UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 13) Moreover, Somalia has initiated engagements with the African Union (AU) to facilitate accession and ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) and other related treaties. The MoWHRD has developed measures to initiate the ratification processes, including preparation and transmission of a memoranda on this to the Council of Ministers.
Para 22) … the current Somalia Penal Code stipulates that cases governed by more than one criminal legislation, that the special legislation supersedes the general one, and that the Penal Code shall nevertheless apply to cases governed by other special legislation, unless the latter specifies otherwise. Therefore, the draft laws developed by the MoWHRD, such as .. the Anti-FGM Bill …, will provide significant (additional) legal protection as special legislation taking precedence over the articles of the Somali Penal Code.
Para 45) The outcome of the convention was the first-ever Somali Women’s Charter, which codifies the demands of the Somali women in areas such as the constitution, addressing sexual violence, access to justice, female genital mutilation and women’s political and governance participation at all levels of government. The Charter is ground-breaking is in its reach, scope, inclusivity and ambition. It called for sustained advocacy and engagement on the obstacles facing women noting that the issues raised by women in the forum needed to be anchored in laws including the constitution that is currently under review. Somalia first unveiled the Charter during the 63rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women held in New York in March 2019, highlighting the commitment of the Government to the implementation of the Charter. The Charter’s outcome continues to influence the campaign for the participation of women in public affairs including the current electoral process.

UN Compilation:
Para 2) … Somalia has not ratified the CEDAW or the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.
UN Compilation:
Para 51) The Independent Expert noted that women continued to be subjected to sexual and gender-based violence, including conflict-related violence, female genital mutilation and early and forced marriage. Sexual and physical violence against women and girls was widespread, committed with near-total impunity.
Para 56) The Independent Expert noted that harmful practices had continued unabated. Female genital mutilation, which 99 per cent of Somali girls and women aged 15–49 had undergone, continued to pose a risk to the health and well-being of those girls and women and constituted a violation of the rights of the child.
Para 57) UNHCR stated that reported incidents indicated that intimate partner violence and domestic violence, sexual abuse, child marriage, female genital mutilation and rape featured among the most common forms of sexual and gender-based violence. Women, girls, older persons, child- and female-headed households, people with disabilities, marginalized clans and internally displaced persons were the most affected. Given the lack of access to justice, the fear of retaliation, stigmatization and discrimination and the culture of impunity, most cases of sexual and gender-based violence went unreported.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 16) JS6 observed that Somalia did not have a comprehensive legal framework that addressed the rights of women and children. The National Development Plan (2017-2019) proposed the development of a National Children's Policy and Act drawing on Somalia's international obligations. In accordance with this plan, in 2017-2019, the government launched a number of policies such as the ratification of the African Charter, the FGM Bill, …, the Somali Sexual Offences Bill, … However, JS6 noted that, to date, many of these policies are drafts and not enacted or implemented by the State.
Para 60) … Furthermore, JS8 stated that 98% of women in Somalia are subjected to FGM. The occurrence of FGM in Somalia was one of the highest in the world.

National Report:
Para 11) Somalia has intensified its engagement and cooperation with international human rights treaty bodies and mechanisms since the last UPR cycle. The MoWHRD has led consultations with diverse groups of stakeholders on the path to ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). This consultation focused on familiarizing the stakeholders with this core human rights convention and Somalia’s respective rights and obligations therein. Moreover, in 2017 the Minister of Women and Human Rights Development held consultations with the CEDAW Chairperson in New York, in the margins of the UN General Assembly, to discuss Somalia’s potential ratification as well as broad-based advocacy efforts to ensure the public understands the need for Somalia to ratify this core human rights convention. Correspondingly, the MoWHRD has led a CEDAW benchmarking study tour in 2019 to Egypt for the purposes of understanding, from a comparative perspective, other countries’ experiences with the ratification processes to inform Somalia’s own ratification process.

UN Compilation:
Para 2) … Somalia has not ratified the CEDAW …

National Report:
Para 17) The 2016 indirect elections were held, following a political agreement on the electoral system, an agreed formula for safeguarding the participation of women, the election management body as well as putting in place an independent electoral dispute resolution mechanism. In comparison to the 2012 elections, the 2016 parliamentary indirect elections were relatively fairer, transparent and more inclusive. During the 2016 indirect elections, Somalia adopted a 30% quota mechanism for women’s political representation. The 2016 women quota campaign successfully led to female parliamentary candidates winning 25% of the parliamentary seats (up from 11% in 2012) and the highest percentage of women in the Council of Ministers (23%). The FGS recognises the need to improve this representation of women to the required level and is striving to achieve this through a definitive electoral model.
Para 44) On 4 – 6 March 2019, Somalia organized one of the largest women gatherings in the Somali Women’s Convention, which brought together over 350 women and girls, from Federal Member States, Civil Society Organizations and other stakeholders. The convention was a culmination of a rigorous and inclusive consultative process over several months led by the MoWHRD and the steering committee comprised of women with different backgrounds and from the different FMSs. The main aim of this convention was to deliberate and identify key obstacles faced by women in their participation in public affairs and how these obstacles could be overcome.
Para 45) The outcome of the convention was the first-ever Somali Women’s Charter, which codifies the demands of the Somali women in areas such as the constitution, addressing sexual violence, access to justice, female genital mutilation and women’s political and governance participation at all levels of government. The Charter is ground-breaking is in its reach, scope, inclusivity and ambition. It called for sustained advocacy and engagement on the obstacles facing women noting that the issues raised by women in the forum needed to be anchored in laws including the constitution that is currently under review. Somalia first unveiled the Charter during the 63rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women held in New York in March 2019, highlighting the commitment of the Government to the implementation of the Charter. The Charter’s outcome continues to influence the campaign for the participation of women in public affairs including the current electoral process.
Para 46) Furthermore, Somalia has reviewed the National Gender Policy (NGP) in order to align this policy to the National Development Plan-9 (NDP-9 / 2020 - 2025) as well as the Somali Women’s Charter. This policy will provide substantial support to the platform for the promotion of equal rights in Somalia for men and women. The NGP was developed through a series of inclusive consultations with all the relevant stakeholders, such as women groups, youth, civil society organizations, traditional elders and local community leaders. In addition, the NGP creates an effective and actionable roadmap on addressing gender equality and women’s empowerment. The key components of the NGP are anchored across the national processes focused on areas such as humanitarian affairs resilience and recovery. The NGP establishes the mainstreaming of gender equality priorities into the NDP-9 and advancement of civic social, economic, political, legal and socio-cultural circumstances of the different vulnerable groups and marginalized communities across Somalia.

UN Compilation:
Para 19) The Independent Expert stated that Somali women and girls continued to face challenges in access to education and representation and participation in public life. She was concerned that despite the call for the equal participation of women in every aspect of institutional and national life contained in the Women’s Charter for Somalia, and for women to occupy at least 30 per cent of the positions in the three branches of government, the private sector and independent commissions, women made up less than 25 per cent of federal and state institutions. Neither the electoral law enacted in February 2020 nor the Provisional Federal Constitution contained a minimum quota of 30 per cent for women’s representation in decision-making positions at all levels of government. The male-dominated clan system, influenced by an interpretation of sharia law that limited women’s participation, hindered progress.
Para 31) The Independent Expert observed that the Somali justice sector encompassed the traditional xeer system, sharia law and a formal legal system. Inadequate infrastructure and funding and the weak capacities of judicial personnel had had negative impacts on the institutional capacity of the courts, and representation of women in the judiciary remained low.
Para 50) The Peacebuilding Support Office of the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs noted that improvement in women’s participation could be seen, but less so for progress in women’s representation in decision-making bodies and in the country’s peacebuilding and State-building processes. For example, women might have participated in community processes, such as serving on local community dispute-resolution committees, or engaging in community planning processes, economic development opportunities or vocational training opportunities provided by projects in the Peacebuilding Fund portfolio. However, women remained underrepresented at higher level decision-making, with low levels of representation in district, state and federal governance structures. For example, only 22 per cent of the representation on the district-level peace and stability committees were women; 24 per cent of parliamentary seats were filled by women despite a quota of 30 per cent; and only one member of the permanent committee of the federal parliament was a woman.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 52) HRW observed that restrictions imposed by the government to limit the spread of Covid-19, including restrictions on movement and measures to ease congestion, along with price hikes and reduced remittance flows, further limited access to livelihoods and health care for displaced communities, and exacerbated existing gender- related abuses and inequalities.

UN Compilation:
Para 51) The Independent Expert noted that women continued to be subjected to sexual and gender-based violence, including conflict-related violence, female genital mutilation and early and forced marriage. Sexual and physical violence against women and girls was widespread, committed with near-total impunity.
Para 54) UNSOM and OHCHR observed that the Somali legal system addressing sexual violence comprised sharia law, xeer and the formal justice system, although most cases were dealt with under xeer and sharia law. As currently practised, those systems often resulted in further victimization of women and girls, with no justice for survivors, and impunity for perpetrators
Para 57) UNHCR stated that reported incidents indicated that intimate partner violence and domestic violence, sexual abuse, child marriage, female genital mutilation and rape featured among the most common forms of sexual and gender-based violence. Women, girls, older persons, child- and female-headed households, people with disabilities, marginalized clans and internally displaced persons were the most affected. Given the lack of access to justice, the fear of retaliation, stigmatization and discrimination and the culture of impunity, most cases of sexual and gender-based violence went unreported.