It is with great pleasure that we publish the second volume of UNDP Somalia’s ‘Gender Mainstreaming Made Easy’ handbook.

Much has changed in the country since the first gender training for programme staff was conducted in 2012 and the complimentary handbook was published in 2013. The long transitional phase ended in August 2012 with a new (provisional) Constitution, a new government, and a new parliament in place.

A significant milestone was reached on September 16, 2013, when a Compact for Somalia
was endorsed by the Somali government under the New Deal framework. The Compact lays out the priorities for peace-building and stabilization over the next three years. Gender has been mainstreamed within the Compact as a cross-cutting priority, requiring all key interventions to ensure equitable participation of women (and other marginalized groups) and to respond directly to the acute challenges contributing to sustained gender disparities across multiple sectors.

George Conway
Country Director,
UNDP Somalia