Conflict realities and peacebuilding in Somalia
“What is conflict doing to me, how do I affect conflict and where can I engage to contribute to building and sustaining peace in Somalia?” To address these questions and strategise around them, mediatEUr’s board member, Kathrin Quesada, visited Mogadishu from 8 to 12 October, together with the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA).
Sixteen women based in Mogadishu and other Somali regions were invited to participate in a three day course to unpack the notion of conflict, apply a number of conflict analysis tools to their conflict realities, and begin strategising on the entry points that exist for them in becoming involved in building and sustaining peace in Somalia. In this context, different areas of engagement were identified: the ongoing constitution building process, the upcoming elections in 2020, the continuing lack of access to justice for women, as well as dialogue processes on the local, regional and national level.
The event also provided the opportunity for all participants to meet and discuss how their strengths and engagement could be harnessed in the upcoming months with the Chair of the National Electoral Commission to ensure that the 30 percent women’s quota, as stipulated in the provisional constitution, is met in 2020.
The course is the second in a series of capacity-building workshops by the FBA that mediatEUr has contributed to, with the overall objective of enhancing women’s role in building and sustaining peace in Somalia. The course in October also received high level support from the former Special Envoy of the Swedish Government to the Horn of Africa, Marika Fahlén. It is envisaged to build on these activities and deliver two follow-on courses in the upcoming months.
In 2021, mediatEUr became Conciliation Resources EU/mediatEUr.