GENDER ASSESSMENT REPORT
FOR SOMALIA
Inclusion of women in leadership, Source: SomReP File Photo
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................................................................i
ACRONYMS ..................................................................................................................................................iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................................................v
1.0: INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................................- 1 -
1.1 Overview......................................................................................................................................- 1 -
GAP Training, Source: SomReP: File Photo ............................................................................................ - 2 -
2.0: CONTEXT ......................................................................................................................................... - 3 -
3.0: EVOLUTION OF THE GENDER AGENDA AT SOMREP/ ..................................................................... - 7 -
3.1.1 Evolution of Gender Agenda .................................................................................................. - 7 -
3.2 GESI findings from Gender Analysis.....................................................................................- 8 -
3.2.1 Systems .........................................................................................................................- 8 -
3.2.2 Access and Control .......................................................................................................- 8 -
3.2.3. Decision making ................................................................................................................ - 11 -
3.2.3 Participation.................................................................................................................- 12 -
3.2.4 Wellbeing .....................................................................................................................- 13 -
4.0: THE STRATEGIC APPROACH .........................................................................................................- 16 -
4.1 Guiding Principles .................................................................................................................... - 16 -
4.2. Vision........................................................................................................................................- 17 -
4.3 Theory of Change.....................................................................................................................- 17 -
4.4 Strategic Objectives................................................................................................................ - 23 -
4.4.1 Enhancing GESI in the Internal Architecture of and SomReP....................................... - 23 -
4.4.2 Empowering Women, Girls PWDs and IDPs to Access Finance and Markets for Resilience
and Sustainable Livelihoods...................................................................................................... - 24 -
4.4.4 Enhancing Capacity and Wellbeing of Socially Target Groups. ..................................... - 25 -
4.4.4 Promoting GESI Transformative Legal and Policy Environment through Advocacy,
Capacity Building and Dialogue ................................................................................................- 26 -
5.0. GENDER AND SOCIAL INCLUSION MAINSTREAMING ..................................................................- 28 -
5.1 Official Statement on GESI......................................................................................................- 28 -
5.2 Capacity Building of staff on GESIe........................................................................................ - 23 -
5.2.1 Tools to Integrate GESI into Programing ..........................................................................- 31 -
5.3 GESI Mainstreaming in Program/Project Cycle. .................................................................... - 32 -
5.4 Build Local Partners including federal, State, Local Governments, CSOs and Local
Community-Based Organization Capacity. ........................................................................- 34 -
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6.0 GESI ISSUES, STRATEGIES AND KEY INDICATORS BY STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES .......................... - 36 -
7.0 SOMREP GENDER MONITORING PLAN........................................................................................... - 41 -
7.1 Risks and Mitigation Measures ...............................................................................................- 48 -
8.0 WAY FORWARD............................................................................................................................- 50 -
Source: Woman engaged in Micro-enterprises, Source: SomReP File photo ....................................- 51 -
ANNEX. 1 GLOSSARY ITEMS................................................................................................................... - 52 -
ANNEX II: REFERENCE ............................................................................................................................ - 53 -
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ACRONYMS
AAH Action Against Hunger
ACHPR African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
ADRA Adventist Development Relief Assistance
CARE Cooperative American Relief Everywhere
CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
COOPI Cooperazione Internazionale
CRC Covenant on the Rights of the Child
DME Design, Monitoring and Evaluation
DRC Danish Refugee Council
FGDs Focus Group Discussion
FGM Female Genital Mutilation
FHHH Female Headed House Holds
HH Households
GAP Good Agricultural Practice
GBV Gender Based Violence
GCVCA Gender Sensitive Climate Vulnerability Assessment
GESI Gender Equality and Social Inclusion
IDPs Internally Displaced People
KII Key Informant Interviews
MoWHRD Ministry of Women and Human Rights Development
MSMEsMicro, Small and Medium Enterprises
NDP National Development Plan
NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations
PwDs People with Disabilities
SDGs Sustainable Development Goals
SomReP Somalia Resilience Program
UNSCR United Nations Security Council Resolution
VSLA Village Savings and Loaning Associations
WASH Water Sanitation and Hygiene
WVI World Vision International
World Vision Somalia
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BACKGROUND
In 2022, SomReP celebrates its 10-year anniversary. Over the years, the program has implemented a number of
interventions targeting women, people with disabilities and other marginalized groups under the assumption
that economic empowerment and gender-sensitive inclusive and participation planning processes would
translate into ability of the most marginalized segments of Somali society to engage in markets on fair and
equitable terms and agency to influence household and community resource decision making processes. In 2019,
the SomReP conducted the Inclusion of the Most Vulnerable Study Report1 to test its assumptions, analyzing the
dynamics of exclusion and assessing whether or not its community engagement methods and economic
empowerment approaches mitigated exclusion of the most vulnerable and limited inclusion of better-off.
Analysis and reflection led the consortium to commission the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI)
assessment2 in 2020/2021 to find ways to strengthen technical approaches. In 2021, the SomReP Donor Advisory
Groups endorsed the findings of the GESI assessment and tasked the consortium to develop a comprehensive
strategy to guide resource requirements and development of programming approaches to mainstream GESI.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This Gender Strategy is informed by the results of a Gender Analysis assessment commissioned by Somalia
Resilience Programme (SomReP) and World Vision Somalia ( ) and partners. The aim of the assessment was to
understand the dynamics that influence Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) and provide
recommendation on how to address the issues of access, decision making, participation, systems and wellbeing
for those impacted by gender inequality and social exclusion.
The objectives of the Gender Strategy are:
• Enhancing GESI in the internal architecture of and SomReP.
• Empowering vulnerable women, girls, men, boys, IDPs & PWDs to access finance and markets for
resilience and sustainable livelihoods
• Enhance capacity and wellbeing of socially excluded target groups.
• Promoting GESI transformative legal and policy environment through advocacy, capacity building and
dialogue.
This SomReP Gender & Inclusion Strategy is informed by the results of a Gender Equality & Social Inclusion
assessment commissioned by Somali Resilience Programme (SomReP) and World Vision Somalia. The aim of the
assessment was to understand the dynamics which influence gender equality and social inclusion and provide
recommendations on how to address the issues of access, decision making, participation, systems and wellbeing
for those impacted by gender inequality and social exclusion. GESI analysis findings have informed the content
of the consortium’s inclusion strategy.
Gender and other social inequality emanate from the unequal power relations between men and women, boys
and girls and different groups in society. Within gender, beliefs, values and norms structure unfair divisions of
labor, encouraging men to focus on productive and community responsibilities that earn money and give them
decision making authority while women and girls are assigned repetitive reproduction roles of caring for
children, sick people and the family which does not earn income and their labor is not valued in national economic
statistics. Social exclusion comes partly from the negative attitudes of society against people with disability
(PWD) who are viewed as a bad omen and or a burden to the family and community which is exacerbated by
their inability to move due to the physical impairment, see or talk due to vision and hearing impairments. Conflict
and climate change, including recurrent droughts and floods, have eroded traditional livelihoods and lead to
displacement, aggravating unequal gender and social norms. Women are disproportionally impacted by changes
resulting from climate change and conflict, often forced to embrace new roles not previously assigned to them.
Men and boys get recruited into armed groups or face clan revenge while PWD are recruited as suicide bombers.
Gender and social inequality permeate traditional clan decision making structures, religious norms, governments
and market systems. Despite the fact that Somalia has made strides to improve the status of women through
the passage of a gender-sensitive constitution, NDP-9 policy and the Somali Women’s Charter, as well as reserved
1 Inclusion of the Most Vulnerable study Report 2019: https://online.flippingbook.com/view/489047/
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment vi
30% of parliamentary seats for women candidate, the country still has a long way to go to overcome entrenched
norms. The current disposition, limits marginalized people access to opportunities, participation in productive
sectors and leadership positions at household and community levels, where decision on resources and
opportunities are made which ultimately affect the well-being of vulnerable and marginalized groups.
Mainstreaming GESI approaches will enable SomReP to address the deficits of access, participation, decision-
making, well-being and the disabling system suffered by vulnerable women, men, boys, girls, People with
Disabilities (PWD), Internally Displaced Person (IDPs) and refuges and marginalized clans as a result of long-term
gender inequality and social exclusion. The Gender & Inclusion Strategy is guided by the principles of: (i) tailor
approaches for fragile contexts; (ii) gendered and marginalized group knowledge to inform decision-making; (iii)
enhanced delivery capacity of member agencies and front-line staff; (iv) alignment to international and local
legal and policy frameworks; (v) effective and efficient scaling of gender approaches across the consortium. The
strategy will address five GESI domains of access, participation, decision-making, well-being and systems that
affect marginalized women, men, boys, girls and PWD. The SomReP Gender and Inclusion Theory of Change will
address GESI domains through enhancing:
The objectives of the SomReP Gender & Inclusion Strategy are:
• Enhancing GESI in the internal architecture of the SomReP consortium, member agency policies and
graduation pathways;
• Empowering vulnerable women, girls, men, boys, IDPs & PWDs with access to finance and markets for
resilience and sustainable livelihoods;
• Enhance capacity and wellbeing of socially excluded target groups;
• Promoting GESI transformative legal and policy environment through advocacy, capacity building and
dialogue.
The expected outputs are:
• business growth, household income and financial empowerment;
• capacity for disaster management built;
• holistic wellbeing of women enhanced,
• youth, PWDs in education, health & water;
• legal and policy framework that espouses GESI principles;
• and at a program level, SomReP and member agencies develop inclusive gender and marginalized-
sensitive policies, governance structures and systems for human resources, finance, planning & budgeting, M&E,
service delivery, and partnership .
The program outcome is:
Equally empowered woman, youth, boys, girls and PWDs who benefit from SomReP programs resulting in an
impact of reduced gender inequality and social exclusion.
The enablers of this change are: (i) tailored capacity development for marginalized groups; (ii) inclusive
governance and accountability at consortium, member agency and community levels; (iii) gender-sensitive
monitoring and evaluation; (iv) partnerships with local inclusion specialist organizations; and (v) gender-focused
resource mobilization.
The key anticipated risks and mitigation measures envisaged in implementing GESI include:
Possible lack of buy-in amongst various stakeholders: SomReP staff, partners, government, and CSOs to
support the delivery of interventions which will require mainstream of GESI into SomReP knowledge
management and learning activities as well as policy advocacy and awareness-raising efforts with both internal
and external stakeholders.
The lack of resources to finance GESI calls for SomReP/ to mobilize funds for impactful and innovative projects
with a GESI focus.
Inadequate monitoring and reporting on GESI aspects in program implementation will need SomReP/ to
develop and deploy standardized GESI Monitoring & Evaluation tools for review and reporting to track GESI
indicators. And support research for best practices on GESI to create a deep knowledge base to help partners
to become centers of excellence and;
The negative attitude from the society given that the gender strategy seeks to change deeply rooted cultural
norms and practices will require SomReP to engage male clan and religious leaders as agents of change. Design
youth programs to address gender inequality issues within society with a view to change their attitude.
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Recommendations
Policy Environment.
There is need for sustained of coalition building to support joint advocacy initiatives with government to work
towards ratifying international conventions and commit towards operationalizing policies that address gender
inequalities.
SomReP could also support evidence gathering around gender in resilience to further concretise the evidence
base for gender and inclusive communities such as on the opportunity cost of lack of operational action on
gender related policies as well as what approaches work best in addressing gender inequalities in resilience and
identify the bottlenecks that are preventing the implementation of legislation that supports the rights of
women and other marginalized groups.
Community level
Support Government to scale orientation of community structures and various levels of government on existing
gender related policies and work with them to support their operationalization.
Engage the community through established community governance systems on the impact of existing socio-
cultural norms on fueling inequalities and the potential impact of more inclusive structures on the overall well-
being.
Work with communities to design interventions that promote and enable women and marginalized groups to
have increased access and ownership of productive assets and inputs, this means bridging barriers to credit for
women, extension services, land and agricultural training as well as business development skills and services.
Support communities to understand the relationship between inclusive community level targeting and
prioritization interventions with inclusive household approaches to help avoid risk of misconceptions and
encourage shifts from inequitable social cultural norms.
Implement interventions that build alliances with religious leaders, community leaders and facilitate
conversations on approaches that work towards inclusive decision making.
Household level
Gender is as much a household level conversation and hence SomReP could review its intervention design to
apply gender household methodologies that improve the understanding of the effect of unequal power
relations and support households to build more cohesive units and improve gender relations and contribute to
overall household resilience.
Support people with disability to take-up livelihood development opportunities within both agricultural value
chains as well as non-farm activities to foster inclusion and improve resilience outcomes for them.
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Women looking after goats and trading it: Source: SomReP File Photo
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1.0: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Overview
This SomReP Gender Strategy was informed by the Gender Analysis undertaken in Somalia. The
Gender Analysis used participatory process where consultations were made with the key stakeholders
including SomReP consortium member staff World Vision Somalia, ADRA, DRC, AAH ACF, COOPI,
CARE and Oxfam) at head office and in the field; Federal, State and Local Government
representatives; Other NGOs working in Somalia Key informant interviews with SomReP staff at head
Office and the field, partner organization staff, Local, State and Federal Government representatives,
organizations/networks of People with Disability (PWDs), Youth Organizations, Women
organizations, Cultural/Clan Leaders, Religious Leaders, Village Development Committees, producer
groups, VSLA groups and the men, women, boys, girls and people with disability (PWDs) across board
in Somalia.
The key objectives were to:
Objective I: Revise/update a joint Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Strategy for SomReP and taking
into consideration gender and other dynamics across all the SomReP and themes of Economic
Empowerment, Agriculture (crop and Livestock production), Community Disaster Risks Management,
Education, Child Protection, GBV Response, Food and Cash Assistance, Health & Nutrition and WASH.
Objective II: Develop a monitoring plan of key gender indicators for each sector (Economic
Empowerment, Agriculture (crop and Livestock production) and Community Disaster Risks
Management under SomReP; Education, Child Protection, GBV Response, Food and Cash Assistance,
Health & Nutrition and WASH.
This gender strategy is therefore developed to enhance SomReP’s commitment to promote Gender
Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) within its organization and programming though out Somalia. The
strategy highlights the gender context in Somalia; evolution of gender in SomReP, key gender issues
based on the Gender Analysis; Strategic Approach including guiding principles, vision and theory of
change; Strategic objectives; Mainstreaming of GESI in SomReP; Monitoring and Evaluation;
Associated risks and mitigation strategies and way forward.
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GAP Training, Source: SomReP: File Photo
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2.0: CONTEXT
Governance Context
Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) requires all the citizens of a nation to have access to and control of
resources as well as opportunity to participate, make decisions in an inclusive system that ensures the wellbeing
of all regardless of gender, ethnicity, creed, infirmity, political and social economic level in society.
Globally, the United Nations has set a framework for countries to commit to Gender equality and women and
girls empowerment though key covenant’s especially: The United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR
1325) on women and peace; Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW) adopted in 1979, as an international standard for the protection and promotion of women’s right;
Beijing Platform for action since 1995 adopted by 189 countries and the most comprehensive global agenda on
women’s empowerment, equality, poverty, education, training, and health; and in 2015, the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG 5) aimed to achieve gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment. The Federal
Government of Somalia has considered the International Covenant on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities but
is yet to ratify and domesticate CEDAW; adopt Beijing platform of Action; develop a national Action plan for
UNSCR 1325 and comprehensively implement the SDG 5. Adoption of these conventions makes Somalia as a
country to be accountable not only to its citizens but also to the global community.
The African Union recognizes the gender inequality the sweeps the continent and the need for women and girls
empowerment as a result in February 2020, declared 2020-2030 as the Second African Women’s Decade,
focusing on the financial inclusion of African women3to ensure women are central in Africa’s development
agenda. Somalia as a member state is bound to adopt and implement. While Somalia has ratified the African
(Banjul) Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, adopted in 1981 and came into force in 1986. Somalia ratified
and domesticated the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women
in Africa (the Maputo Protocol) in 2003 and entry into force in 2005, which enshrines elimination of
discrimination against women and to ensure the protection of the rights of women as stipulated in international
declarations and conventions.
Somalia seen as a model among the group of fragile nations recovering from years of conflict is largely a
homogenous society in terms of ethnicity, language, religion and cultural/social norms/values. The governance
system in Somalia consists of the federal, state and local governments; the traditional clan system and sharia
(religious law code), and Xeer (traditional law code) that have established power hierarchies, vested interests
and entrenched cultural norms. It is a patriarchal system that has limited space for women and girl’s role, voice
and status. The dominant clans determine the level of participation in decision making, legislative outcomes,
decisions on resource allocation including positions of authority. There are unequal representation of women
and PWD in elective, and appointed leadership positions, such Nabadoons4 and political parties and government
as a whole. For instance, in the last election of only 24% of the 329 members (78.96) of Parliament were women
and yet these are decision making arenas for the country’s resources. Islamic Sharia has provisions which offer
women more rights (for example women can inherit property of their father) than Xeer. However, Sharia is only
administered by men. Hence its application favors men more than women.
In Somalia, the constitution provides legal framework for upholding the rights of women and girls and their
empowerment. There are other policy instruments which support equality, including: the National Youth Policy;
3 Second African Women’s Decade: au.int/en/press releases/2020.1015/end-african-womens-decade-tracking-
progress-commitment
4 Nabadoons are traditional leadership positions that are intermediaries between political elites and their kin.
These operate at the sub-clan level as local authorities who adjudicate disputes and oversee land tenure matters.
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the Somalia Recovery and Resilience Framework (2018); and the Somali Women’s Convention on the Role and
Participation of Women in Peace and Security (2019), Puntland FGM Policy (2015) (unofficial translation),
Somaliland Rape and Sexual Offences Bill (2015) (unofficial translation), and Puntland Rape Act (2016) (unofficial
translation) among others.
Despite existence of the constitution of Somalia that provides for equality before the law, non-discrimination
against any person on the grounds of clan, ethnic or social origin, disability and sex gender inequality and social
exclusion is still rampant. Women are considered as minors because men have to be guarantors for women to
get national Identity cards, get credit, visit hospitals and got for any activity. Either their husbands or their male
relatives have to escort women; speak on their behalf and make decisions for them. The governance systems
are implemented by men hence women have limited chance to receive justice and fair treatment before the
laws. The women, girls and PWDs therefore have limited access and participation in decision making at
household, community and societal levels.
The Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) as well as the states has shown commitment to advance gender
equality and women’s empowerment at different levels and with varying degrees. The Ministry of Women and
Human Rights Development (MoWHRD) is mandated to strengthen women’s participation in political and public
decision-making processes- in particular, advance the role of Somali Women as peace-builders, economic actors
and figures central to the promotion of community stability and social cohesion.
The National Development Plan 9 (NDP-9) primary focus is to alleviate poverty and build resilience as a
cornerstone for addressing the socio-economic challenges in 2020-2024. The key pillars of strengthening gender,
human rights and other kinds of social equity; inclusive and accountable politics; economic empowerment and social
development recognize the under representation of women in all spheres of life including the workforce, the
increasing feminization of poverty which entrenches women into gendered roles within and outside of the
domestic space exacerbates gender inequality. NDP-9 has adopted gender mainstreaming as a cross-cutting
theme to strengthen gender and other kinds of social inequity, focusing on vulnerable groups especially
Internally Displaced persons (IDPs) women and girls’ empowerments; building the resilience of households,
communities and government and and prioritizing durable solutions to long term displacement.
The Somalia Women’s Charter is cognizant of that fact that women’s economic empowerment, their full
inclusion and participation, access to socio-economic rights and governance are a foundation for equality and
sustainable peace and development. The Charter provides for equity, equality and non-discrimination to nurture
the resourcefulness and resilience of Somali women; zero tolerance to gender-based violence including female
genital mutilation (FGM); compulsory education for women and girls, justice for all; equal access, ownership and
control over resources and promoting inclusive innovation. The realization of this charter calls for engagement
of the men, women, boys, girls and PWDs and the governance structures and systems to make deliberate effort
to address the inherent inequalities.
Socio-Economic Context
The over 30 years of conflict, periodic floods and drought have led to the displacement of 2.6M, leaving many
women as heads households and exacerbated vulnerability due to loss of livelihood, poverty, famine,
deprivation and food insecurity, diseases for animals and humans in addition to the endemic clan, sub clan ethnic
minority inequalities. According to SHDS 2020, 31% of household heads are women, 74% of women aged 15-49
have never attended school and 88% of women have no access to newspapers, radio or television at least once
a week. Women have generally low education 46% in urban areas and 84% (SHDS 2020) among rural areas
especially nomadic communities. Total literacy rate is 37% of which 25.8%F and 49.7%M (Africa.unwomen.org,
2019). 65% of Somalia economy depends on agriculture with men-dominated professions such as farmer and
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livestock keepers (large stock). Only 9% of women are employed in formal employment of which 18% do not get
paid; 49% are self-employed and 42% stay at home as caregivers without pay(SHDS 2020). Ethnic minority groups
and households face protection challenges and end up experiencing arbitrary evictions, arrests, sexual violation,
and discrimination or denial of access to services.
Intersectionality of clan, age, gender, disability status, displacement status, creates multiple barriers and
unequal power relations within dominant and minority clans and between men and women, giving women
limited opportunity to participate and engage in the political, socio-economic and governance structures and
systems. Women and girls thus have constrained access to resource allocation, leadership positions of authority,
protection and remain poor, vulnerable and the wellbeing of women, men, boys, girls and PWDs compromised.
They further experience denial of humanitarian assistance; experience child/early marriage, low education status
and harmful cultural practices like female genital mutilation (FGM) which violates the rights of especially women
and girls. As a result, globally, Gender Inequality Index for Somalia is 0.776, the 4th highest in the world. The
impact of Covid 19 is already being felt by the vulnerable women, men, boys and girls/PWD since remittances
from abroad have reduced.
The cultural, gender age, disability and IDP disputes aggravates inequality of power relations within clans and
between men and women. This minimizes women and PWDs opportunity to engage in socio-political, economic
governance space. Access to resources, political power positions and protection get eroded. Poverty affects the
wellbeing of women, men, boys, girls and PWDs. Due to existing discriminatory socio-cultural practices and
political processes, Somali women and girls are under-represented in mainstream development efforts and their
needs and concerns are de-prioritized and underserved. Systematic and concerted efforts, and efficient`
mechanisms are required to overcome the challenges of gender inequality and reverse the negative trends for
women.
SomReP Alignment with Context and Policy
SomReP is anchored on NDP –9 cross cutting imperatives of building resilience of households, communities and
government to address climate change, conflict, cultural barriers to gender equality, governance and poverty.
Through this Gender & Inclusion Strategy, SomReP will mainstream gender, human rights, and durable solutions
to displacement, in its programming to support three key pillars:
For Inclusive Politics (Pillar 1), SomReP provides technical capacity for state level institutions to ensure gender
balance for focal points and equal opportunity for training. This involves promoting affirmative action to ensure
participation of women and marginalized groups/clans in decision making in leadership positions. In terms of
women’s, the consortium mandates participation In economic and civic engae at least 30% women in community
committees, including NRM, EWC, and VDC, as well as economic groups, including VSLAs. The program
promotes women role models through its diaspora crowd-funding mechanism *Bulshikab, as well as Peace
Ambassadors for conflict mitigation within the framework of the Natural Resource Management Committees.
The SomReP economic empowerment program responds to NDP Pillar 3, inclusive growth across sectors of the
economy. The short- term employment cash-for work; the agronomical training to enhance livestock and crop
production including establishment of kitchen gardens and grants for developing agriculture-value chain
businesses and; diaspora fund-raising contributes to the establishment of the producer groups and VSLAs which
target vulnerable women (75% women. Training in vocational skills and strengthening of these groups enables
women to access finance, establish enterprises, make decisions on markets value chains and establish back and
forward linkages with business partners.
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In response to NDP 4 Social Development, SomReP undertakes gender climate vulnerability capacity assessment
(GCVCA) to identify the needs of the vulnerable people and develop community action and adaptation plan. This
enhances the balancing of gender in committees and inclusion of women’s voice in priorities for water hygiene
and sanitation, and community disaster risk management, cash transfers and early warning system for climate
smart programming
Unequal gender division of labour, Source: SomReP File Photo
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3.0: EVOLUTION OF THE GESI AGENDA AT SOMREP/
3.1.1 Evolution of Gender Agenda
SomReP partners started work in Somalia since 2011. However, over time they have realized that
gender inequality within Somalia negatively impacts on the project outcome for vulnerable men,
women, boys, girls and PWDs.
In 2019, SomReP started to develop gender strategy which culminated in undertaking of the gender
analysis in Somalia to inform development of this gender strategy for SomReP. Through this strategy,
SomReP/ will contribute to addressing GESI in Somalia.
3.1.2 Understanding Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI)
Gender inequality emanates from power inequality between men and women, boys and girls
influenced by the social construct grounded in the beliefs, norms and values of that particular society
imparted through socialization. In Somalia the requirements of a male guarantor reduce women to
minor (children) status where women have limited access and control over opportunities, resources.
For example, a woman needs a male guarantor get a national identity card; access financial services
especially credit; to open a bank account; travel to places including hospital; access education; buy
land and acquire property; participate in community and political space. As a result, men make decision
at households, Community and even government at all levels of local, state and Federal levels. This
impacts negatively on women and girl’s access and control of resources, opportunities which affects
their wellbeing. In such a patriarchal system, women, girls including PWD women especially in rural
areas and peri-urban IDP camps suffer unprecedented levels of inequality and exclusion.
The cultural norms and values exhibited through the clan system forms the bedrock for socialization,
gender division of labor, and determines access and control of resources and opportunities and
decision making especially by the dominant clans which have limited opportunity for women’s role,
voice and status and minority clans in society. Social exclusion comes with community attitude and
belief to PWDs who are seen as bad omen and a burden to the household and community. PWDs who
are men have better chance to participate in decision making as heads of households or clan leaders
but PWD women get relegated to the backward.
Exclusion can also be due to age for example children in focus group discussion reported not being
involved in decision making at home and not even being consulted including on issues for their
education. Decision making according to them was a domain of their fathers or adults in the
household. In the same way, youth both boys and girls also reported that making decisions about their
lives and future including for girls were arranged marriages were done by their parents/guardians.
Exclusion by disability was as a result of many factors including: immobility where physically excluded
to access some facilities for example in schools, health centers and water and sanitation facilities in
the displace persons’ camps. Due to lack of assistive devices some PWDs with hearing and sight
impairments get excluded from training opportunities, leadership positions and education. IDPs get
excluded sometimes from humanitarian assistance, access to land and leadership positions because
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of their IDP status. Lack of education has limited women’s access to leadership positions and their
participation in some of the socio-economic activities within the community. Meanwhile minority clans
suffer exclusion in terms of security, land, political space and positions, employment opportunities to
mention but a few because they do not have the power/influence to access opportunities.
3.2 GESI findings from Gender Analysis
3.2.1 Systems
The governance system of Somalia starts from the household to community including the traditional
clan system, the sharia (religious) and the formal government at local, state and federal level. At
household level, men are culturally considered as heads of households and therefore are responsible
to make or all decisions in the home about finances, opportunities, education, home supply and health
among others except where female headed HHs exists especially among IDPs. Still the women do not
have the same power as men. Male relatives or husband’s representatives will be called upon to make
decisions which are not for women for example issues of education and marriage.
At Community level: The traditional clan values and beliefs permeants into all governance systems
both government and religion. The four dominant clans control the socio-economic and political lands
cape of Somalia in terms of representation in leadership for elective and appointed positions.
The minority clans get marginalized. Since clan system is based on patriarchy, it promotes gender
inequality and limits women and girl’s participation in governance structures and systems. Although
the Federal government has provided for 30% women representation in all public position, at national
level there is a good start with women occupying 24% of the current Parliament
(Somalia.gov.so/parliament .2020), this is still far worse at state and local government level for
example in which needs to be cascaded to State and Local Governments levels.
The gender equality laws and policies such as provisions in the constitution, NDP-9 and Somalia
Women’s charter; Puntland FGM Policy (2015), Rape Act (2016) Somaliland Rape and Sexual Offences
Bill (2015) need to be operationalized across Somalia while other regulations and International
conventions need to be passed, ratified, adopted and or domesticated and national Action plans
developed for especially UNCR1325.
3.2.2 Access and Control
Building resilience is the reason SomReP exits. SomReP enhance access to finance and markets by
building capacity of vulnerable women, men, girls, boys, PWDs and female headed households and
host communities whose livelihoods have been disrupted due to conflict, floods and drought. Access
to finance through VSLAs; training in climate smart agronomical skills; enhancing capacity for efficient
and effective disaster response; Opportunities for leadership to enhance women, PWDs, girls’ and
boys’ to access resources and opportunities.
Access and control: Access, control of resources and opportunities within the household and
community can be influenced by the cultural beliefs gender, filtering system for women and girls;
education level, location whether in urban or rural areas, leadership position and finance.
Access to HH finance and factors of production: -8-
The respondents reported (20F, 80% M) have access to finance and factors of production.
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment
The reasons for not accessing included: lack of disposable assets (100%M) which means all assets in
the household are under the control of men; illiteracy (94.1%F, 5.9%M) more women than men are
illiterate; environmental factors (91.2%F, 8.2%M) especially floods and drought affect women more
than men; lack of security to access credit (90.3%F, 9.7%M) women own no property hence have no
collateral/security to access credit or loans; Not HH head (84%F,16%M) since women are youth are not
household heads they cannot own assets; we rely on cash transfers (75%F, 25%M) many depend on
transfers from diaspora but with Covid 19, that has drastically reduced; low agricultural productivity
(75%F, 25%M); poverty (72.6%F, 27.4%M) drought and floods affects both animals and crops and soil
fertility are poor in some regions like Puntland contribute to low productivity and; lack of HH finances
(71.7%F, 28.3%M) despite the fact that women form 90% of SomReP VSLA, women are still more
affected with lack of finances at the household compared to men.
Strategies for improvement:
• Enhancing access to credit through VSLA while addressing gender dynamics within the household
to enable women to make decisions about finances and own property;
• Educate girls for the long term sustainability and introduce innovative functional adult literacy
(FAL) for adult women so that women can be able to read, write and understand numeracy to
keep record of their businesses; FAL could also incorporate issues of SRHR and nutrition to
enhance women’s capacity in nutrition and child health;
• Sensitization communities about the need for equal access of finance and factors of production
by women and youth to improve productivity;
• Engaging vulnerable target groups in IGA;
• Provide TVET and artisan training for youth and PWDs to build their skills for livelihood;
• Promote development of climate smart agriculture and its value chains to involve women;
Promote peaceful co-existence among the communities including dominant and minority clans;
• Strengthening of governance structures to lobby and to review existing policies to be in tandem
with the needs and spiration of community.
Access to land:
Respondents reported that (17%F, 83%M) have access to land. The reasons for not accessing land
included: biased inheritance (93.9%F, 6.2%M) only boys and men inherit more compared to girls and
women; prevalence of conflict (92.9%F, 7.1%M) which has made some people to abandon their homes
and become displaced; cultural barriers (89.8%F, 10.2%M) such as belief that land must be owned by
men; land is owned by the community (76.7%F, 23.3%M) and; we do not have land (68.1%F, 31.9%M). In
all areas of access to land women are worse off. While women in the agricultural sector have user
access, they do not own land except women in urban areas and engaged in business who can buy land.
The men have to guarantee such transactions.
Strategies to address access to land:
• Regularization of land tenure system;
• Land registration; s
• Sensitization of community to value land as a factor of production;
• Engaging men to change their cultural barriers that stop women from access and ownership of
land and empower women financially to own land and;
• Make use of the Islamic teaching that emphasizes inheritance for all children regardless of
gender.
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment -9-
Access to Economic Empowerment:
SomReP empowered the target groups through the following ways:
Access to No % Yes % Reasons for not access Strategies to address the constraints
credit 62% 38% Lack of male guarantor; No Change of community mind set since it’s
(21F, 52 VSLA in my area; lack of not by law or sharia; Increase VSLA
.5M) awareness of any MIF/Savings outreach, raise awareness about VSLA
group; lack opportunity, financial empowerment of
of collateral/security. especially women and PWDs
Business 76.7% 23.3 Lack of awareness of BDS; Sensitization of community; Sharing of
Development 74.8% (11.8F Time constrains; BDS does not roles at the HH between men/boys and
services (BDS) 33.1M exist in my area women and girls. Expand out- reach
Enterprise 25.2 Lack of awareness; Time Sensitization, Sharing roles, Financial
development (13.4F, constraints, lack of Income to empowerment to get capital for
33.5M invest investment
Language 86.4% 13.6 No organization offering Make program activities visible.
training (13.4F services in my area; lack of
13.7M) awareness about the
opportunity; language barrier
and lack of time
Key Issues: The coverage is low; lack of information about the project makes the target groups miss
on the opportunities for empowerment; Time constraints limits access to empowerment.
The limited information about the program and time constraints contributes to low uptake of the
program among others.
• SomReP needs to disseminate information about the project and review timing of program
activities to enhance uptake.
Indebtedness among target group
Indebtedness in the HH: Respondents reported 57.8% (49.6%F, 64.7%M) are indebted and 42.8% are
not.
The causes of indebtedness included:
Borrowing for education (58.3% M, 41.7% F); borrowing for food (58.2% M, 41.8%F); borrowing for
medication (58% M, 42%F); displacement (53. % M, 46.2%F); floods (76.9%M, 23.1%F); drought (73.5% M,
26.5%F) and; collapse in business (76.7% M, 23.3%F).
This shows women have difficulty in accessing credit. E.G Study done by SomReP and Oxfam among
150 women sampled in Somaliland Women Business’ to Finance in Somaliland (2021) revealed 9% (14
women) applied for credit only 4.5% (7) accessed the credit. The major constraints were the lack of a
male guarantor to guarantee the loan, and to enable women get national identity cards to open bank
accounts and lack of collateral/security since women do not own disposable household assets like land
and have no authority over family finances to mention a few.
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment - 10 -
Access to leadership opportunities
Access No % Yes% Reasons for not accessing Solutions
VDCs 56.2 43.8 I was not selected by Criteria for VDC should inclusive of
(23.5F, community members; VDC minority clans, women and IDPs
61.2M) positions are reserved for
dominant clans and Host
communities, cultural beliefs
that burr women from
sharing platforms with men
Producer 85.7 14.3 I did not fall in the criteria Capacity building in leadership and
groups (10.1F, used by NGOs, lack of skills organizational skills and NGOs to
18.0M) and capacity, lack of participatorily develop criteria
organized producer groups
in my area
MSMEs 89 31 (21.F, Illiteracy, lack of business FAL; Expand business skills training;
39M) skills, poor business provide linkages with MFIs; lobby
environment, lack of MFI for enabling policy environment,
institutions in localities. establish market linkages and
strengthen CDRM
WASH Mgt 72.1 27.9 No time to be a leader, Leadership skills building; provide
Committees (14.3F Dominance by men, alternative water sources for
39.6M) conflicts between humans and animals; building skills
Education of 51.9% pastoralists and HHs use, of women and their self-esteem.
children of 48.1% lack of leadership skills,
FHHH Financial empowerment and
High cost of education institutionalization of women
Poverty among FHHH groups;
Children contributing to Provision of sponsorship for FHHH
family livelihood children; Mentorship for children
Lack of a patriarchal head Building safe houses for abused
children especially girls;
Enforcement of children’s right to
education
3.2.3. Decision making
The power dynamics is based on the unequal power relations between men and women, boys and
girls constructed by the societal norms, beliefs and values. Culturally men as heads of households are
responsible to make decision. Even when a woman is heading the household she gets constrained to
make decisions for example about education, girls’ marriage an elder or relative of the husband or her
male relatives opinions have to be sought.
Household decision making: respondents reported 67.9% (40.3 F and 89.9% M) make decisions and
32.19% (59.7% F and 10.1% M) reported they do not make decisions and they were mainly youth (15-
30years).
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment - 11 -
Household decision making: respondents reported 67.9% (40.3 F and 89.9% M) make decisions 32.19%
(59.7% F and 10.1% M). Reasons for constraints include: cultural beliefs ((94.6% F 9.4% M); lack of self-
esteem & confidence (92.6% F & 7.4% M); knowledge (92.3F, 7.7M), constraints due to disability 87.5%F,
12.5%M) and lack of opportunity to participate in decision making for youth (77.1%F, 23.9%F)
Community level: respondents reported 52.7% (26.9%F, 74.8%M) makes decisions and 47.3% do not. The
reasons for not making decisions were: illiteracy (85.2%F, 14.8%M); Cultural barriers (82.6% F, 17.4%M),
Institutional barriers (75.5%F, 22.5M); disability (69.2F, 30.8M), others include lack of: community
support, lack of decision-making skills, poor coordination between community and development
partners and; time constraints.
How to address the constraints:
At HH level:
• Sharing roles at the HHs with men and boys;
• Training women in decision making skills and FAL to improve their understanding and build their
self-esteem and confidence;
• Sensitize cultural and religious leaders to change the cultural norms and provide women and
youth opportunity to make decisions;
• Educate girls/PWDs for long term esteem/confidence building;
• Provide assistive devices for PWDS to express themselves
At Community level:
• Training in decision making;
• capacity building of communities on participatory decision making;
• Promote joint planning to improve coordination among development partners;
• Training communities to advocate for their rights and demand for accountability at community,
district and national level and participatory planning of projects.
3.2.3 Participation
Participation is influenced by gender, age, disability, IDP and rural urban status. The gender division of
labor based on cultural norms and values assigns women/girls reproductive and care giving roles while
men/boys productive and community roles except in urban areas and IDP camps where some women
head HHs. Women and girls engagement in reproductive role such as caring for the family and the sick
and household chores are repetitive and hardly gives them room to participate in project or
community activities. Respondents Participation in SomRep/ project specific areas included the
following: Agriculture Crop production (50.0%F & 50.0%M); Agriculture Livestock production (42.9%F
& 57.1%M); Economic Empowerment (34.8%F & 65.2%M); Community Disaster Reduction
Management(49.3%F & 50.7%M); Education (40% F & 60.0%M); Child Protection (75.4%F & 24.6%M);
Food and cash assistance (38.8%F & 61.2%M); Health and Nutrition (48.6%F, 51.4%M); Water and
Sanitation (53.2%M, 46.8%F ); Project design (63%M, 37%F and youth 18%); Project
Implementation (57.5%M, 42.5F and youth 5%); Project Monitoring (70%M, 30%F and youth 5%);
Education (60%M 40%F); Child protection (24.6%M, 75.4F); Food and cash assistance (61.2%, 38.8%F);
Health and Nutrition (51.4%M, 48.6%).
In all the actions, men have better opportunity to participate in community or project activities
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment - 12 -
compared to women except in child protection which is considered women’s role. The youth
participate least of all despite the factor that they constitute 75% of the population. The cultural values
and norms that bar women from participating at the same footing with elders keeps youth away from
project activities.
The reasons for not participating were: the filtering system where women are not to share same
platform with en and cannot speak out in public; the repetitive roles leave women and girls no time to
participate in project and community activities; some of the timing for the project activities are not
convenient for women and girls; distance to project locations and the 30% set by SomReP/ based on
government policy is too low bearing in mind the long inequality women have endured over the years.
The 37% of women participating in project design is too low which could imply that some of the
concerns of women may not be included in the project design. The 34.8% of women participation in
economic empowerment does not reflect the fact that over 90% of VSLA’s target women. Participation
of PWDs are limited by lack of assistive devices and the trauma due to stigmatization of PWD as being
needy and a burden to the community.
The Strategies for addressing the above issues:
• The minimum criteria set for women participation is low hence SomRep/ could consider
increasing target for women participation in programming to parity level while addressing other
issues of power relations in the household and community.
• PWD issues require sensitization of the community and confidence building of PWDs. SomReP/
needs to design a special project for PWDs to address trauma, self-esteem and skills economic
empowerment.
• Promote affirmative actions at community level and during policy formulation to ensure needs
and concerns of PWDs and women are addressed.
3.2.4 Wellbeing
Wellbeing is a sense of worth, capability and confidence, dignity, safety, health and overall physical,
emotional, psychological and spiritual being of a person.
Program that provides equal treatment; values the target group despite their status; builds capacity
to restore their confidence; emotional, psychological and spiritual being in a dignified environment
where men, women, girls, boys and PWDs feel safe and healthy promotes their wellbeing.
SomReP/ operate in an environment where community norms and beliefs shape behavior hence, there
is need for review of cultural norms about the gender division of labor; access and control of resources,
and opportunities; decision making and participation at HH, community and Societal level to improve
the wellbeing of the vulnerable people.
GESI Finding on project benefits revealed the following:
Agric-crop (47%M 53%F); Agric-livestock (52%M,48%F); Economic Empowerment (75%M,25%F); CDRM
(50%M, 50%); Education (50%M, 50%F); Child Protection (14%M, 86%F); GBV (5%M, 95%F); Food & Cash
(60%M 40%F); Health & Nutrition (51%M, 49%) and; WASH (52%M, 48%F)
Constraints included:
Distance to program locations.
As such location of water and sanitation points, schools, health facilities, access roads and IDP camps
are decided by men and concerns of women and girls are not taken care of. Yet the longer the distance
is from the homes, the higher the risk for GBV affecting girls and women. And also the greater the risk
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment - 13 -
of being recruited into rebel ranks and being target for clan revenge. Defilement and rape are culturally
allowed with light penalty. Girls and women face such abuse including intimate partner abuses at
home Addressing the gender dynamics in the household and community, protection of women,
children, girls, boys and PWDs and opportunity to build their capacity to benefit from services and
reduce the gender inequality and social exclusion will be critical.
Other constraints include: unfavorable timing of program activities; program did not meet specified
needs and; discrimination in choosing beneficiaries
Strategies for improvement
• Locate program activities closer to people
• Raise awareness about program activities
• Provide relevant information about programs
• Involve communities to develop criteria for choosing people to benefit
• Analyzing the needs of target group, their aspirations so that their humanitarian needs are met
while developing their capacity to address their inspirations that will move towards
development.
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment - 14 -
Woman running a mini-grocery shop, Source: SomReP File Photo
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment - 15 -
4.0: THE STRATEGIC APPROACH
This strategy uses a twin track approach of ensuring that Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI)
is mainstreamed into organizational functions, processes and systems. Additionally, it utilizes a
targeted approach by adopting specific set of targeted interventions across SomReP and sectors will
focus on a particular identified at-risk group that are often excluded.
4.1 Guiding Principles
The strategy will be guided by the following principles.
i) Tailored Approaches in Fragile Contexts for example Drought, Floods and Conflict.
Recognizing that drivers of fragility like conflict, displacement, drought and famine are complex, multi-
dimensional, interlinked and evolving and that women, men, boys, girls and PWDs are affected
differently in these fragile settings, SomReP/ will tailor its approaches and interventions for GESI that
these fragile conditions and situations present and consider practical and strategic needs for
intervention.
ii) Gendered Knowledge Generation to Inform Decision Making.
SomReP/ will continue to build partnerships to generate gendered data, knowledge and to identify
best practices in gender mainstreaming and gender-focused initiatives.
SomReP/ will develop guidelines and standard tools to support collection and analysis of sex
disaggregated data and disseminate gendered information to relevant stakeholders for effective
policy engagement and decision making.
iii) Gender Sensitive Emergency Response.
The global COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the ever-present disparity in economic and social
livelihoods. It’s social and economic impacts have created a global crisis unparalleled in history and
one which requires a holistic response to match its sheer scale and complexity. Economic stress on
families due to the outbreak has put children, and in particular girls, at greater risk of exploitation,
child labor and gender-based violence. Evidence from previous pandemics like Ebola virus showed
that quarantines and can significantly reduce women’s economic and livelihood activities, increasing
poverty rates, and exacerbating food insecurity. The effects of Covid-19 are not any different. Every
pandemic response plan, every recovery package and budgeting of resources, needs to address the
gender impacts of this pandemic.
iv) Synergy and Enhanced Delivery Capacity (Partners)
It is imperative for SomReP/ to strengthen partnerships and synergy with diverse stakeholders
including Federal, State and local government institutions and other INGOs working in SomReP/ areas
of operation with technical assistance to empower them with the tailored tools, capacities and
knowledge to promote GESI effectively. Partnering with Somalis in the diaspora to be improved with
their detailed involvement as advocates for positive gendered change in Somalia.
v) Resource Optimization
SomReP/ will ensure that all resources are used to further GESI principles of access and control,
participation, decision making, systems and wellbeing of target groups.
vi) Strategic Alignment
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment - 16 -
SomReP/ strategy is aligned to the NDP-9 pillars and Somalia Women’s Charter and other relevant
policies including the cross cutting imperatives of building resilience, Gender and human rights
through CDRM, Livelihood, economic empowerment, agriculture, water and sanitation.
4.2. Vision
SomReP/ envisions Somalia where all the people have equal opportunity to develop their full
potential regardless of gender, age, disability, greed, clan, IDPs and other socio-economic and
political status.
4.3 Theory of Action
The current gender inequalities and social exclusion affects marginalized women, men, boys, girls,
PWDs and IDPs access to resources and opportunities; limits their participation in productive activities
and decision making in a patriarchal system dominated by men in traditional clan, religious system that
influence government operations, negatively impacting on the well-being of marginalized people.
Presently SomReP’s Theory of Change invests in empowering the most vulnerable with opportunities
to access finance and markets to secure their sustainable livelihoods; enhancing their capacity and
providing critical services in nutrition, food and cash, water and sanitation. Driven by the GESI strategy
the SomReP will further seek to promote inclusive resilience enabling Women, marginalized groups
and People with Disability to influence decision making at household and community level supporting
them to build voice and agency. By working towards inclusive resilience, SomReP will seek to
contribute to the following objectives.
• Promote equal and inclusive access, decision-making, participation, and well-being of the most
vulnerable;
• Transform systems, social norms, and relations to enable the most vulnerable to participate in
and benefit equally from development interventions;
• Build individual and collective agency (or empowerment), resilience, and action; and
• Promote the empowerment and well-being of vulnerable families and communities.
Appreciating Somalia’s context that calls for a sharpened focus on women, people with disability and
marginalized groups, we seek to achieve this through
• Gender Transformative Pathways: SomReP will support Households to recognize that men
and women are biologically and socially different, and that these differences can present
inequities, particularly with regards to power. A transformative approach seeks to challenge
these power dynamics within society.
• Social Inclusion: SomReP will support households to address inequality and/or exclusion of
vulnerable populations by improving terms of participation in society and enhancing
opportunities, access to resources, voice and respect for human rights. Through this
theme,SomReP seeks to promote empowerment and advance peaceful and inclusive societies
and institution.
• Appreciating Intersectionality in targeting; The porgramme appreciates that not all
vulnerable populations are equally disadvantaged or excluded. SomReP’s vulnerability and
inclusion study expressly brought out these nuances and how it affects the prioritization of
communities. Hence It is necessary to analyze overlapping and inter-related barriers and
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment - 17 -
inequalities. Individuals and groups embody multiple identities, which influence different
experiences of inequality and/or exclusion. Some vulnerable populations may face both
gender inequality and social exclusion simultaneously, making them more vulnerable than
others. These overlapping and inter-related vulnerabilities are known as intersectionality The
interplay of multiple social characteristics (such as gender,ethnicity, class, disability, marital
status, immigration status, geographical location level of education,) that increases
vulnerability and inequality in privilege and power, and further entrenches inequalities and
injustice. These characteristics are interconnected and cannot be examined separately from
one another.
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment - 18 -
Theory of Change
The central hypothesis of the change is informed by a desire to invest in a p
absorptive, adaptive and transformative capacities of target communities5. It p
if investments are made
• To improve capacity of vulnerable communities and households with spe
and severity of climate extremes and disasters, and
• To directly support vulnerable communities and households with spec
trajectories; and to engage in strategies for sustainable livelihoods and
• To strengthen government capacity to monitor and coordinate resilien
of interventions on communities through this support
Then, not only will targeted communities will be more resilient, there will also
resilience.
This will result in improved policies and institutions at the national, sub-nation
and development programmes, leading, in the long term to improving the well
SomReP GESI Theory of Change
IF marginalized groups, Women, people with disabilities and ethnic minorities h
and society levels; Systems are equal, fair and inclusive at individual, household
Then Individuals are empowered to achieve agency, voice and full potential; Ho
engage in collective action, mobilization and resilience; and Societies establish
Detailed description of Theory of Change:-
• IF HHs and communities have skills and are empowered to undertaken
HADMA, and NADFOR) and develop climate and gender-sensitive cont
HHs and communities have active early warning, early action systems
5 Adapted from SomReP Phase II Strategy
package prioritized interventions under the SomRe P phase II strategy to improve the
postulates that:
ecific focus on women, youth and marginalized group to plan for (un)expected frequency
cific focus on women, youth and marginalized group to adhere to positive development
d economic growth, and
nce efforts generate learning and evidence on trading practices and incremental impact
o be a better understanding of what works and what does not work in building climate
nal and local level and a better integration of disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation
l-being of target communities despite exposure to climate extremes and disasters.
have equal access, decision-making and participation at individual, household, community
d, community and society levels; and The most vulnerable have enhanced well-being;
ouseholds have equity, fairness, shared responsibility and balance relations; Communities
transformational systems change;
vulnerability analysis (GCVCA); linked with supporting government institutions (MoPEID,
textually appropriate strategies for risk mitigation (CAAPs and Contingency Plans); (ii) if
with context monitoring, pre-planned actions, well-managed, inclusive and transparent
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment 19
community-level contingency resources and access to external Crisis M
and if women, youth, marginalized groups have access short-term jo
strengthen bridging and bonding social capital
• IF communities access, sustainable, year-long water for human and ag
are capacitated (grants) to re-establish or diversify their livelihood; (iii)
and have access to inputs to improve production; (iii) if producers and e
assessments, trade fairs, and market days) and challenges (Fair Trade
entrepreneurs can pool resources, share risk, access financial advice (
collectively engage with commercial agriculture (business dialogues
capacitated animal health outreach services (CAHW and agrovets with
engaged in informal safety nets with graduation pathways to formal fi
(vii) if government (Commission of Environment) is capacitated (NRM) a
and engage in conflict resolution
• IF government line ministries are empowered to develop frameworks
owner and natural resource management (IBLI/NRM Focal Point); (ii) if M
(iii) if producers and entrepreneurs are informed of market barriers (Fa
commercial actors (iv) if businesswomen, dynamic youth, minority le
established (V) If Government focal points facilitate Participatory Monit
state and federal level planning instruments (VI) If Government focal
technical approaches on context analysis are developed and Governme
to poor targeting and promote marginalization and operationalize actio
knowledge and learning on resilience informed by strong evidence(Q
disseminate its resilience building approach in international aid and deve
Lab (RIL) to bridge challenges in resilience programming and innovativ
• If marginalized groups, Women, people with disabilities and ethnic m
community and society levels; Systems are equal, fair and inclusive a
enhanced well-being;
Then, HH and communities will be empowered to make risk informed decisions
their own needs. Individuals are empowered to achieve agency, voice and full
Communities engage in collective action, mobilization and resilience; and Socie
of crop and animal products, as well as an increase in families with diversified i
economic growth, understanding of resilience evidence will be mainstreamed a
Modifier Pool Fund and/or scalable safety net mechanism such as livestock insurance (iii)
ob, through cash-for-work linked to savings groups and pool risk, share resources and
gricultural production (multi-year water systems); (ii) if destitute but capable producers
) if producers employ climate-smart agricultural practices (GAP) and technologies (P/FFS)
entrepreneurs have business skills, and are informed of market opportunities (end market
e Assessment and Women’s Access to Finance Study), (iv) if producer associations and
(PSP Village Agent) larger amounts of affordable credit (micro-finance institution) and
and producer umbrella); and (v) if livestock producers access sustainable and well-
h certification); (vi) if IDPs have new technical skills, business capital (start-up grants) are
inance (savings group), and live in hygienic and sustainable settlements (permaculture)
and empowered to support communities to develop natural resource management plans
s to enable the establishment of a social safety and commerci al insurance for livestock
MoPIED SWS can support community planning (CAAP) and reflection processes (PMERL);
air Trade Assessment, and Women Access to Finance Study) and engage collectively with
eaders and traditional leaders have leadership, public speaking and business skills and
toring Evaluation Reflection & Learning (PMERL) at village level and link CAAPs to district,
points are supported to build capacity in monitoring & evaluation for resilience (VII) If
ent and consortium partners trained to understand community-level dynamics which lead
on plans to overcome barriers for inclusion,(VII) If SomReP and communities implement
Quality of life Assessment, Annual Resilience Measurement, Seasonal Assessments) and
elopment conferences as part of a learning exchange and utilize the Response Innovation
ve solutions.
minorities have equal access, decision-making and participation at individual, household,
at individual, household, community and society levels; and The most vulnerable have
s to preserve resources (saving, credit, animal, food, pasture, fodder and water) and meet
potential; Households have equity, fairness, shared responsibility and balance relations;
eties establish transformational systems change; There will be an increase in productivity
income sources. Additionally there will be inclusive and sustainable market and inclusive
and informed decision making processes adopted at all levels of governance
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment 20
As a result, there will be improved absorptive capacity of HH and communities
and communities to adhere to positive development trajectories; and to engag
will be more transparent and accountable governance structures at community
sustainable livelihoods and economic growth informed a strong evidence base
and resilience in the target villages.
Assumptions:-
Assumptions for outputs level actions:-
• Improving knowledge and capacity leads to changes in practice and
• Learning will be a driver of the SomReP programme and SomReP IP
Assumptions for Outcome level actions:-
• Improving climate and disaster risk management leads to better de
• Improving access to climate and weather information, including ea
• Improving basic service delivery in different sectors strengthens ho
• Improving access to markets (physical/regulatory systems/pricing in
extremes and disasters.
• Lessons from projects about which approaches work, and in what c
governments, regional and international initiatives.
to respond to shocks and stress across seasons. The capacity of individuals, households
ge in strategies for sustainable livelihoods and econo mic growth will increase; and .there
y, district and national levels to ensure an enabling policy and regulatory environment for
e. These changes across different capacities will contribute to to enhanced food security
d action.
Ps will apply the learning gained to improve their projects and maximize impact.
evelopmental outcomes.
arly warning systems, strengthens resilience.
ousehold resilience.
nformation, etc.) for smallholders and other producers strengthens resilience to climate
contexts, can influence policymaking and development planning in national and local
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment 21
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment 22
4.4 Strategic Objectives
As shown in the Theory of Change illustration above, four Strategic Areas have been identified to
guide GESI mainstreaming across the five domains of GESI:
1. Enhancing GESI in the internal architecture of and SomReP policies and programs.
2. Empowering women, girls, IDPs & PWDs through access to finance and markets for
resilience and sustainable livelihoods
3. Enhancing capacity and wellbeing of socially excluded groups through access to social and
lifesaving services.
4. Promoting GESI transformative legal and policy environment through advocacy, capacity
building and dialogue.
Throughout the Strategic Areas, particular focus will be placed on the internal structures of and
SomReP to facilitate mainstreaming in programing with emphasis to changing the cultural norms
and practices that have shaped the gender inequality landscape and have kept women in a
marginalized place.
4.4.1 Enhancing GESI in the Internal Architecture of and SomReP
This GESI strategy is informed by a Gender Assessment study instituted by SomReP and that
sought to understand the gender dimensions across program themes of Economic Empowerment,
Agriculture (crop and Livestock production), Community Disaster Risks Management, Education,
Child Protection, GBV Response, Food and Cash Assistance, Health & Nutrition and WASH. To
achieve this internal structure of SomReP and need to be correctly aligned.
SomReP/ will address institutional and operational prerequisites identified to facilitate GESI
mainstreaming in order to achieve their desired vision of a Somalia where all people regardless of
gender, age, disability and IDP status are equal and have the opportunity to develop their full
potential. Support of the internal architecture will include streamlining of SomReP’s identity and
Culture, Service delivery, Program Management, Human Resources, Finance and Budgeting and
physical facilities.
Currently, in their mandate SomReP and are Gender neutral. Focus on GESI is not clearly spelt out
in their vision, mission statement and organizational goal. Among the SomReP partners only
Oxfam clearly states that they want to see a Somalia where women and youth are able to survive
and thrive and live-in safety and dignity. Within SomReP/ structures there is limited integration of
GESI into regulation, policy and practices despite availability of the GESI DME tool kit.
For the successful integration of the GESI strategy, SomReP and partners need to develop gender
aware mandates for their Somalia operations and programs. It is also important for them to
integrate gender mainstreaming in their regulations, policies and programs in both formal and
informal standard operating procedures. Promotion of gender parity at governance and
management levels and staff will set a standard for the participation of women in key decision-
making positions. SomReP and
The strategy key indicators that will show progress in closing the GESI gap with in the internal
architecture of SomReP and WV include but are not limited to; gender equality embedded in the
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment - 23 -
organization’s general mandate, the organization’s official statement on their goal for gender
equality and their strategy for pursuing gender mainstreaming, the integration of GESI in the
regulations of the organization and in both the formal and informal (organizational culture)
standard operating procedures and the demonstration of executive staff commitment to gender
equality and the implementation of gender mainstreaming, in both formal and informal ways.
Indicators for the Monitoring and Evaluation process include number of women in governance,
senior management positions, number of SomReP partners who have integrated GESI in all their
policies i.e. Human Resources, Finance, and resource allocation for introducing gender
mainstreaming and implementing organizational change and sufficient in order to ensure long
term success. The physical structures that have been adopted for women and PWDs will also be
evidence that the Strategy is being implemented.
4.4.2 Empowering Women, Girls PWDs and IDPs to Access Finance and Markets for
Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods
The women of Somalia bear an unequal brunt of the hardships occasioned by poverty, conflict and
clan-based culture which promotes strict male hierarchy and authority. This is further exacerbated
by religious and cultural limitations on the role and status of women in Somali society. As a result,
deeply rooted gender inequality prevails. Most Somali women are either excluded from decision
making and asset ownership or operate through a patriarchal filter in these areas. This inequality
has caused women’s economic and financial progress to stagnate. This is manifested in
employment, for example, the current estimates of women in civil service and most of these are
auxiliary staff who were either cleaners and administrative staff with low educational levels.
Women have also been at the tail end in terms of economic empowerment activities like TVET and
business training and while they have access to VSLAs, the impact of these on their wellbeing is
limited. In agriculture their participation is also hindered by their lack of ownership to resources
and factors of production and their reproductive roles and the socialization process limits their
participation. During disasters, the most affected are women who are care keepers for children
and sick members of the communities.
To reverse this trend and to successfully implement Strategic Area 2, SomReP and need to
implement a number of strategies in the areas of Economic Empowerment, Agriculture and
Community Disaster and Risk Management. First and foremost, women’s participation in decision
making at household and community level needs to be addressed. Their confidence and self-
esteem needs to be built so that they can speak out and have a voice. This can be done by
enhancing VSLA methodology to incorporate Functional Adult Literacy. They should repeatedly be
told their voice in the community and within the household matters. Since women are greatly
affected during disasters, consultation with them is imperative in all adaptation and mitigation
plans. As women’s participation and leadership takes shape, they will become active participants
in the economic development process. This will lead to better results of TVET activities, enrolment
in business trainings and farmer field schools.
To effectively monitor the progress in this area, key indicators will range from the number of
women who have attended and are active in VSLA, TVET; farmer field schools the percentage of
target population whose incomes have increased after training as access to household finances is
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment - 24 -
important for making independent decisions. Another indicator is the percentage of women, who
own land, assets and capital, and those who have been consulted during adaptation and mitigation
strategies for disaster management.
4.4.4 Enhancing Capacity and Wellbeing of Socially Target Groups.
Education for children in female headed households remains a pertinent concern as 51.9% of them
do not have access to education6. Due to high poverty levels, access to education is a preserve for
those who are financially stable making it challenging for Female Headed Households. To improve
access to education for girls especially, long term economic empowerment through IGAs is
encouraged so that IDPs and female headed households are able to sustain their children in school
as priority.
Lack of justice for sexual violence and gender based violence mainly against women and girls
remains the norm in Somalia; this is so because traditional Somali society does not openly discuss
these issues. Girls are married early, with 45% of women aged 20 to 24 married before the age of
18.7 To enhance their well-being, it is imperative that girls and women stay in a safe environment
free from any form of GBV and discrimination. Proper reporting channels for victims of GBV, justice
for victims of violence and avenues to dismantle deep rooted cultural practices that promote GBV
especially FGM is a clear pathway to enhancing wellbeing among socially excluded groups.
Access to health facilities, water sources, and program activities is limited due to their immobility
and lack of PWD friendly facilities like walk ways and rams. The lack of sign language interpreters
is also a hindrance to their access of services. Children with disabilities also endure lack of assistive
devises within their schools.
According to The SHDS2020 an overwhelming 79 percent of births were delivered at home, this
implies the risk of women giving birth without the aid of a trained medical person is still high. The
lives of the mothers and children are still greatly endangered. The poor health seeking behavior is
further extended to children under immunizable age who miss out on immunization programs and
the food security situation in Somalia also espouses malnutrition among children.
Key strategies that SomReP and should employ to change the status quo of socially excluded
individual range from the integration of Child Protection and GBV Response activities within other
programs like VSLAs, farmer field schools and business development trainings. This will be a
deliberate effort to create mindset change mindset change to allow a shift in the traditional gender
entrenched roles within the household. There is also need for PWD friendly infrastructure at Health
Centers, Schools and public arenas where meetings and program activities are held. To improve
access to education for girls especially, long term economic empowerment through IGAs is
encouraged so that IDPs and female headed households are able to sustain their children in school
as priority.
During Monitoring and Evaluation some of the indicators may include; number of additional girls
and boys enrolling and completing primary and secondary education, average distance of
households to health centers in rural and remote areas, proportion of households where women
make decisions on the use of food and cash vouchers and number of children consulted on issues
affecting the family and community affairs for example the design and location of internally
6 Gender Assessment WVI and SomReP 2021
7 SHDS 2020
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment - 25 -
displaced people or refugee camps (placement of water points and latrines, play grounds, schools,
camp layout, access routes for resources, etc.) and the delivery of services to ensure their
protection of children.
4.4.4 Promoting GESI Transformative Legal and Policy Environment through Advocacy,
Capacity Building and Dialogue
Globally and at regional level, Somalia has made remarkable progress in terms of legal provisions
and frameworks that have been signed and adopted to ensure justice and fairness such as Maputo
Protocol and the Banjul Charter among others. However, despite this development the process of
having a holistic legal and policy environment that addresses the plight of the marginalized and
those who are socially excluded from access, participation, decision making, wellbeing and fair
systems has still left gaps in the policy framework.
The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (UNSCR 1325)
and the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
provide principal framework for promoting gender equality. However, Federal Government of
Somalia has not adopted a National Action Plan on UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and has
not ratified CEDAW. In addition to this, Somalia has limited capacity to develop and execute gender
transformative laws and policies. Apart from Puntland that passed a number of GESI friendly laws
like the Puntland FGM Policy (2015), Puntland Juvenile Justice Law (2016) and Puntland Rape Act
(2016) other states are yet to follow suit. There is currently no law that criminalizes FGM in Somalia.
The Zero tolerance on FGM and Sexual Offenders Bill is yet to be passed by the government. These
pose gaps in the promotion of gender equality and social inclusion.
To change this SomReP/ may adopt a number of strategies that include; prioritizing education for
women and girls in order to enhance their capacity to participate in leadership at all levels;
supporting mindset change about gender division of labor from the grassroots. This can be
through peer-to-peer counseling for girls, multimedia messaging; engaging men as champions;
creating capacity at different levels of governance (clan system, Sharia and government systems)
to generate and implement GESI complaint legal and policy frameworks and lastly partnering with
CSOs, cultural and religious leaders, community groups, government systems and media (print,
social, electronic) to disseminate information on GESI and the relevant laws and policies that
promote GESI.
For effective Monitoring and Evaluation of this area the main indicators that SomReP and will
consider for progress will be; proportion of women who join federal, state and local government
legislative bodies, senior managers in government ministries, departments and authorities, the
number of laws/policies/guidelines developed to address gender and disability concerns number
of international conventions adopted and domesticated in Somalia, number of laws enacted and
policies developed, engendered to the benefit of women, girls and PWDs, number of government
officials at all levels whose capacities are built and the percentage of community members who
are aware of the legal frameworks and know where to go for redress.
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment - 26 -
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment - 27 -
5.0. GENDER AND SOCIAL INCLUSION MAINSTREAMING
The GESI Mainstreaming will take four stages S
WVS&SomReP
statement on
GESI
Capacity
Building of staff
on GESI
Integrate GESI
into programing
Build Local
Partner
Capacity
e
Phase 1: Transformative Mandate, Policies and Programming: SomReP and member agencies will develop a
GESI statement to articulate the consortium’s commitment in terms of identity, mandate, and culture-
outlining goals and values and share with external stakeholders;
Phase 2: Internal Architecture and Capacity Development: Raise awareness on the fundamentals of GESI to
consortium leadership, management, and frontline staff; communication envisioned for organizational
change; provide knowledge of national and international legal frameworks which support change; articulate
entry points where the application of GESI principles can impact on program outcomes; and catalyze
leadership support and provide technical guidance to plan, implement and monitor GESI transformative
changes at policy and programming levels.
Phase 3: Integration in Policies and Programs: Review all member agency policies, guidelines and standard
operating producers to mobilize best-practice to develop consortium-level Gender & Inclusion Standard
Operating Procedures and integrate performance metrics into audit and other program evaluation processes
to monitor consortium and member agency uptake. Identify entry points to implement GESI approaches in
existing community structures and economic groups and support technical teams to develop new capacity
development initiatives, communication strategies, activity sets, monitoring and evaluation metrics and
methods to capture impact.
Phase 4: Build Member Agency and Local Partner Capacity: Build the capacity of member agency leadership,
management and frontline staff, member state government, local authority capacity, community
committees, as well as clan and religious leaders in GESI principles. Raise awareness amongst socially and
culturally marginalized groups about their rights and enabling policy and regulatory frameworks to support
their empowerment; strengthen local inclusion specialist organizations to lead awareness raising and
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment - 28 -
support empowerment campaigns; build the capacity of socially and culturally marginalized champions to
enhance confidence to demand their rights, mobilize women, youth, PWD and marginalized into support
groups and link to networks to advocate for equality and more inclusive governance and market systems.
Graduation Pathways
Community-level: Targeting Vulnerable in Community Structures and Economic Groups
There is an opportunity for the consortium to leverage existing networks of community structures and
groups to support processes to overcome social and cultural marginalization for the most vulnerable:
Approach 1: Through GESI and GCVCA participatory and inclusive processes, engage the community through
established community governance systems on the impact of existing socio-cultural norms on fueling
inequalities, especially with regards to the differential impact of climate change and the potential impact of
more inclusive structures on overall well-being and resilience. Communities’ have a common understanding
of the drivers of marginalization and vulnerability, co-created and co-owned strategies to address underlying
causes, resources to realize priorities to address inequality and enhance accountability to hold powerholders
accountable to improving the status quo.
Approach 2: Through Women Economic Empowerment method, support communities to identify barriers,
enlist men and women and marginalized to design interventions that promote and enable women and
marginalized to have increased access and ownership of productive assets and inputs, including bridging
barriers to credit for women, extension services, agricultural training, and business development skills and
services, as well as play roles in natural resource and peace management processes. Women, PWD other
marginalized groups are equipped with skills and inputs that support them to develop and diversify livelihoods
and enter markets on fair and equitable terms.
Approach 3: Implement interventions that build alliances with religious leaders, community leaders and
facilitate conversations on approaches that work towards inclusive decision making, as well as link
community structures to district, regional and national forums to support advocacy and policy action(s).
Community, business and government leaders’ attitude towards women’s role in decision-making and
participation in economic opportunities changed and their support enlisted to champion women’s engagement.
Approach 4: Raise awareness with communities to understand the relationship between inclusive
community level targeting and prioritization of interventions with inclusive household approaches to help
avoid risk of misconceptions and encourage shifts from inequitable social cultural norms. Men and women
are supportive of attitude and behavior change to support more inclusive systems.
Approach 5: Raise awareness with community structures, economic groups, private sector and various levels
of government of existing gender-related policies and support their operationalization. Community and
household change-agents equipped with information on rights and policies to inform advocacy actions.
Approach 6: Implement interventions which raise awareness and establish referral mechanisms for GBV,
disability and other protective services important to vulnerable-person’s resilience. Most vulnerable
awareness of and access to basic services enhanced to create supportive conditions for behavior change.
Community, Private Sector and Government Policy Environment Interventions
There is need for sustained coalition building to support joint advocacy initiatives with specialized local and
international agencies, interest groups and government to:
Approach 1: Support the development of enabling policy and regulatory frameworks which engender more
inclusive community structures and decision-making processes and strengthen economic groups (farmers,
livestock keepers, VSLA members, and MSME) access to fair and equitable markets. More inclusive and
participatory decision-making processes catalyze policies to enable marginalized people to engage in markets
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment - 29 -
on fair and equitable terms.
Approach 2: Mobilize most-vulnerable advocacy groups to support efforts towards ratifying international
conventions and commit towards operationalizing policies that address gender inequalities. Change agent’s
confidence, knowledge and networks to lead group change strengthened.
Approach 3: Develop evidence base and operational research to influence, including market and social local
barrier analysis, opportunity cost analysis of lack of operationalization on gender-related policy; policy,
legislative and bottleneck analysis to support policy develop roadmaps to strengthen frameworks for
inclusion, as well as capture and disseminate best-practice. Powerholder and marginalized person’s awareness
of the differentiated impact of norms, attitude on opportunity strengthened and change-agents equipped to
support change processes.
Attitudes and Behaviors
To achieve transformational change, the consortium will support the marginalized to develop skills and gain
confidence to challenge existing norms and power structures. Moreover, the program will enlist
powerholders to recognize the benefits of more inclusive systems to improving household and community
resilience.
Approach 1: The gender and PWD inclusion conversations start at the household level as social norms dictate
control of family resources and access to opportunities. SomReP will raise awareness at household-level of
unequal power relations on key family decisions and the differential impact of climate change and conflict
on women, PWD and marginalized groups. PWD supported through provision of enabling technologies,
skills development and economic development support to contribute to and diversify household livelihood.
Men and women, boys and girls and PWD build more cohesive household economic units, improve gender/PWD
relations and contribute to overall household resilience.
Approach 2: Exclusive societal norms and power structures are barriers for women, youth and PWD to access
economic opportunities, participate in community governance structures and adapt to climate change and
other shocks. In partnership with local partners, scale awareness of the socio-cultural norms which fuel
inequalities, the potential of more inclusive structures to improve community resilience and well-being and
enabling gender-related policies through community structures and economic groups. Support community
structures and economic groups to enlist change agents and champions; undertake participatory and
inclusive socio-cultural analysis to identify barriers for marginalized access to productive assets, inputs and
financial services; facilitate powerholder and marginalized groups to design strategies to enhance
opportunities for most marginalized to acquire training, assets, business development skills and services.
Whole communities (powerholders and marginalized) recognize how exclusive practices hinder climate
adaptation, resilience and economic growth and support attitude and behavior change.
Approach 3: Gender is as much a household-level as community-level conversation, and hence, SomReP will
review its intervention package to apply gender-awareness to household dialogues through the Life Skills
Training curriculum to enhance the understanding of the effect of unequal power relations and support
households to build more cohesive units and improve gender relations and contribute to overall household
resilience. Women and PWD control over household resources and decision-making processes strengthened.
Approach 4: Support people with disability through provision of enabling technologies and skills
development to take-up livelihood development opportunities within both agricultural value chains as well
as non-farm activities to foster inclusion and improve resilience outcomes for them. PWD access
technologies, skills and inputs to engage in economic life on fair and equitable terms.
Consortium-level
To be a credible promoter of social and economic systems change, the consortium will adopt structures,
partnership, policies, programming and methods which promote attitude and behavior change to enhance
equality.
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment - 30 -
Approach 1: Efficient mechanisms in the form of the Gender and Inclusion Advisor to mainstream GESI at
consortium policy, technical approach, systems, partnerships and external learning-levels; coordinate
marginalized advocacy groups participation in advocacy initiative important for resilience; build the capacity
of member agency policy and staff capacity to implement gender and disabled-person sensitive approaches;
celebrate women and PWD champions on international days through media platforms. Consortium equipped
and credible to champion attitude and behaviour change for women and PWD.
Approach 2: Develop partnerships with LNGOs specialized entities with capacities to support mainstreaming
of gender and disability inclusion. The consortium has contextualized and sustainable approaches to
empowering the most vulnerable.
Tools to Integrate GESI into Programing
a) Gender Audit
Gender audits will help SomReP identify and understand gender patterns within their composition,
structures, processes, organizational culture and management of human resources, and in the
design and delivery of policies, programmes and projects.
b) Gender Budgeting
Gender budget initiatives are not separate budgets for women. They include analysis of budgets
and policy impacts based on gender and are also commonly referred to as Gender Responsive
Budgeting. Successful implementation of the gender equality strategy will rely on the availability
of a corresponding budget.
c) Gender Review
Conduct an annual gender review to ensure policies are implemented in a gender transformative
way. Assessment of all existing policies to ensure they meet the practical and strategic needs of
women and girls.
d) GESI Transformative Approach
SomReP will apply a gender transformative approach to programing looking at altering existing
gender relations and embrace equality and social inclusion for women and girls. From a social
inclusion perspective the programe strives to examine, question, and change harmful social
norms and power imbalances as a means of reaching gender equality and social inclusion
objectives. Through this approach we seek to shift social roles and relations closer to equality and
social inclusion. This can be achieved through examination of the inequalities that exist,
strengthening positive norms and transforming the underlying social roles and norms that
perpetuate gender inequalities. Below is an example of SomReP’s gender transformation
pathway
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment - 31 -
These interventions taking place at community and household level help to shift harmful social
norms, establish or re-establish gender and social relations, bring about structural and systemic
change (economic, social, political, or other), and create an enabling environment in favor of
greater equality and inclusion.
5.3 GESI Mainstreaming in Program/Project Cycle.
Mainstreaming GESI into SomReP and programs will take place in the four-cycle stages of a
program i.e. Identification/Initiation, Formulation/Planning, Implementation and Evaluation
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment - 32 -
a) Identification
This is the first stage of the project cycle and during this stage the key considerations are:
i) Is the project concept relevant for the practical and strategic gender, priorities and
aspirations of men, women, youth and PWDs?
ii) Have relevant stakeholders for gender issues been included in the assessment of the
project concept?
iii) Is the project concept in line with SomReP and policies and guidelines on GESI?
iv) Is the project in line with government’s policy i.e. NDP-9 and Somali Women’s Charter?
b) Formulation
The second stage is the where the action and administrative issues of the project are
handled. Key aspects to look out for during this stage are;
i) Is the gender perspective appropriately addressed in the feasibility study?
ii) What budget allocation considerations have been taken into account to enhance
gender equality?
iii) Are working relations established with relevant stakeholders for gender issues and
women’s rights?
iv) Has the Log frame been engendered, including gender specific accountability
provisions and gender equality indicators?
c) Implementation
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment - 33 -
This is where action plans are made and monthly and annual targets are set.
i)... Is the gender perspective appropriately addressed in the progress reviews,
monitoring and mid-term evaluation?
ii) .. Do men, women, youth and PWDs of different target groups equally benefit
from the results achieved?
iii) . Are equal opportunities and gender equality taken into consideration in the
phase out of the project?
d) Evaluation.
The key questions to ask during this stage are;
i) ... Is the gender perspective appropriately addressed in the evaluation and is gender
expertise adequately represented within the evaluation team?
ii)...Are gender performance mechanisms and indicators included in the Monitoring
and Evaluation systems?
iii).. To what extend did men and women, boys and girls of different target groups
equally benefit from the results achieved?
iv).. Has the project contributed to sustained women’s rights and long-lasting
improvement of gender equality?
v) .. Have budget allocations equally benefited different needs and priorities of men
and women, boys and girls in order to enhance gender equality?
vi).. What lessons have been learned regarding the gender perspective of the project?
5.4 Build Local Partners including federal, State, Local Governments, CSOs and Local
Community-Based Organization Capacity.
i) SomReP and will identify GESI champions among local partners in the public and private
sector, and build their capacity to better advocate for GESI with a top to bottom approach.
ii) Strengthening national capacities to generate and use sex disaggregated data for gender
analysis and gender budgeting, which is key to the design of gender-responsive macro-
economic policy and social protection programmes.
iii) Strengthen the partners’ work and knowledge on GESI through their institutional
strengthening plans.
iv) Provide trainings on how to incorporate GESI into the SomReP and programing.
v) Mainstream GESI into SomReP/ knowledge management and learning activities, as well as
policy advocacy and awareness-raising efforts.
vi) Provide trainings on how to incorporate GESI into the government programs.
vii) Support research for best practices on GESI to create a deep knowledge base and to help
partners to become centers of excellence.
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment - 34 -
SOMREP /WVS Gender Assessment - 35 -
6.0 GESI ISSUES, STRATEGIES AND KEY INDICATORS BY STRATEGIC O
KEY AREA GESI ISSUE STRATEGIES
STRATEGIC AREA 1: MAINSTREAM GESI IN THE INTERNAL ARCHITECTURE OF WV AND SOMREP POLICIES A
Internal Architecture. ▪ SomReP and WVI have Gender neutral • SomReP and partne
-Identity & Culture mandate transformative mand
-Service Delivery
• Gender neutral mandates for all SomReP ▪ SomReP partners
-Program Management partners except Oxfam that wants see a mainstreaming in th
-Human Resources Somalia where women and youth are able to programs in both fo
-Finance and Budgeting survive, thrive, and live in safety and dignity.8 operating procedure
-Physical facilities. • Limited integration of GESI into regulation, • Promote gender p
governance, policy and management cycles. management levels a
• SomReP and partner
that cater for women
space for breast feed
STRATEGIC AREA 2: ACCESS TO FINANCE AND MARKETS FOR RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS
LIVELIHOOD SECTOR
Economic Empowerment ▪Non participation by PWDs due to • -Enhance VSLA met
immobility and lack of assistive devices. esteem by incorpora
•-Timing, distance, limited education and book keeping, bus
overburden at HH limit women from reproductive health.
participation and holding leadership and build confidence
▪ Sensitize of the com
positions.
▪70%Men, 30% Women no gender parity in provide counseling a
projects. based skills training t
•-VSLA targets women but decisions about forms of income gen
house hold finance are made by men making them in VSLA.
women dependent on men especially with • -Assistive devices for
8 https://SomReP.org/about-us/
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