Recommendations

Support and invest in women’s and youth associations by providing spaces for their social and political engagement, including their participation in recreational activities, sport, and other cultural activities.

The Government of Somaliland should ensure that all ministries and departments cooperate in working toward gender equality and justice because the peace, stability, and development of Somaliland are intimately connected with removing gender-based discrimination and thereby unburdening half the population.

Engage more directly with female youth, and women from minority communities, by including them in social and political conversations as well as agenda-setting and movement-building efforts.

Provide the space for younger women to engage in constructive discourse with the more established women’s movement and feminist agenda and to develop their own strategies, agenda, and demands, while also cultivating solidarity and partnership over shared aims.

Build networks and chains of support through women’s professional associations and enable their access to advocacy platforms, that are connected to the wider women’s movements and which will encourage collaboration, coordination, and solidarity.

Reduce tolerance for gender-inequitable norms and violence against women by engaging men: • Men’s groups should be used as a way to promote non-violent and gender-equitable norms among boys and men, and reduce community tolerance for SGBV. This is based on the idea that inequitable gender attitudes and behavior by men (and women) can be unlearned and that any initiative seeking to prevent SGBV should not solely focus on “survivors,” but must also address the patriarchal and violent attitudes and behaviors of men. This strategy relies upon engaging men and boys in open and supportive dialogues focusing on the advantages of women’s rights, and the consequences of sexual violence in familiar and comfortable locations.

Support increased involvement of women and girls at all levels of education, by raising awareness regarding how women and girls’ lives are improved by participation in formal education, and by implementing programs to assist women to access teaching positions at all levels of education.

Encourage young women to pursue law enforcement and judicial system careers, and support these aspirations with quota policies for women’s employment in law enforcement and the judiciary as well as other male-dominated government departments.

Women’s movements should encourage the politicization of women’s rights groups and their agendas along with the political capacity of grassroots women to participate in local government as voters, influential actors, and candidates. This will contribute to establishing a bottom-up trajectory for the women’s movement, which aids in the sustainability and inclusiveness of the movement.