The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

is emphasized in Somalia. Forgiveness is important, but forgiveness
alone will not mend the hearts of traumatized people.”
(Report, p. 152).
Thoughts about the Civil War in Somalia
The situation in Somalia remains complicated. On top of the horrors of
civil war, there is now the threat of death by starvation, due to the
drought and famine. However, the development of the wars does provide
some lessons.
The colonial structures which were adopted by the elites in the post-colonial
period have remained in place. This led to a clash between the traditional
power structure embodied in the clans, and the new centralistic
power structure. The friction between these structures appears to be
at the centre of disputes to this day.
External military intervention by the UN in order to break the cycle of
violence and destruction has failed, because it was not in a position to
mediate in the internal conflicts. International attention for the civil war
depends on spectacular pictures – such as those of the famine – or from
the overall geostrategic orientation of the United States. Military intervention
by neighbouring countries is interest driven. That precludes
these countries from assuming an honest broker’s role.
The experience of Somalia suggests that external military interventions
– regardless of who carries them out – will be seen by some of the civil
war parties as new military aggression, against which they believe they
have to fight. External military interventions in Somalia have contributed
to the further destruction of internal structures important for peace-build -
ing.
The specific role of the diaspora in the Civil War has not yet been sufficiently
developed in terms of its capacity for peace-building.
Evidently, the war dividends for the warlords are so lucrative that all attempts
at peace-building are doomed to failure. These war dividends
must first be identified before anything can change.
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