From the Heritage Institute

Today women in the Somali region make positive contributions to their communities by applying their knowledge, skills and financial resources through formal and non-formal political processes. Despite having a long and diverse track record of civic and political engagement, women in the Somali region have remained largely absent from official narrated and written histories of the region. Likewise, current national debates about Somalia’s political and economic development largely discard examples of women’s contributions. This renders robust debate on women’s roles and existing contributions timely and relevant.

This policy brief lays out some ways in which Somali women address their exclusion from history and why writing is an important instrument for civic and political engagement and for combating marginalization. We also present the multiple ways women define and enact civic and political engagements and argue that it is important to take into account the multiplicity of Somali women’s experiences when tackling questions related to their status in society and their chosen forms of engagement.

Download the full policy briefing here.