UN Women Somalia in collaboration with other Humanitarian Country Team partners, including UNFPA, OCHA and the Somali Disaster Management Agency (SoDMA) held a 3-day training for civil society organizations engaged in the humanitarian response in Somalia. The training, held in Mogadishu brought together civil society partners and women-led organizations under the women’s Leadership, Empowerment, Access and Protection(LEAP) programme.

The LEAP programme’s goal is to strengthen the protection and resilience of 9,200 women and girls impacted disproportionately by drought, famine and current floods in Somalia, and indirectly benefit an additional 10,000 women and men, in the districts of Kismayo, Banadir, Baidoa, and Garowe. The Government of Japan’s contributions of around $600,000 through the Supplementary Budget 2023 – 2024 enable UN Women to strengthen the protection, leadership, and empowerment of vulnerable women, men, and youth disproportionate and adverse gendered impacts of drought and famine in Somalia.

At the opening ceremony, Sadiq Syed, UN Women Somalia Country Programme Manager said, “I welcome you all to this crucial training aimed at empowering women-led organizations and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in championing gender equality and safeguarding women and girls in times of crisis. I urge you to strongly commit to this vital cause and together we will make significant strides towards a more just and secure future for all women and girls in Somalia”.

The training was aimed at enhancing capacities of women led organizations and CSOs engaged in women empowerment activities on SGBV and EVAW knowledge, and response. Training topics included gender-based violence from the local context, GBV response mechanism and referral pathways, protection, and preventing GBV, among others.

One of the training participants, Maria Abdulhalim Mohamed, a project officer with Nomadic Assistance for Peace and Development (NAPAD) thanked UN Women for the training, saying, “Throughout the three days of the training, I have gained a lot of knowledge including gender equality in humanitarian action, UN humanitarian coordination architecture clusters, approach of UN Women global strategy, PSEA, cyberbullying, collective protection among others. I will also share the information and training materials with my colleagues so they too can benefit from it. I work closely with young girls and survivors of gender-based violence, as a result, the information I learned from the training improved my capacity to support and empower women and girls.”