Three Turkish Women, Didem Nişancı, Ozge Guzelsu and Naz Durakoglu To Serve Under Biden Administration
New
Age Islam News Bureau
29
January 2021
• Headscarves for Muslim Women As Part Of South African Military Uniform
• First
Group Of Saudi Female Football Referees Receive Accreditation
• Swiss
Religious Leaders Say Ban On Burqas Violates Religious Freedom
• Fans
Spot Zayn Malik’s New Tattoo Of Daughter’s Name In Arabic
• Pakistan
Lacks A Consumer Base Of Women Who Understand Fashion: Style Extraordinaire
Maheen Khan
• 'Violence
Starts At Home': The Afghan Women Tackling Domestic Abuse At Its Source
• Pak-Afghan
Lawmakers Launch Group For Women Parliamentarians
• US
Condemns Killing of Two Women by IS in Syria
• Somali
women eye seats in government dominated by men
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/three-turkish-women-didem-nisanci/d/124177
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Three Turkish Women, Didem Nişancı, Ozge Guzelsu and Naz Durakoglu To Serve Under Biden Administration
Three
Turkish-American women will serve in the administration of U.S. President Joe
Biden, who took office on Jan. 20.
-----
January
29 2021
Three
Turkish-American women will serve in the administration of U.S. President Joe
Biden, who took office on Jan. 20.
Didem
Nişancı, former global head of public policy for Bloomberg LP, became the chief
of staff for Janet Yellen, the new treasury secretary.
Nişancı
worked for four years as chief of staff at the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission in the Obama administration, where among other duties she served as
chief White House liaison.
She
also served as staff director of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and
Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance and Investment, including
in the wake of the 2007-2009 global financial crisis.
The
second Turkish-American to work under the Biden administration is Özge Güzelsu,
a lawyer who was appointed as the deputy chief legal advisor of the Department
of Defence.
Özge
Güzelsu, who previously worked as a lawyer in California and later served on
the Senate Military Committee, graduated from both Harvard and Stanford,
leading universities in the world.
Naz
Durakoğlu became the first Turkish-American to be appointed to the U.S.
Department of State at the highest level in its history.
She
has been elected as the senior deputy undersecretary for congressional
relations at the Department of State.
Durakoğlu
served as senior adviser to Victoria Nuland, deputy secretary of state for
European and Eurasian affairs in the Obama administration between 2015 and
2017.
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/three-turkish-woman-to-serve-under-biden-administration-161997
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Headscarves
for Muslim Women As Part Of South African Military Uniform
South
Africa’s Army Allows Hijab For Muslim Women
A
woman wearing a face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus outbreak
walks on the street in downtown Johannesburg, South Africa, Jan. 26, 2021. (AP
Photo)
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29
Jan 2021
The
South African military has amended its dress policy to allow Muslim women to
wear headscarves as part of their uniform, an army spokesperson said on
Thursday.
In
January last year, a military court dropped charges against an officer who had
been indicted for wearing a hijab under her military beret.
Major
Fatima Isaacs had been criminally charged in June 2018 with willful defiance
and failing to obey lawful instructions after her superior asked her to remove
her headscarf when in uniform.
A
military court at the Castle of Good Hope near Cape Town withdrew all charges
in January 2020, making an exception for Isaacs to wear a tight black wrap on
her head on duty as long as it did not cover her ears.
But
the military did not amend its dress policy, prompting Isaacs to mount a
challenge in South Africa’s equality court over regulations restricting
religious wear.
The
South African Defence Force (SANDF) eventually agreed to amend its policy this
week and allow all Muslim women to cover their heads while on duty.
“The
SANDF dress regulation was updated to allow the wearing of headscarves by
Muslim (women) according to stipulations in the dress regulations,” spokesman
Mafi Mgobozi told the AFP news agency on Thursday.
The
South Africa-based Legal Resources Centre, which represented Isaacs, welcomed
the decision via Twitter on Wednesday and said it was withdrawing the equality
court case.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/29/south-africas-army-lifts-hijab-ban-for-muslims
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First
group of Saudi female football referees receive accreditation
January
29, 2021
JEDDAH:
The Saudi Football Federation (SFF) announced this week that it had approved
the first batch of Saudi female referees as part of its efforts to develop
women’s participation in the game in the Kingdom.
The
SFF Referees Committee, in cooperation with the Women’s Football Development
Department, approved 63 female referees to work under the federation’s
umbrella. The referees attended two training programs in 2020, in Dammam in
September, and in Riyadh in October, where they met with female referees from
Jordan and Lebanon, who shared their experiences with the young trainees.
“It
was a very enriching and encouraging experience, and gave us huge motivation
and confidence in our abilities,” Lulwah Al-Dosari, one of the approved
referees, told Arab News. “It is totally different when you meet someone who
has already achieved something big. They told us how they had once been like
us.
“I’ve
been a big fan of football since a very young age, but we never had such a
chance to develop and improve our abilities,” she added.
Saudi
Arabia’s Women’s Football League (WFL) launched in November and saw 24 teams
from Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam competing for the trophy and a $133,000 cash
prize. Al-Dosari refereed one of the games, between Al-Shula and United Eagles
in Dammam — having completed a FIFA training course in Dubai.
Sham
Al-Ghamdi, the first Saudi woman to referee an official match, having completed
the same FIFA course as Al-Dosari, said SFF accreditation was something she has
been “seeking for years.”
“I
traveled a lot and enrolled in many courses and tried to understand all details
about football despite the lack of opportunities in the Kingdom until
recently,” she told Arab News. Saudi women have only been able to attend
football matches since 2018.
“Meeting
with international referees was a unique experience and its benefits were
beyond my expectations. It was an honor for me to be part of this program,” she
continued. “This is the beginning of a long journey.”
Retired
referee Abdulsalam Muhanna is the founder and chairman of Al-Marred Academy,
which ran the Dammam training program.
“I
noticed that there were no female referees or programs that supported them,” he
told Arab News.
He
approached the SFF to propose a training course. “The federation supported the
project and made it available for participants from across the Kingdom,” he
added.
Muhanna
said that his academy has witnessed “great demand and interest from women in
various sports,” but that facilities are lacking throughout the Kingdom. He
hopes sports clubs will invest in creating facilities to help out the next
generation of female athletes, coaches and referees.
Al-Ghamdi
anticipates a bright future for women’s sports in the Kingdom.
“The
passion is there, the skill is there and the support is also there,” she said.
“I have hope that we will have a very impressive future as referees and
players, and we can prove ourselves on the regional and international stage.”
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1800271/sport
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Swiss
Religious Leaders Say Ban On Burqas Violates Religious Freedom
January
29, 2021
Switzerland's
Catholic Church has joined other religious groups in opposing a proposed ban on
Muslim head coverings, arguing it would "disproportionately" restrict
religious freedom.
The
statement was published on the bishops' conference website amid preparations
for a March 7 referendum on a law to ban "covering the face in
public," introduced by members of the center-right Swiss People's Party.
The
bishops said freedom "to choose and shape ways of life, lifestyles and
orientations" was a core value of Switzerland's liberal democracy, adding
that religious leaders would reject "all ideologically and
sociopolitically motivated attempts" to interfere with constitutionally
protected religious expressions.
"Covering
the body due to religious conviction ... constitutes an external symbol of
worshipping God," the bishops' conference said in a joint statement with
the Swiss Council of Religions. The statement also was signed by Protestant,
Orthodox, Muslim and Jewish leaders.
The
government, headed by chancellor Walter Thurnherr, has previously argued rules
on head covering should be left to the country's 26 cantons, of which St.
Gallen and Ticino already ban the burqa, the all-covering dress worn by some
Muslim women.
A ban
on Muslim minarets, also introduced by the Swiss People's Party, was voted
through in a 2009 referendum.
The
church and religious leaders said "prescriptions on covering face and
body" differed among religious communities, but generally expressed
"traditional views on gender that have been increasingly rejected
throughout the Western world."
However,
they added that the burqa was worn by very few Muslim women in Switzerland, who
would face "two conflicting forms of pressure: the religious requirement
to cover the face and compulsion exerted by the state to refrain."
"The
concealment of female identity in the public sphere is frequently viewed as
expressing gender inequality. This perception is not, however, shared by all
women concerned," the statement said.
"This
initiative claims to have public security as a goal. In reality, it is directed
toward an exceedingly small minority of the population and does not resolve any
problems."
The
religious leaders said the Swiss government's counterproposal, requiring faces
to be revealed for official identification, appeared "reasonable and
proportionate."
The
burqa and other head coverings were banned in France and Belgium in 2001, and
in Bulgaria, Austria, Denmark and parts of Spain between 2017 and 2018.
Although
the Netherlands became the latest to impose a ban in August 2019, with fines
and potential jail terms, human rights groups have argued prohibitions are
unworkable and violate religious freedom, while police and transport companies
often have been unwilling to enforce them.
https://www.ucanews.com/news/swiss-religious-leaders-say-ban-on-burqas-violates-religious-freedom/91199#
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Fans
Spot Zayn Malik’s New Tattoo Of Daughter’s Name In Arabic
January
27, 2021
DUBAI:
Zayn Malik just added a new tattoo to his ink collection, and it might be his
most thoughtful one yet: The name of his and Gigi Hadid’s baby daughter, Khai,
written in Arabic on the inside of his wrist.
Eagle-eyed
fans spotted the new ink on the former One Direction star during one of his
Instagram Lives, which was recorded before their four-month-old daughter’s name
was revealed.
Part-Palestinian
Hadid revealed their baby girl’s unique name in an under-the-radar manner that
saw her update her Instagram bio to say “Khai’s mom.” Though Hadid did not
publicize the change, internet sleuths caught on quickly, and the news soon
started trending on Twitter.
As it
turns out, Malik is a fan of using tattoos to immortalize important people in
his life.
For
instance, the popstar has his grandfather's name in Arabic inked on his skin,
as well as his father's own moniker. Other meaningful tattoos include Hadid’s
eyes on his chest.
The
couple’s daughter’s name has been reported to be a nod to Hadid’s paternal
grandmother named Khairiah.
The
pair have been relatively private when it comes to their daughter and have yet
to share a picture of Khai with the public. However, the model often posts
sweet snaps of her daughter’s tiny hand grasping her finger.
The
couple welcomed their first child together in September. At the time, Malik
announced the news by writing: “Our baby girl is here, healthy and beautiful.
To try to put into words how I am feeling right now would be an impossible
task. The love I feel for this tiny human is beyond my understanding. Grateful
to know her, proud to call her mine, and thankful for the life we will have
together.”
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1799361/lifestyle
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Pakistan
Lacks A Consumer Base Of Women Who Understand Fashion: Style Extraordinaire
Maheen Khan
January
29, 2021
Ace
designer and style extraordinaire Maheen Khan is dubbed as the ‘pillar’ of
Pakistan’s fashion industry, according to Arabian Moda, and in a recent
interview with the outlet, she has proven why that is so.
With
successful labels under her belt, Khan, at the age of 75, is still holding her
own in the local fashion scene. Her expertise has lent her the pleasure of
dressing the late Benazir Bhutto, Kate Middleton, Jemima Goldsmith and Princess
Sarvath al-Hassan among other dignitaries.
In
her recent conversation with Haider Rifaat, Khan spoke about the state of the
global fashion business amid the pandemic, under-representation of plus-sized
models in Pakistan and the 2021 edition of Fashion Pakistan Week (FPW)
“It
has been a challenging time for the fashion industry,” she said. “Some have
weathered the change and some sadly, have not. The top and bottom end of the
market have stayed afloat but as always, those in between have suffered,” cried
the maven.
She
reinstated how small brands and emerging designers have not been able to
sustain. And how could they, when only the designers who could pull off solo
fashion shows were able to showcase their collections amid the absence of
collective fashion weeks altogether. As for the virtual shows that are taking
place worldwide, Khan claimed that they’re just keeping the brand’s “imagery
alive.”
However,
as the Chairperson of FPW, Khan detailed what we should expect from the
upcoming event slated for this year. “FPW 2021 will be a two day exclusive
affair that would highlight fashion and design. The outdoor luxe setting is
carefully curated with 100 guests.”
She
revealed how the event will embrace the new digital format being practiced
globally and the organisers “have decided to present the collections with a
runway show to support the fashion system and the city of Karachi.”
But
about embracing healthier, plus-sized models, Khan clarified, “We already have.
Fashion Pakistan Week saw collections from two designers for generous sized
non-model women. What is important to understand is that fashion sells an image,
and an important part of it is the packaging.”
So
what does Pakistan’s fashion industry really lack? The answer is, “a consumer
base of women who understand fashion,” according to Khan.
Standing
up for her industry, like always, Khan asserted, “In the present circumstances,
can you blame designers if we see more embellishments and less or hardly any
silhouette? How many women in Pakistan want to wear a stunning silhouette sans
embroidery to a wedding? I rest my case,” the veteran asserted.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2281850/pakistan-lacks-a-consumer-base-of-women-who-understand-fashion-maheen-khan
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'Violence
Starts At Home': The Afghan Women Tackling Domestic Abuse At Its Source
Stefanie
Glinski
29
Jan 2021
Nabila
felt her diesel-drenched clothes stick to her skin, her lungs filling with
fumes, hot panic rising.
It
hadn’t been the first time an argument with her husband had escalated: he’d
been beating her throughout their 30-year marriage, even tying her to a tree in
the garden outside their small home in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, leaving her
freezing in the winter cold.
But
after the attempt to set her on fire Nabila – who asked for only her first name
to be used – ran away for good.
Four
years on, the 50-year-old lives in a small apartment with her mother, working
as a cook and cleaner at a private school, haunted by the abuse, and afraid her
undercover life might one day be exposed.
“I
had wanted to divorce him for a long time,” she says, “but I didn’t even know
where to seek help. I’d like to write down my life’s story one day so everyone
can read it – especially women in similar situations.”
About
87% of Afghan girls and women experience abuse in their lifetime, according to
Human Rights Watch. A 2009 law on the elimination of violence against women had
been celebrated as a hard-won victory by activists, but has since been largely
ignored, with few victims able to seek justice.
A new
campaign, based in Kabul, is now aiming to lower this figure. The initiative,
Talk for Harmony, has partnered with activists, religious scholars and
psychologists in a mass media and social media campaign, offering meditation
and counselling services to victims and perpetrators, and broadcasting advice
on how to handle stress and where to seek help.
“Violence
starts at home and it can slowly move out – into the streets, the schools,
everywhere. That’s why it needs to be extinguished at the source,” Freshta
Farah of the Afghan Women’s Network – the organisation implementing the
campaign – told the Guardian.
Farah
puts abuse into different categories – verbal, physical and emotional. She says
most cases of domestic violence, something mainly experienced by women, never
reach court and are solved within families or left unsettled, often dragging on
for decades.
“Violence
has been normalised in many homes and has become a coping strategy for dealing
with external pressures,” says Balqis Ehsan, a research officer at Magenta, the
technical organisation that put together the campaign’s videos and radio
messages.
“It’s
straightforward,” Ehsan says. “We use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to reach
both victims and perpetrators and we have partnered with local television and
radio stations that play our clips. People can call a free-of-charge number to
get help and can even request in-person mediation sessions in Kabul.”
Before
the launch of Talk for Harmony, research across eight of the country’s 34
provinces showed that since the coronavirus pandemic began, 35% of respondents
– victims and perpetrators – reported an increase in gender-based violence,
with a third of all women who took part in the study saying they didn’t know
where to go or how to get help.
Among
the respondents, 30% thought it “acceptable” to beat a woman who leaves the
house without telling anyone, while 17% felt it was “acceptable” to use
violence if a woman refused to fulfil their “marital duties”.
“At
the start of the pandemic, many families were stuck at home. Economic pressures
mounted and in such situations, violence is sometimes used as a first coping
strategy,” Ehsan says.
Soraya,
57, a university-educated working mother of five, was married at 13. Even as
the family’s main financial provider, she still faces regular verbal and
emotional abuse. She asked to be referred to by her first name only.
“Both
my husband and I face difficulties – living in a country at war is difficult
enough and our society puts additional pressures on us. He deals with it by
letting out his anger, by regular outbursts. As a woman, I am expected to hide
my feelings,” she says, adding that while she doesn’t feel free, her husband’s
permission to let her study and work has opened opportunities for her.
“Violence
is not the answer to angry emotions,” Freshta Farah says. Talk for Harmony is
scheduled to run for the next two months, but the Afghan Women’s Network hopes
that this is just the beginning.
“We
have a long way to go to extinguishing domestic violence at its source,” Farah
says.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/jan/29/violence-starts-at-home-the-afghan-women-tackling-domestic-abuse-at-its-source
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Pak-Afghan
Lawmakers Launch Group For Women Parliamentarians
JANUARY
29, 2021
Parliamentarians
from Pakistan and Afghanistan on Thursday announced a new initiative Women
Parliamentarians Beyond Boundaries (WPBB) to push for greater understanding and
bilateral cooperation.
The
idea was floated by Member National Assembly (MNA) Shandana Gulzar, who said if
doctors can operate without boundaries, why can’t public representatives do so
by joining hands to serve and guide their people?
Ms
Gulzar said this at the Pakistan-Afghanistan Women Parliamentarians’ Dialogue,
organized by the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) and the
Organization for Economic Studies and Peace (OESP) in Afghanistan.
The
conference was designed to bring together members of parliament and senior
female officials from both countries to communicate and collaborate across a
wide variety of common goals.
The
gathering was inaugurated by Najib Alikhil, the ambassador of Afghanistan to
Pakistan, who lauded CRSS’ efforts in expanding and improving people-to-people
relations between the two countries and highlighted the women forum as a clear
example of the organization’s success. He stated that the stability, security,
and prosperity of the two countries was deeply linked, and cooperation needed
to be improved in trade and transit, education, health, and security. He was
appreciative of the positive recent diplomatic exchanges between the two
countries and said that PM Imran Khan’s vision for of peace is achievable with
direct contribution of all stakeholders and a comprehensive ceasefire.
Shinkai
Karokhail, Member Parliament Afghanistan and leader of the delegation, said
that engaging more women can help change the face of Afghan politics. She
stated that women’s role in lasting peace is critical, and Afghan women welcome
and expect regional women to support them in whatever way possible.
Dr
Nausheen Hamid, Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Health, stated that
health is a common challenge and shared goal. She briefed the honourable
attendees for the efforts out together by the government to both curb the
pandemic, while keeping the economy afloat. She led an interactive discussion
on what could be jointly pursued in the field of health between the two
countries.
Dr
Sania Nishtar, the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Poverty Alleviation
and Social Safety, spoke about the government’s effort to curb poverty and
provide financial assistance to the masses, and how this may be replicated in
Afghanistan. She said that despite several women-focused programs, even the
main EHSAS program was designed on a policy of 50% parity. Her briefing was
lauded by Ms. Shinkai, who proposed that the Afghan Women Affairs Minister
should visit Pakistan to further connect on this issue.
MNA
Mehnaz Akbar Aziz briefed the participants that Pakistan has constituted a
special committee on child rights at the SDGs headquarter in the National
Assembly. Pakistan is willing to support Afghanistan with any possible
assistance in establishing such committees.
Member
National Assembly, Dr. Aisha Ghaus Pasha stated whilst delivering her keynote
address that after the peace agreement, the Afghan government should work for
improving the quality of life for the citizens.
The
session concluded on a positive note by Ms. Gulzar who stated that we should
work together for bringing peace through development. She further highlighted
the importance of measures like educational investments in the form of
scholarships for Afghan students, exchange program for Afghan doctors to do
specialization in Pakistan, visa relaxations for Afghan patients and medical
tourism, and continuation of these meetings in the future either physically or
virtually.
https://dailytimes.com.pk/718361/pak-afghan-lawmakers-launch-group-for-women-parliamentarians/
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US
Condemns Killing of Two Women by IS in Syria
By
Sirwan Kajjo
January
28, 2021
The
United States has condemned the killings of two local female officials who were
recently kidnapped by militants affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) terror
group in northeastern Syria.
The
U.S. Embassy in Syria said Thursday that it “was deeply saddened to learn of
the deaths of Seda al-Faisal al-Hermas and Hind Latif al-Khidr.”
“We
condemn their murder by Daesh terrorists and offer sincere condolences to their
families,” the embassy said in a tweet, using an Arabic acronym for IS.
The
U.S. Embassy in Damascus suspended its operations in 2012 following a Syrian
government crackdown on protesters during the early days of the country’s civil
war. The embassy, however, maintains contact with the Syrian public through
social media.
Hermas
and Khidr reportedly were kidnapped last week from their houses in the town of
al-Dashisha, south of the city of al-Hasakah in northeast Syria. Witnesses told
local news media that at least eight men, suspected to be part of an IS cell,
orchestrated the kidnappings.
Hours
after their abductions, the bodies of the two women were found decapitated near
a main road in the area, local reports said.
Hermas
was the co-chair of her town’s local administrative council, while Khidr was a
board member of the same council. The town of al-Dashisha was freed from IS in
2017 by U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Mazloum
Abdi, general commander of the SDF, said the killings represented an attack on
free women and democratic values.
“We
pledge to our people to pursue the criminal cells until justice is achieved,”
he said in a tweet this week.
Despite
its territorial defeat in March 2019, IS continues to carry out terror attacks
against civilians and SDF forces in northeastern Syria, especially in the
province of Deir el-Zour.
Last
week, IS claimed responsibility for the death of a disabled man in the town of
Ghariba in Deir el-Zour. Two days before that, two gunmen on a motorbike killed
a member of the SDF-linked Deir el-Zour Civil Council in the town of Abu
Khashab. Local media accused IS members of carrying out the attack.
Colonel
Wayne Marotto, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition against IS, said Thursday
via Twitter that the coalition’s “goal is stabilization of these areas, which
is crucial to ensuring the long-term defeat of Daesh, setting the groundwork
for communities to recover, [and] denying terrorists the ability to regenerate
or reclaim lost ground.”
https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/us-condemns-killing-two-women-syria
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Somali
women eye seats in government dominated by men
By:
Deutsche Welle
January
28, 2021
Amina
Mohamed Abdi, one of the Somali government’s most vocal critics, was 24 when
she first ran for parliament in 2012. She won, becoming one of the few women in
Somalia’s government. This year, now aged 32, she is running for a third term
in postponed elections scheduled for February 8.
But
it has not been easy for her in the conflict-ridden country, where men dominate
politics. Usually, it is conservative clan elders who decide who will get into
parliament. Few think that women should go into politics. “I was asked: ‘You
want to be a prostitute? How can a woman represent a clan?'” she told Reuters.
“I insisted and said a clan is not composed only of men.”
This
year, she is running against five men for the same seat. It is one of 329 seats
in the lower and upper houses, only 24% of which are occupied by women.
Prime
ministerial support
In
mid-January, Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble announced that a third
of parliamentary seats should be reserved for female lawmakers.
Women’s
rights activists have been calling for this for some time. In July 2020, the
lower house of parliament even approved a bill that would allow for this, but
it has yet to be passed by the upper house and signed into law by the
president.
Deqa
Abdiqasim Salad, the founder and CEO of the Hear Woman Foundation, was not
impressed by the prime minister’s announcement. “Our mistake was not to push
for the 30% quota to be written into the constitution,” she told DW. “If we
had, the minimum quota would be policy. Policies cannot be broken easily. Right
now, it is just a recommendation.”
She
added that she was worried that women would not even manage to win more seats
than last time. “We occupy 24% right now, but I believe that those could be
lost this year.”
But
former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Fawzia Yusuf Haji
Adan said the quota is progress, and that a binding quota was a necessary step.
“The primary objective of electoral quotas is to reduce gender gaps in
representation in electoral lists,” she told DW. “The quotas for women
parliamentarians are vital to safeguard the rights of women but it also
reflects the population it represents at the parliament.”
Many
hurdles for women
As
the first woman to have been deputy premier and foreign minister in her
country, and now the leader of the National Democratic Party, Adan is very
familiar with the obstacles faced by ambitious women in Somali politics.
“The
challenges for women are mainly the unending conflict in Somalia and lack of
peace and stability, but also the al-Shabab terrorists who are attacking any
development and democratic processes,” she said. “Another factor is the lack of
finances for many female political aspirants.”
In
the upcoming elections, anybody running for a seat in either house of
parliament has to pay a registration fee of between $10,000 and $20,000 (€8.200
to €16,400). It is often more difficult for women to come up with such sums
than for men, who are more likely to receive funds from businesses and clan
members.
‘4.5
rule’ needs to go
There
is another problem, said Adan: “The quotas will not help women as long as the
4.5 policy exists in Somalia because traditional elders choose who goes to
parliament — and they do not believe in women’s political participation.”
Amina
Mohamed Abdi, one of the Somali government’s most vocal critics, was 24 when
she first ran for parliament in 2012. She won, becoming one of the few women in
Somalia’s government. This year, now aged 32, she is running for a third term
in postponed elections scheduled for February 8.
But
it has not been easy for her in the conflict-ridden country, where men dominate
politics. Usually, it is conservative clan elders who decide who will get into
parliament. Few think that women should go into politics. “I was asked: ‘You
want to be a prostitute? How can a woman represent a clan?'” she told Reuters.
“I insisted and said a clan is not composed only of men.”
This
year, she is running against five men for the same seat. It is one of 329 seats
in the lower and upper houses, only 24% of which are occupied by women.
Prime
ministerial support
In
mid-January, Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble announced that a third
of parliamentary seats should be reserved for female lawmakers.
Women’s
rights activists have been calling for this for some time. In July 2020, the
lower house of parliament even approved a bill that would allow for this, but
it has yet to be passed by the upper house and signed into law by the
president.
Deqa
Abdiqasim Salad, the founder and CEO of the Hear Woman Foundation, was not
impressed by the prime minister’s announcement. “Our mistake was not to push
for the 30% quota to be written into the constitution,” she told DW. “If we
had, the minimum quota would be policy. Policies cannot be broken easily. Right
now, it is just a recommendation.”
She
added that she was worried that women would not even manage to win more seats
than last time. “We occupy 24% right now, but I believe that those could be
lost this year.”
But
former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Fawzia Yusuf Haji
Adan said the quota is progress, and that a binding quota was a necessary step.
“The primary objective of electoral quotas is to reduce gender gaps in
representation in electoral lists,” she told DW. “The quotas for women
parliamentarians are vital to safeguard the rights of women but it also
reflects the population it represents at the parliament.”
Many
hurdles for women
As
the first woman to have been deputy premier and foreign minister in her
country, and now the leader of the National Democratic Party, Adan is very
familiar with the obstacles faced by ambitious women in Somali politics.
“The
challenges for women are mainly the unending conflict in Somalia and lack of
peace and stability, but also the al-Shabab terrorists who are attacking any
development and democratic processes,” she said. “Another factor is the lack of
finances for many female political aspirants.”
In
the upcoming elections, anybody running for a seat in either house of
parliament has to pay a registration fee of between $10,000 and $20,000 (€8.200
to €16,400). It is often more difficult for women to come up with such sums
than for men, who are more likely to receive funds from businesses and clan
members.
‘4.5
rule’ needs to go
There
is another problem, said Adan: “The quotas will not help women as long as the
4.5 policy exists in Somalia because traditional elders choose who goes to
parliament — and they do not believe in women’s political participation.”
Duqa
Salad of the Hear Woman Foundation said that more support was needed for women.
“Civil society should not fail the women they put in parliament; they should
support them and hold them accountable,” she said.
Salad
said that together, the 30% quota could be achieved: “Not only in politics but
in all sectors of society.”
https://indianexpress.com/article/world/somali-women-eye-seats-in-government-dominated-by-men-7165643/
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