PUNTLAND WOMEN FORUM MEETING
HELD IN WAWA
CONFERENCE HALL BOSSASO
PERIOD: 24TH to 25th August
2002
Puntland Women
Forum Meeting.
Date of the
meeting 24/08/2002-25/08/2002.
Vcnnue: WAWA
Conference Hell
Start of the meeting:
The third puntland
women meeting is opened at 8:oo are on 24/8/2002 in WAWA conference hall. WAWA coordinator
Hawa Ali Jama opens the meeting. Hawa welcomed the participants to WAWA
compound. She said that this meeting is third Puntland Women meeting; there was
two previous meeting we held in Badhan district of Sanag Region and La’aanood
district of Sool Region. Hawa encouraged the participants to participate the
meeting discussion fully and to express their feeling fully. Hawa also said “ the aim of these meetings is women to learn their constitution
and to raise points they feeling is missing about the rights of women, children
and their citizen. It is also aim women to discuss the pace of puntland and how
women can participate peace-seeking initiations.
Engineer Omar of
Horn Relief has also welcomed to say his opening words. Engineer Omar welcomed
the participants and encouraged them to deeply look the points rose by the two
previous meetings and see what they can add or reduce these points. He said, “
You have to express your feeling about women’s right missed by the constitution
and propose points you feel to be added to the charter. The worsened peace
situation in Puntland disturbed the program in many ways.
Salado Isma’il
Mirood said every encouraging word about women’s rights and women to
participate fully the peace seeking initiations. Salado also sang very sweet
song invented by her about peace and the problems of war in Somalia. She highly encouraged the participants to
participate the peace seeking initiation in Puntland and whole Somalia.
Afterwards the
meeting facilitator, Mahdi Ali Osman also welcomed to start the program of the
day.
The facilitator
then start to recap the previous meetings held in Badhan and las’anod and their
outcome. The points raised by the two meetings to be added to constitution are
presented. After that the participants were divided in to five groups. Each
group was given the charter of puntland, the points raised by the previous
questions discussed in Las’anod. The participants were then asked to discuss
fully this question and the recommendations checking the previous points raised
and charter and produce the points they feel that is missed and they need to be
added in to the charter.
After long
discussion, each group raises the points they need to be added to the charter.
Plenary session was then come together for every group to present their group
work discussion outcome.
The questions
asked for the participants to discuss for were those discussed in Las’aanod
meeting and were as follows:
1- Group one – the points they can add or
reduce from the points raised by the two previous meetings which were to think
and discuss the rights of the citizens to be clarified by the future constitution
of Puntland and Somalia?
2- Group two- the points needed to be added to
the charter about the citizen’s rights for education and information getting
missed by the two previous meetings.
3- Group three- the points they can add or
reduce the point raised by the two previous meetings about what the society
need to be clarified by the constitution about the circumcision?
4- Group four- women’s right to be clarified
by the charter about marriage, divorce, inheritance and ownership of the
family’s wealth missed by the two previous meetings?
5- Group five- obligations of the citizen
missed by the charter.
After the
discussion each group present their feeling of their assignment. The points
presented by the groups were as follows:
Group One:
Right of the citizens:
1- Security: the citizen should get peace
because without peace there is no life.
2- Sanitation: the citizen should get
cleanliness because without it is lack of health.
3- Education: the citizen should get education
to build their future.
4- Freedom: the citizen should get full
freedom to live confidence.
5- Employment and support of income: the
person should get employment so he/she can survive.
6- Water: every person should get sufficient
clean water.
7- Roads: the community needs roads that are
suitable to transport and people use and that should be constructed by the
administration.
8- Health: The entire citizen both rural and
urban should get basic health in their localities.
9- Ports and Airports: the citizens should get
ports and Airports that they can export their livestock and other products and
they can import commodities.
Group Two: in
group work
Discussion of the
rights of education and getting information facts.
Education:
- The citizen has the right to get
education whether he/she is (rural and urban). They have to get place,
teacher and all the education facilities.
- Education enrollment should not be
respected in ethnic, boy or girl and a young and aged people.
Getting information
Ø
Every citizen
has the right to get information about their constitution to and know and look
for the there missing rights.
Ø
Citizens
should get every information they require.
Group three: group three in group
discussion
Circumcision of
the girls:
o
The puntland constitution
did not tell any thing about the circumcision of the girls.
o
The group
support and agree the points raised in Las-anod meeting about to stop totally
the circumcision of the girls and to punish the circumcisers and the parents
who do the action, because it has the following problems:
·
It affects
the health of the women
·
Important
organs in reproduction is removed
·
The
cleanliness of the girls is not properly operated.
·
The God’s
creature is changed and this is great sin made by the human and it is not
religious acceptable.
Group four: in group discussion
Women’s rights in
marriage, divorce, inheritance and the ownership of he family’s wealth.
Marriage
The marriage
should base on the Islamic religion
q
Should not be
compulsory
q
Should not be
conditioned to wealth.
q
Should base
the acceptance of both parties
q
The girl
should be asked for their responsible person
DIVORCE
The divorce is not
totally good and should be avoided, but if it came necessary it can happen and
it should not have conditions like:
1- If you leave the house and return back you
are not my wife
2- If the women are divorced they should be in
their home till three months as our religion says.
3- The man should pay the living expenses and
the rent of the house for these months.
4- Their mother should keep the children till
they up to 15 years of age and the father should pay their living expenses.
INHERITANCE
The inheritance
should happen as God clarified in the wholly Koran. But what some times
happened is the women to be refused to get their share from the farms, camel,
Money, Frankincense etc, this should be clearified by the constitution and women
should get all their rights,
OWNERSHIP OF THE FMILY’S WEALTH
a) The women can make special capital that
they can use as they want.
b) Women should get half of the wealth they
keep and work for.
Group five
The obligations of
the citizen:
1- Nationality: the citizen should know that he born for
this country.
2- Honest: the person should be honest for his country, people and
religion.
3- Resistance: the person should resist any problems met
from his country and people
4- Trust: the person should be one that can be trusted to the wealth of
his country and people.
5- Respect: the person should do the obligations expected from him like:
he/she should respect the commands and supervisions of the people or his
supervisors.
6- Defense: the person should defense his/her country and people
from any problems faced. Such as inside and outside enemies, like those
making the degradation of the land and sea.
After the
presentation of the groups, the whole participants discussed the issues raised
by the groups. The finally agreed all the above-mentioned points to be
clarified in the charter.
Group four in-group
discussions
Second day of the meeting
25/8/2002
The agenda of the
day was peace and security in Puntland and how women can activity participate
the peace initiation activities of the region. The facilitator forwarded the
participants for the agenda of day. He highly encouraged the participants to
deeply discuss and full participate the discussion showing their view of how
Puntland peace can be stabilized and how women can actively participate the
peace seeking initiations.
Participants we
divided in to four groups. Each group were asked to answer the two question of:
- How Puntland peace can be stabilized?
-
The role women can take for the peace initiation activities?
The groups deeply
discuss the two questions. They collect their ideas and finally agreed several
points. Plenary session were then come together, each groups presenting their
view of the two question asked.
Group one
Group one
presented the flowing points:
- Puntland peace can be stabilized by:
- First Puntland peace can by
stabilized by our God who create us and should be requested from
- All the people should be in one side
for the peace initiation following the coming way:
Ø Traditional
leaders: the traditional leaders should leave out of
politics returning back the prestige and respect in their society.
Ø The
chiefs: every chief to
re-start his activities in the society in order to disarm them and brought
peace.
Ø RELEGOUS LEADERS: the religious leaders should start
awareness raising telling the people that the killing of the people is
forbidden by the religion and is very great sin and showing them the right
bath.
Ø YOUTH: youth to understand that those dying are themselves and they
have change the gun in to pen.
Ø Administration:
when all the previous steps are found then dialogue to be started with
the existing administration.
2- Role of the women:
-
Somali women to
start awareness rising.
-
Every mother should
start the peace in their homes like her husband, boy, struggling how she can
disarm them.
-
Women to stop the
words they use to mobilize the men in to fighting like, we become inferior,
where is my tripe, our girls will not be married etc.
-
Women to know that
mobilization in to fight will be following by crying.
-
Women to know that
what will collapse will be her house, father, brother and all her relatives.
The group
concludes their presentation by song singed by Salado isma’idl Mirod about
peace and how the people are in need of.
Group two: in pressentation
Group two presented
the following:
1- Puntland peace can be stabilized.
I.
First the
peace can be stabilized by God and should prayed from God peace to return back.
II.
To initiate
peace for the two warring groups.
III.
To stop the
fire without condition.
IV.
The
traditional leader to be in one side for Puntland politics.
V.
Puntland to
stop the wish for one man and the tribalism
and work for the society.
VI.
To be in one
side for all those interfering the Puntland peace inside and outside.
2- Role of the women:
·
Puntland
women play an important role for the peace if they are honest and impartial for
the existing issues.
·
The important
role that they can play include:
o
Every mother
to start peace in her home i-e her husband, boy etc
o
To consult
her family and her neighbor about the problems of war.
o
Women should
pay all their wealth and power to peace
o
Women can
initiate and prepare peace meetings.
The group also
concludes their presentation song singed by Johro about peace and praying God
to stabilize the peace of Puntland state.
Group three: in presentation
The group
presented the following:
1- Puntland peace can be stabilized by:
§
Disarmament
§
Impartial intellectuals
§
Every
puntland people to understand their citizenship and prevent the state from the
enemies both inside and outside.
§
Struggle for
unity and equity for all.
§
To solve
problems between traditional leader.
2- The role of the women:
ü To make awareness raisings.
ü The women to start their mobilization in
their Homes, neighbors and their village like her boy, brothers, husband and
her father, disarming them when they want to go to the fighting.
ü To unite for any problems faced.
ü To make lobbing for the puntland peace
getting assistance from the civil society like children and aged people.
ü To stop supporting of two parts.
ü To use the mass media like Journals,
Radios, literature and peace proposals.
ü Contacting and getting help from the
international community to make seminars, workshops about peace, conducted for
the youth, elders and all intellectuals
Group Four:in presentation
1- Puntland peace can be stabilized by:
§
To get united
society free from tribalism and wish of persons.
§
To get pure
Islamic administration.
§
To leave out
the dictatorship
§
The civil
society to have similar view for the war problems like, migration, dying of people,
rape etc.
§
Trust between
the government and civil society.
§
To get united
traditional leaders who are honest for their people.
§
To stop the
fire.
2- The role of the women.
q
Women can
take an important role from Puntland peace such as:
Awareness raising that they have to start at her Home, neighbors, relatives,
and friends.
q
To produce
peace seeking proposals and publishing it in literature, Journals, Radios,
School, Meetings, seminars etc.
q
To sit
between the fighting wars showing signs of peace like white flags.
Group four in group work
After the
presentations, conclusion ceremony was reached. Participants from Las’anod
selected one woman to say their view of peace in song. She said a song about
peace and how it is important and how Puntland people are not aware of
specially the men. She said that the women now take the role of men.
Fatima Ali singing
a women’s equality song
Engineer Omar Irbad
from Horn relief organization was then welcomed to said his closing words for
the meetings.
Engineer Omar thanked the participants for their good
participation of the meeting. He encouraged them to practice and start the
points they raise about peace and human rights when they return back to their
Regions and Homes, the Engineer also said that this was third meeting and two
other meetings will be conducted to the remaining two regions of Nugal and
Mudug for the coming months. He said horn relief organization will make you
aware for the time and the venue of the next meetings.
Closing the
meeting
Hawa Ali Jama-
WAWA (we are women activists) coordinator comes to stage to close the meeting.
Hawa said, the points raised in this meeting should not be just words but must
practiced. Hawo also talk lot about the rights of women and constitution. She
also said lot about the peace about puntland and how it is important for the
women to actively participate the peace initiation activities.
The participants
then said their words, thanking to Horn relief and WAWA for their concern of
women’s rights and the facilitation of such kinds of meetings. Songs singing by
participants about peace and women’s rights then started taking more than 10
minutes.
Hawa Ali Jama –
WAWA coordinator and Eng. Omer Irbad of Horn Relief, closed the meeting at
12:30
.
Closing session