Somalia's women

Women meeting the Technical Selection Committee to ensure women are represented

Much of the political rhetoric surrounding Somalia in the last few months has seen a reoccurrence of one debate; women's participation. I was in Mogadishu when the roadmap milestones were met with the approval of the draft constitution and selection of parliament. But whilst these milestones were being celebrated, particularly because for the first time it was held in Mogadishu, many women were galvanising one another to push for more female political participation. Whilst at the constitution conference, outburst of women voicing their perturbance kept happening. I spoke to some of them then and the key concern seemed to be the fear of not getting their 30% quota in the parliament.

They didn't get their quota and since then, many presidential candidates including the current president included this issue as a priority into their campaign. I waited to see if any of these discussions and promises would bear fruit and, going by the street talk of Mogadishu in the last few days, the new cabinet, when announced, might be taking a key step into the forward movement of this debate in the form of a female foreign minister.

If this does become true it might be a cause for celebration but what lingers in the back of my mind is the fact that Somali women had always as far back as history depicts been part and parcel of Somali society, unlike our Arab and Western counterparts. They were highly active and held many key posts within government, including ministerial, as well as leading other areas and institutions of the Somali country and society. One of the fond memories I have as a child in Mogadishu is going with my mother to her university, whose department was led by a female professor.

And then when the civil war broke out, women took an even greater social responsibility upon their shoulders and became the backbone of society and initiators of survival. So I wonder when did this backward moving shift occur where women have now got to ask for inclusion, as if they're second
class citizens? Till this day most women are the breadwinners of their households and leaders of their communities but them advocating for a minority inclusion defeats the mountainous role they 
always played.

It is a topical issue, one that can certainly not be concluded in a mere blog post but I just wanted to shed light into the need to properly examine and engage with somali women with regards to the roles they played, engage them on an equal platform as men and then look into developing their participation, rather than having minority quotas and the odd ministerial position allocated.

Same old: US admin's 'new' strategy on Somalia

Last week at the UN Johnnie Carson presented United States new approach towards Somalia. He said "the new, "aggressive" engagement could help to head off the Islamist insurgents". The supposedly new strategy is that the administration will support the current government and cooperate closely the relatively stable regions of Puntland and Somaliland, and any other group or tribe not affiliated with Al-Shabab. 

The only problem with this new "aggressive" is that this is not new at all. The US government supported the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) from the beginning and help create it in 2004. They had for years also worked with Puntland and Somaliland on anti-terrorism and piracy for years. 

This is very disappointing. Since the attack in Uganda in July,  which Al-Shabab claimed, the US government understandably feels it has to show that it's doing something about the problem. But I'm sure the could have done better than to present what they were doing for years as a 'new' approach. No, it isn't.

 The fact is that the TFG is not an answer to Al-Shabab. It has failed since 2009 to gain any ground in Mogadishu against Al-Shabab or to build any government institutions. The UN accuses government ministers of corruption and the army is defecting or selling weapons to Al-Shabab. 

So, to what end is US supporting this government?

On the point of engaging with Puntland and Somalia, these two regions have been autonomous for more than a decade and it's obvious that you cannot fight piracy, terrorism or deliver aid there without working with them.

Knocked Up

"It's a serious matter, but the date won't be fixed today. It is serious. You will find out when it happens."

And find out we did. According to the British Daily Mail, French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s girlfriend/fiancé Carla Bruni is pregnant. They have been in a ‘serious’ relationship for less than 2 months. Reports indicate that Sarkozy is dropping in opinion polls due his less than conservative lifestyle. Despite the fact that the President came to power as a newly single man, it is interesting that his personal life is overlapping that of his job. Are we starting to judge public figures on their private life more than their abilities to do their work? What's the difference between the two nowadays? If only that much media attention could be directed towards the urban riots

How could American politicians can get away with such ignorance

I know it's a bit overdue but I was buffled by the report that some nut-case running for president in US has threatened to bomb Macca and Medina if terrorists used nuclear against the US. Well, it's humorous in a way because the senator personifies the perception that Americans are ignorant about the rest of the world. He probably thinks that terrorist with nuclear weapons will freeze, put their hands up in the air and start crying mercy if the Americans threaten to bomb Mecca and Madina.

What I find interesting is how America's top politicians can always get away with such ignorance, he certainly isn't the first. Silvestre Reyes, the democrat's House Intelligence committee chairman thought that Al-Qaeda is Shia and Obama wants to invade Pakistan, one of the largest Muslim countries and a close ally to America.