Somalia chapter of Women in Global Health (WGH)  is inspired by the women in global health (WGH) movement and the organization it established in 2015. The WGH is a movement for gender equality in global health leadership and supports women in global health with the end of goal of achieving improved and more sustainable health worldwide. Recognizing the momentum, and the need to highlight the diversity of Somali women working in global health, it was then suggested to establish regional and national lists to create networks on the regional and national level. To achieve this goal, SIDRA plans to launch the Somalia’s chapter of WGH in an effort to create a platform of knowledge exchange of Somali women (both local and diaspora) leadership in health.

Somalia has one of the highest gender inequality index (GII) in the world with GII of 0.776 out of 1 (2012), indicating complete gender inequality, placing Somalia 4th in the world, in terms of gender disparity. Gender inequality is a persistent societal problem in Somalia, perpetuated primarily, by cultural norms and traditions in which community define acceptable roles for men and women. This is further exacerbated by conflicts and insecurity, and widespread poverty. As a result, women are impeded from fully accessing education, health and employment, leaving many either illiterate or with low education. However, there is an increasing number of female students registered in the Somali universities, especially in medicine and caring sciences but their presence is not reflected in the leadership and teaching positions. Young women are entering the health field in increasing numbers, but at each step of the ladder the percentage of women in power decreases. Many girls dropout after getting married, while many are hindered from advancing by structural discrimination. According to a study conducted by SIDRA, majority of female university students in Somalia related the lack of female mentors and role models in decision making position in Academia and workplaces as a major demotivating factor for young girls. The need for a WGH chapter in Somalia also grew out of frustration due to the lack of representation of women in Somalia’s health leadership positions. Women comprise as much more than  75% of the health workforce yet occupy less than 10% of leadership positions at local, state and national levels, in public, NGO and government bodies.

Somalia’s new national chapter will be launched in January 29-30, 2019 by hosting the  first Somali Women in Global Health Conference in Garowe, Somalia.  As part of the conference outcome, a list of Somali women working in leadership positions in the health sector, nationally and globally will be published and distributed. This list will increase visibility of Somali women contributions to the health sector and global health. By showcasing the achievement of the Somali women, we hope to inspire and provide young women with role models and motivation to pursue careers in health/global health.   (The criteria for making the list will be determined by an appointed committee)

The platform and network will be created, to connect Somali women in global health and to enable them to share knowledge, experiences and expertise between them and, with young and upcoming health professionals in the country. The ambition is to host workshops and bi-annual conference whereby, the nominated women can act as mentors. A platform (home page/social media group) will be used as a forum to discuss issues that affect women’s empowerment. The data will be compiled into studies to be further discussed in the bi-annual conferences and ultimately used to inform policies, and implementation of gender sensitive policies and strategies in social and health care settings.  We will also connect the network of Somali women leaders in health/global health to regional networks as well as to global networks of Somali women in health.