It was an act of desperation, and it has paid off for Somali women - who have now become a driving force for peace building in Mogadishu. Through the pressure group Save Somali Women and Children Peace Process, they have edged their way into the peace talks.

Although they have made remarkable breakthroughs in politics, securing 25 seats in the local national assembly, women had been sidelined in the remaking of their country. There was every chance that they would also be given the cold shoulder when a new government was formed.

Asha Hagi Elmi, the chair of the pressure group, says the sixth clan did not have anything handed to it on a silver platter. She and her team had to lobby hard for women's participation - even among women themselves.

Four years down the road, they have reason to smile: the Federal Charter of Somali stipulates that at least 12 per cent of the new 275-member parliament must be women. "We can learn a lot from Somali women," says Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda, regional director of the United Nations Fund for Women (Unifem). "They came together and organised themselves and now the Charter recognises them."

During Somalia's fight for independence, women did not only offer moral support but went to the frontline. With independence secured, however, they were soon relegated to the traditional role of housewives. "We did not want history repeated," says Elmi.

Even though Somali women have made a breakthrough in parliament, they still have a long way to go in a culture based on male preference. And while the peace negotiations have taken a positive outlook, Somali remains at a crossroads - putting in jeopardy the gains made so far. "We are confronted by new civil wars that have created internally displaced persons, the majority of them women," says Elmi.

Times are hard for Somali women. Some have died of hunger, their children still strapped to their backs. One woman was found boiling water to give her children the illusion that there was a meal coming. Grandmothers give orphans their breasts for human comfort, even though the milk dried up decades earlier. Women head many of the displaced families, and they and their daughters are particularly vulnerable to rape and other forms of gender violence.

According to Hendrica Okondo, Unifem's Somalia project coordinator, most of the internally displaced do not understand the legal system and are not even aware of their rights. The main focus of Unifem's work this year is to help Somali women access justice in Mogadishu.

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