SSWC hold symposia and workshops between women and non-state actors to establish a peaceful and democratic Somalia. Between the current political impasse and the legacy of patriarchy in Somalia, it has been difficult to carry out human rights and peacebuilding work. Yet SSWC continues to build awareness programs in women human rights, leadership, peace building and conflict management and resolution.
In a country marred by a history of rivalry between political-military factions, SSWC Chair Asha Hagi Elmi has said, “My only clan is womanhood.” Hagi's words are not just symbolic. In 2000, she led a group of cross-clan women to enter a national peace conference in Arta, Djibouti. As the women were not nominated to enter the conference by their respective clans, Hagi led the women in establishing their own pan-Somali women's clan, which was officially recognized and represented at the conference. In this way, the “Sixth Clan” was established and was able to participate in creating a transitional government in which women were guaranteed members of the Somali Parliament for the first time in Somalia's history.
