The Foundation has started its workshop program for female members of the Somali Federal Member State Legislative Assemblies.
In the Somali Federal Member States of Galmudug, Hirshabelle, Jubaland, Puntland and South-West State, the Max Planck Foundation’s newly introduced legal capacity building program for female members of the Somali Federal Member State Legislative Assemblies has got off to a promising start. The workshop series is part of the German Federal Foreign Office funded project Capacity Building and Legal Advice for the Federal Member State Legislative Assemblies in Somalia and started with the topic of Women Rights in the Somali Provisional Constitution of 2012.
The Foundation prepared the materials for this workshop together with the Somali Legal Advisors during the first training-of-trainers workshop held in December of 2022. The presentations introduced the scope of ‘women rights’ through international legal frameworks and Islamic law and further provided an overview of women’s rights in the Somali Provisional Constitution. These rights were then analysed and interpreted based on Islamic laws in other countries, such as Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Tunisia. The three working groups created thereafter prepared interesting arguments and strategies for enhanced political participation of women and concluded the workshop on a high note with fruitful discussions on the Somali context.
The workshop series started with a first workshop held for female members of the Legislative Assembly of Galmudug in Dhusumareb on 1 March 2023, which was officially opened and attended by the Speaker of the Galmudug State Assembly, HE Mohamed Nur Ga’al. Thereafter, the same workshop was held for female members of the Legislative Assembly of Jubaland in Kismayo on 6 March 2023, for female members of the Legislative Assembly of South-West State in Baidoa on 8 March 2023, for female members of the Legislative Assembly of Hirshabelle on 16 March 2023, and for female members of the Puntland House of Representatives in Garowe on 21 March 2023.
Over the course of the workshops, the female members of the five Federal Member State Legislative Assemblies and some of their male colleagues engaged in very active discussions on ways to increase the political participation of Somali women. The participants stated that they greatly appreciated the workshop and were looking forward to participating in similar workshops in the future.