The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

Women’s resourcefulness
The political and economic disintegration following the militarized violence
led to the death of sole bread-winners, resulting in loss of livelihoods.
Families that survived the violence were left penniless and
vulnerable. This brought drastic changes in gender roles to war-torn Somalia.
Like other women in militarized violence regions, out of necessity,
Somali women adopted survival mechanisms to safeguard their families’
survival. Following the divorce or the death of a husband, women in female-headed
households continue to be the main providers for their
fam ilies. Even in families where the men survived the violence, but lost
their livelihoods, women have remained the primary breadwinners for
their families. These new roles and responsibilities shouldered by Somali
women have enabled them to not only feed their families but also to
emerge as new entrepreneurial actors in their communities. In every
city, town and village in Somalia, women constitute the majority of petty
traders and owners of small businesses. Women who got involved in
small-scale income-generating activities during the civil war used their
family members, friends, and contacts with people from other clans to
facilitate their business activities. Such business interactions have the
potential to rebuild trust, friendship and cooperation among rival clans,
factors essential for building peace and recovery in a nation ravaged by
protracted militarized violence. Interviews with women in Puntland and
Somaliland indicated that they had no choice but to take up new roles
and responsibilities. I argue that the drastic switch in gender roles which
emerged as a result of the political disintegration and the militarized violence
is not equally shared by Somali women and men; more women
than men shoulder numerous new roles and responsibilities without
support and safety. In terms of security and resources, such responsibilities
have physical and psychological ramifications for Somali women
living in a restricted environment.
The trigger of the protracted conflict in Somalia
Bad governance, corruption, lack of trust in the military regime that had
governed the country for twenty-one years, lack of development and
opportunities, unemployment, gender inequality, social, economic and
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