MRG & partners call on Somalia to pay particular attention to minority clan communities

Human Rights Council – 48^th Session
Friday 1 October 2021
UPR of Somalia

Speaker: Ibrahim Hassan Mohamed

I speak on behalf of a consortium of organizations^[1], all of which are active in promoting achievement of minority rights, equality and non-discrimination in Somalia.

We particularly welcome the Government of Somalia’s support for the recommendation 266 put forward by Switzerland which concerns reducing discrimination against members of minority clans.

We call on the authorities in Somalia, and all those who are supporting them, to redouble efforts to move ahead with elections on the basis of one person one vote noting that the current temporary allocation of political posts on the basis of the 4.5 power-sharing formula is widely considered to directly discriminate against minority clan communities, leading to their under-representation in Somalia’s political life.

We call on both the Government of Somalia and all international and national organizations (including those of the UN itself) to pay particular attention to members of minority clan communities who are at risk of being left behind. Government and agencies should work with those affected to identify ways in which such exclusion continues to manifest in Somalia, including in access to health, education, nutrition, work, housing, water, sanitation and hygiene and, in fact, to all aid and development programmes.

We call in particular for a participatory critical review of existing humanitarian aid distribution and development interventions to identify how they may enable continuing minority exclusion. The government and aid agencies should put swiftly in place remedies that enable full inclusion and monitoring with disaggregation of data to ensure that this is maintained.

Thank you.

Watch the statement

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[1] Daami Youth Development Organisation, Land, Relief, Development Organisation, Marginalized/Minority Community Advocacy Network, Minority Relief and Development Organisation, Puntland Minority Women’s Development Organisation, Voices of Somaliland Minority Women Organisation, Minority Rights Group.