As a member of the Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights & Climate Justice Coalition, Social Women and Resilience Organization (SWRO) is a registered women-led civil society organization founded in 2020 and based in Afmadow District, Lower Jubba State, Somalia. Rooted in one of the most displacement-prone and climate-vulnerable corridors in the Horn of Africa, SWRO was established by and for the women of Afmadow women who have lived through successive floods, prolonged drought, forced displacement, and the compounded burden of gender-based violence and denied reproductive rights. SWRO’s membership in the SRHR & Climate Justice Coalition reflects its unwavering commitment to the principle that reproductive rights and climate justice are inseparable that a woman displaced by floods in Lower Jubba cannot exercise her right to safe maternal care, family planning, or freedom from harmful practices without first having safety, shelter, and a community that recognizes her dignity.
Since its founding, SWRO has grown into a trusted community presence across Afmadow District, delivering programming across animal health and livestock value chains, veterinary training for women farmers, youth solar and mechanical skills training, women’s small-scale business development, tree plantation and reforestation, and a Youth4Peace sports initiative all self-funded and community driven. Today, SWRO is implementing a seven-site SRHR Awareness Campaign spanning four host community villages and three IDP camps, Fanole, Farjano, Hodan, Waberi, Abaqbanbow, Buale, and Sakow targeting 5,600 women and girls directly, and 12,000 more through community knowledge-sharing, with zero donor funding. This campaign is not a departure from SWRO’s identity. It is its fullest expression: an organization that does not wait for permission or resources to act on its mandate, because the women it serves cannot afford to wait.
In the camps of Afmadow, a woman does not need to be told that her body matters. She already knows. What she needs is for the world to act as though it does too. This campaign is SWRO’s answer to that call and we are answering it ourselves, without waiting for external.
