In December 2011, SIHA authored an article titled Worse than killing to discuss sexual violence against women in the Horn. This article was published in the East African newspaper and was written to commemorate the 16 days of activism against violence against women campaign. The full version of the article can be found under SIHA's published work section of this website. http://www.sihanet.org/index.php/sihas-published-work/reports

On 31^st October 2011, experts from various civil society organizations came together came together at meeting in Arusha hosted by the Regional Civil Society Forum under the theme United to Prevent, End Impunity and Provide Support to the Survivors of Sexual and Gender Based Violence in the Great Lakes Region. Following the conclusion of this meeting, a statement/communique was released with a summary on the discussions held. Find a copy of the communique under the Statements section.

This is a SIHA member organization that was until recently, operating in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states working towards the development and empowerment of women living and working in the local communities of this region.

Following the conflict in this area, the organization is currently under restoration and has started a blog spot http://www.ruyaassociation.blogspot.com/ as a way for other organizations and institutions to follow their past and present work and activities. This blog spot is also an independent news source on the situation in South Kordofan.

SIHA Network prepared a situational report to be presented at the 50th Ordinary session of the African commission on Human and Peoples' rights taking place on 24th October - 7th November 2011. This report provides an overview of the human rights of women in the Horn countries as well as recommendations to the Commission on how to assist in alleviating the discussed issues and human/women rights violations. To download English and/or French versions of this report please visit the Reports section of SIHA's published works.

In 2009 and 2010, SIHA submitted 'Beyond Trousers' at the 46th and 48th ordinary sessions of the African Commission. This book was published in English, French and Arabic and can be found under the Reports section.

One of SIHA’s main objectives is to develop the capacities of women rights organizations, member organizations, women rights defenders and activists as well as women living and working in the Horn.

In September 2011, 25 women from North Sudan and Darfur were invited to a 5-day training in Kampala, Uganda. The training sessions discussed ways to improve the capacities of their organization, as well as the efficiency of their work.

The enthusiasm and participation of the women was encouraged and the women were given the opportunity to share their experiences as well as lessons learned.

On 10^th-12^th July 2011, SIHA member organization in Somalia, IPDO held a workshop on women street vendors in Mogadishu. The main objectives of the workshop were to promote and protect the rights of women street vendors, to raise awareness among stake holders on the vulnerability and challenges faced by women street vendors as well as to train the women vendors on their rights and responsibilities while engaging in these businesses.

Outcomes of the workshop;

• The women street vendors had the opportunity to share their experiences with other street vendors and the attending participants.  Most of the women expressed the need for their protection, they also discussed the challenges and risks they face and the reasons behind continued pursuance of street vending.
  
• This experience sharing session helped to raise the awareness among the stakeholders including local NGOs, local Authorities, traditional elders and women groups particularly those have small businesses at the streets in Mogadishu of the challenges faced and violations that occur.

• Participants particularly the women street vendors formed a committee to coordinate and organize next meetings to discuss developing action plans. 
  

SIHA Network started producing a weekly newsletter on 1st July 2011. The newsletter features updates on our programs and project activities across the Horn, opportunities for our members; women groups and coalitions on trainings, workshops, calls for proposals, submissions, etc at both regional and international levels, information on job vacancies as well as the current affairs in Uganda, Somalia, Somaliland, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Eritrea, which are our main regions of operation.

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On 20^th- 21^st June 2011, the Centre for Human Rights at the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, South Africa convened a meeting for civil society organizations to consult on the participation of civil society and evaluate the UN Treaty Bodies and how they can be more efficient. The meeting agreed on several recommendations and the need to further disseminate these recommendations to seek more endorsement from CSOs and NHRIs. SIHA endorses these recommendations and we have uploaded a copy of the statement to our website.

SIHA would like to congratulate our South Sudan members on their recent independence.

The recent independence day celebrations to mark the new state of South Sudan took place in Juba on Saturday 9^th July 2011 and were attended by several international political figures, some of whom spoke on the day included; the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Susan Rice, the United States representative to the United Nations and Sudan’s representative to the United Nations, Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman.

One of the SIHA staff members caught up with some of the women in Juba, South Sudan practicing their national anthem ahead of the Independence Day celebrations which are scheduled to take place in the new state on 9th July 2011.

A video portraying the excitement of the women of South Sudan at they practiced the anthem can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulR3vgzGu8o