Asha Hagi Elmi

Expert Spotlight

We Must Dig Our Own Well

Asha Hagi Elmi decided long ago that she would not wait for the rest of the world to help stabilize her native Somalia. This country, perhaps best known in the United States through the movie Black Hawk Down, has suffered through years of lawlessness, a dozen failed peace talks, and a transitional government fighting for control. Through it all, Hagi has maintained that the Somalis must take the first steps to invest in their future.

“Somali people are in despair. Unless we dig our own well, and unless we show them that at least there are some people who have their interest at heart, no well will be dug for them. We must dig our own well,” Hagi said.

Hagi has made restoring order and creating a stable government in Somalia her mission, becoming a member of Somalia’s transitional parliament. But the road to peace has been long and dangerous for this mother of four.

Civil war gripped the country in 1991 when President Siyad Barre was ousted. A year later, Hagi created Save Somali Women and Children or SSWC to advocate for equal rights for women in politics. “Always conflict has two sides…a positive side and a negative side. It depends how you transform those difficult moments into useful and helpful, positive moments. Save Somali Women and Children was born out of that anger, frustration and the pain that we went through,” Hagi said.

She and her husband originally created SSWC while they were living in Nairobi as a means of helping friends and relatives uprooted by the civil war reach safety and reconnect with loved ones. SSWC was the first Somali organization of its kind to cross clan lines. Somalia is home to five main clans, each of which is vying for political power. As the mission of SSWC evolved, Hagi recruited women from every clan to ensure equal representation. The group relocated to Somalia and went public in 1994.

The conflict between these clans took a personal toll on Hagi who, like many Somalis, had married outside of her clan. Neither her birth nor her married clan accepted her. Hagi said “I found out the only full identity I can have is the womanhood identity.”

Hagi was determined to participate in peace talks. In 1997, she was invited to a meeting with a UN special envoy. Hagi had just delivered one of her children by C-section a few hours earlier. Despite just having undergone surgery, she went home, showered, and went straight to the meeting.

Hagi continued to pour her energy into SSWC with the hopes of producing a home-grown peace initiative led by women. The group petitioned UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and U.S. President Bill Clinton to create a role for women and civil society so that they could participate in Somalia’s peace talks. Their demands yielded results and women from SSWC were invited to attend the Arta Conference, a civil society-centered Somalia National Peace Conference, the first of its kind, in Arta, Djibouti’s capital city.

Despite traveling to Arta, none of women from the five main clans participating were nominated by the clan elders to enter the conference. Therefore in an effort to gain admittance to the talks, Hagi led the women in forming their own clan. Thus, the Sixth Clan was born, including women from all of the five main clans. Hagi was elected the clan’s leader. Her quick thinking worked as President Ismail Omar Guelleh of the Republic of Djibouti allowed Hagi and 100 women delegates to participate in the Arta conference.

In July of 2000, delegates from every clan at Arta, including the newly formed Sixth Clan, came to an agreement and approved the Transitional National Charter, providing for a three-year transitional government. Of even more importance was the role carved out in the new government for women. The Sixth Clan secured 25 assembly seats or 10 percent of the Transitional National Government. The UN Security Council endorsed the Arta conference plan. “For the first time ever in Somali history, Somali women were given their quota,” Hagi said. “I call that a total revolution.”

Hagi and the rest of the new Transitional National Government were inaugurated in August of 2000. However, this new government faced fierce opposition from a rival alliance of armed faction leaders backed by Ethiopia. Ethiopia expressed concerns that Somalia’s Transitional National Government’s leadership was linked to Somali Islamicist groups.

After several more peace talks and a reconciliation retreat, Hagi made history by being the first woman to sign a peace accord in Somali on January 29, 2004. Women also made another significant gain as their role in government increased to 12 percent of parliament’s seats.

“I was very much grateful and happy. They all agreed that had it not been for our role, that agreement wouldn’t have been reached.  Somali women crossed a bridge and there is no turning back. We are full partners in the process,” Hagi said. In August, Hagi was sworn in as a member of the new parliament.

Her success was bittersweet. The next year, Hagi learned of her inclusion on the list of “1,000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005.” However, Hagi’s name also topped the warlords’ hit list. Hagi refuses to let this terrifying designation deter her.

“I know that one day I will be killed,” Hagi said. “I would rather die making a difference. I’m doing it for my daughters, for a new Somalia.”

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