Hawa and BDWO: Women working for peace.
Hawa is the ambitious chairlady of SPL’s local partner BDWO. The organisation is active in the promotion of women’s rights in Baidoa and surroundings. BDWO has come a long way from lack of recognition and support to being an important women’s organisation in the Baidoa district.
“Following the ousting of al-Shabab from the district, we as women in Baidoa met in 2012 to form BDWO, and I was elected chairlady. Our mission is to work with the local administration for the development and the protection of women’s rights.
We started working with the district and the regional administration as volunteers in sanitation campaigns and the mobilisation of communities for demonstrations. As we did not have any experience in organisational man- agement, the challenges were many.
Women did not have any representation in the district and regional councils, because it is based on the clan-system. Despite our work, our voices were not heard, either by the District Commissioner, or the Governor. Even after waiting for hours where they were meeting, we were by-passed without even a word after the meetings. It was clear that no-
body cared about our problems; yet we were not excluded from insecurity. Two of my colleagues were killed, because they worked with the local administration. Without support from the administration, we had to be resilient.
In 2013, we started working with SPL. Three of our members were trained in organisational management, women’s rights, advocacy, and conflict resolution. It was the first training that BDWO had ever received. We also took job trainings where SPL and WPS staff came to Baidoa every three months to mentor us on the project. We made our first six months’ work plan. While implementing these activities, we mobilised and united women from the eight sections of Baidoa district and established a peace committee. Women became very active and improved their skills.
SPL gave us a contract to implement activities to promote projects on WPS. With AWC, another local women NGO, we helped in the formation of the peace committee in the other sections of the Baidoa district and participated in the selection of women trainees for skills development. With the capacity building trainings and financial support from SPL, BDWO is now empowering women and protecting their rights. Today 65 per cent of the members of the peace committees established in the district are women and they are contributing to the town’s security.
As a chairlady I started attending civil society meetings for women in Baidoa. I noticed the strained relations between the NGOs and the administration. I started facilitating relations with the administration and advocated to the admi- nistration for the reduction of the registration fees of women organisations. We are now recognised and sought by the administration, because they realised they cannot work without us. Local and international NGOs are interested in the work of our organisation. My ambition is now to unite women in the three regions of the South-West Administration and establish good relations with the Ministry of Women and Human Rights Development at the federal level.”
