The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

delivery of the much needed humanitarian aid to vulnerable groups. In
addition, the religious groups have applied extreme measures like the
amputation of limbs and beheading of individuals – both men and
women – in public spaces in order to instil fear in those who may commit
crimes against civilians. They also target anyone who works for and
provides support to the current TFG. Even local NGOs that rely on external
support are a target.
While the majority of Somalis admire the ability of these groups to reestablish
security in an area which once was lawless and extremely violent
under the control of warlords and their armed militias, they do not
support their methods of amputation of limbs and beheading. Moreover,
the civilians under the control of armed religious groups are expected
to provide moral and financial support, and to contribute to the religious
groups’ “just” war against the government and the international peacekeepers.
If they resist, they may be labelled as traitors, and punished
severely. But the TFG too wants to gain the support of the public, and
may take drastic action against those suspected of being supporters of
the armed opposition. For instance, in Mogadishu, whenever the opposition
groups fire at government forces, the AU peacekeepers retaliate
with sophisticated weapons, often killing or displacing innocent civilians,
and destroying property. The injured and displaced people continue
struggling to access basic health care, food and water. This cycle of violence
intensifies the suffering of the Somali people and makes reconciliation
impossible.
Prior to the collapse of the state and the on-going violence, the media
as an institution had been state-controlled; there had been no independent
media in Somalia. However, the collapse of the Somali state us h -
ered in the establishment of private and independent websites and also
radio and television stations run by ordinary people all over Somalia, and
thus provided journalists with the space to establish and run their own
media without state restrictions. While the majority of the journalists
who worked for the earlier regimes have fled the country, new journal -
ists, including women, have emerged who, although they have no adequate
journalistic training, have been running most of the radio and
television stations that have emerged since the collapse of the state,
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