The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

The colonial powers Britain, Italy and France divided Somali into five
parts in order to assert their colonial rule and exploit the people. The
Brit ish took control of the north-western region of Somalia, called British
Somaliland, and the south-western region, which became part of British
Kenya. The French took the northernmost tip, which is now Djibouti,
while the large south-central area came under Italian control; this is the
bulk of today’s Somalia. The western region largely inhabited by Somalis
was grabbed by Ethiopia’s Menelik monarchy.
Colonialism affected Somalia’s socio-economic and political life. Before
the colonial era, there was a pastoral traditional governance system
which Somalis had relied on to govern their personal and community affairs.
Men were, and still are, the leaders and members of this government;
women are only represented. Upon the arrival of colonial powers,
Somalis were forced to submit to the rules and regulations of the colonialists’
centralized system of government, where all the decision-making
and resources lay in the hands of the colonial administrators. The
colonial rulers viewed the local governance system as backward and
considered theirs progressive. This colonial system was contrary to the
traditional decentralized system of government which Somalis exer -
cised. This does not mean that there was gender equality in Somalia prior
to the arrival of colonial powers. The introduction of the colonial governance
system not only affected the traditional Somali system of governance
in which Somalis had a sense of ownership, but it also produced
a new political elite and perpetuated gender inequalities. For example,
like the pre-existing traditional system, the new system of governance
favoured certain men hailing from certain clans over other men and
women and so a few Somali men were appointed to promote the interests
of the colonial powers in order to completely subjugate the Somali
people. Some of these interests included assisting the colonial rulers to
maintain their rule over the people of Somalia and collecting taxes from
an already impoverished population. Colonial appointees from certain
clans were also provided with education and training to carry out their
duties while the majority of the people, including women, were denied
access to education. This was also done to create clan and class division,
mistrust, envy, and competition among the people. The method became
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