The Somali Stock Exchange, in partnership with UN Women Somalia, hosted the ‘Ring the Bell for Gender Equality’ event on 7th March 2024 to raise awareness of the importance of economic empowerment for women in business growth and development, as well as to highlight the role the private sector can play in creating opportunities for women in the workplace, marketplace, and community, with the focus on investing in women.

The event also encouraged financial institutions to finance female-led enterprises and motivated Somali corporations to continue to enhance the capacity and knowledge of their female clients by partaking in the National Financial Literacy Initiative.

“Ring the Bell” is an initiative of the UN and the Empowerment of Women, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (SSE), the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), and the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE). It is held annually to commemorate International Women's Day and to raise awareness among enterprises and the private sector about increasing women's economic empowerment towards accelerating gender equality and sustainable development.

The event keynote speakers included Dr. Sadiq Sayed, Head of UN Women Somalia. Zahra Mohamed Ahmed, Chairwoman of the African Woman Leadership Network, Somalia and Asha Abdulle Siyad, Executive Director of the Somali Women in Leadership Initiative and the civil society reference group chairperson. The participants included representatives from the Ministry of Women and Human Rights Development, Government officials, private sector such as bank executives, university students and academicians.

Dr. Syed Sadiq, Head of UN Women Somalia, who joined the event elaborated the importance of raising awareness on gender equality and said, “It has been a proud moment for us to launch the Ring the Bell for Gender Equality, witness Somalia participating in such a great global effort, and show our support and commitment for promoting gender equality and women’s economic empowerment in peace, preventing crises, enabling recovery and building resilience.”

A panel discussion was held during the event, around the International Women’s Day 2024 theme, “Invest in women: Accelerate Progress." Among the topics discussed were: Investing in women: A human rights issue, ending poverty, implementing gender-responsive financing, shifting to a green economy and caring society, and supporting feminist change-makers.

Mr. Hassan Dudde, CEO of the Somali Stock Exchange, highlighted some of the challenges that are facing women, such as the lack of a saving culture and poor financial literacy and use of technology among women, resulting in women entrepreneurs missing out on opportunities in the growing digital economy.