Background Somaliland is a country that emerged from civil war after the collapse of the central government of the Somali Republic in 1991. It is estimated that over half a million people from Somaliland lost their lives during the war against the authoritarian regime of Siad Barre, while millions more were internally displaced and fled across the borders of the country seeking safety as refugees, primarily in Ethiopia. On the 18th of May 1991, Somaliland gained its sovereignty from Somalia, and proclaimed itself an independent state: the Republic of Somaliland. Despite this history, Somaliland has yet to be recognized as a sovereign state by the international community or the United Nations. Somaliland’s development as a separate entity evolved around the time when Northern Somalia was a formal British Protectorate after the Second World War. During that time, the Somali region was divided between the Italian controlled southern/central part of Somalia, the British controlled northern part of the region, and the French controlled area, which was then called French Somaliland, and today is the independent nation of Djibouti. Somaliland gained independence on June 26, 1960. However, this independence lasted for only five days, at which time Somaliland was united with the former Italian trusteeship of Somalia to form the Republic of Somalia. In March of 1969 during the second round of national elections in the young Republic of Somalia, the democratically elected government was overthrown by a military coup. After seizing power by force, leader of the coup, Siad Barre, installed himself as president and dissolved the recently established democratic institutions of the Republic, including the multi-party system, the parliament, and the Supreme Court. Although the Barre regime eroded many political freedoms, it took some small steps in the direction of gender equality including improving women and girls’ literacy levels, and promoting women’s involvement in politics. Between 1969 and 1991 (when the Barre regime fell), women gained positions of power in the government, and held approximately 10 percent of parliamentary seats.2 In 1988, the region was plunged into a civil war as aggressions ignited between the ruling military regime and the Somali National Movement (SNM), which was primarily supported by the Isaaq clan. In just the first year of conflict, agricultural lands and water sources were destroyed by aerial bombings, hundreds of thousands of people were displaced across neighboring borders, and tens of thousands were killed.3 By the time the military regime was overthrown in 1991, the infrastructures of both Somalia and Somaliland had been devastated. In May of that year, Somaliland declared independence from Somalia, but this was undermined by another outbreak of fighting as old grievances within the ranks of the SNM resurfaced in the power vacuum that emerged after the fall of the Barre regime.4 In October of 1992, a conference was held in Sheikh, Somaliland where a small group of traditional leaders led the initiation of the peaceful transition
Inclusive Peace & Transition Initiative, 2017 Ibid. 4 Gardner, Bushra, 2004 2 3
Reflection on Gender Equality Agenda in Somaliland
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