The Federal Government of Somalia has reiterated its commitment to unify the country to achieve lasting peace and stability. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the National Reconciliation Conference in Mogadishu on Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Ahmed Guled said Somalia needs political and religious reconciliation, which has remained elusive because of conflict.

With funding from Japan, the United Nations Joint Rule of Law Programme handed over to the Somali Police and the Ministry of Internal Security essential equipment such as vehicles, furniture and solar power for 24 police stations, amounting to US$ 2.4 million.

From November last year until March 2017, Somalia faced a displaced population of over 600,000 people - this added to 1.1 million displaced by conflict - due to a devastating drought. A new US$13 million EU funded UN project, launched at the end of May, now aims to support the reintegration of internally displaced people in the Banadir region of Somalia, by improving access to housing and land rights, generating employment and promoting better political and social inclusion.

Supported by the UN Rule of Law programme, 45 scholarship recipients, including 15 women, this year graduated with a Bachelor in Law from the Faculty of Law of Puntland State University. Launched in 2008, the Puntland State University scholarship programme aims to increase the number of qualified lawyers, prosecutors and judges to strengthen the capacity and service delivery of justice institutions.

Somalia will continue to work on reducing the trade and domestic use of charcoal, which severely damages the environment, by expanding alternative livelihoods opportunities in Jubaland and the South Central States, followed by Jowhar and Lower Shabell, between July and December 2017. To support these efforts, the United Nations Joint Programme on Sustainable Charcoal Reduction and Alternative Livelihoods (PROSCAL) moves to a new phase.

On 19 May in Nairobi, the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs (MoCA) along with the Speakers of the National Federal Parliament introduced to international partners in Nairobi a master plan for the review of Somalia’s Provisional Constitution (2012). Extensive consultations with regional administrations, the National Federal Parliament and civil society will lead to the drafting of a new Federal Constitution, which will set a framework for the national elections in 2020.

Across Somalia, some 2.9 million people urgently need food and livelihoods assistance resulting from severe drought. In the worst affected areas, crops have been wiped out and livestock have died, while communities have been forced to sell assets and borrow food and money to survive. #avertSomaliafamine

The failure to secure a job, Ifrah believes, was not her fault but long standing cultural and institutional barriers that limit women’s ability to explore the labour market beyond the traditional housework. She has not given up hope. In her quest to succeed in this journey, she joined the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation as a volunteer and worked for the Director General Office.

Safiyo Jama Gayre, 60, is a student at the Faculty of Sharia and Law at Puntland State University in Garowe, Somalia. In the monthly meeting of the law students, Safiyo opens every session with a prayer because it’s a tradition in Somalia that the oldest person opens gatherings. This session’s prayer is her last with this group of students as she is graduating this year.

Since 2010 the UN Somalia Joint Rule of Law project supported Baahi-Koob, a free comprehensive one-stop-care centre, located in Hargeisa city. Baahi-Koob, a Somali phrase which translates to ‘covering all needs’ has become well recognized for providing essential, services to victims of Sexual and gender based violence in and around Hargeisa city. Specifically, the Centre has been providing post-rape care services such as psycho-social counselling for survivors and their families, forensic examination, evidence collection and specimen analysis, pregnancy prevention (emergency contraception), STI prevention and HIV prevention by using post-exposure prophylaxis, as well preparing victim to take case through the criminal justice system.

UNDP Parliamentary Support Project had been supporting Somali National Federal, Somaliland and Puntland parliaments to function as inclusive, transparent and effective law-making bodies which engage in national dialogue on policy priorities, peace-building across a divided political spectrum and state-building as...