Surviving Gunfire, Leading the Fight for Women Journalists in Somalia

At a U.N. panel in New York, Maryan Seylac described surviving gunfire in Somalia and urged stronger protections for women journalists.

MOGADISHU, Somalia — When Maryan Seylac began her journalism career in Baidoa, southwestern Somalia, she was the town’s only woman in the profession.

In September 2006, during an assassination attempt against former Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf, Seylac survived gunfire as colleagues sheltered from explosions and bullets.

The experience fueled her determination to help women enter journalism, develop their skills and gain opportunities to lead media organizations.

That commitment led her to establish the Somali Media Women Association, known as SOMWA, in 2006.

With SOMWA’s help, hundreds of women journalists have received training, built professional skills and gained leadership opportunities, she told a U.N. panel.

At a New York discussion on the Women, Peace and Security agenda, Seylac said protecting women journalists is essential to peacebuilding.

“When we protect a woman journalist, we protect the people’s right to know,” Seylac said.

For Seylac, progress means not only increasing women’s numbers in journalism but also giving them authority to shape coverage and lead newsrooms.

“The change is not that more women enter journalism,” she said.

“It is that women begin to see themselves as leaders, decision-makers, and agents of change.”

Honoured to join a high-level UN panel in New York on Women, Peace and Security, highlighting women journalists’ role in peacebuilding and conflict prevention