At a U.N. panel in New York, Maryan Seylac described surviving gunfire in Somalia and urged stronger protections for women journalists.
By Abdirisak Mohamud Turyare
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.
Beyond getting women into newsrooms
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
From Somalia to the world, their voices must be heard, their work protected, and attacks against them brought to justice https://t.co/j4LjZNpjtP
— Maryan Seylac (@MSeylac) October 27, 2026
Women journalists report on conflict, displacement, sexual and gender-based violence, and marginalized communities whose experiences might otherwise go unheard.
Seylac said women’s meaningful participation in decisions is essential to peace, but threats can prevent journalists from reporting freely.
Threats that extend beyond the newsroom
Women journalists in conflict-affected countries, including Somalia, face threats, arrests, intimidation, harassment, gender-based violence and exploitation, Seylac said.
She warned that organized online attacks can threaten their safety, damage reputations and undermine livelihoods.
“When a woman journalist is silenced,” she said, “the entire community loses access to information, accountability, and perspective essential to inclusive peacebuilding.”
Seylac called on governments to investigate attacks and hold perpetrators accountable.
She urged media organizations to protect women and provide equal leadership opportunities.
She also urged digital platforms to address coordinated harassment and wrongful account suspensions, and international partners to invest in women-led media organizations.
Connecting journalism to the Women, Peace and Security agenda
Seylac linked women’s leadership in media to the Women, Peace and Security agenda, which calls for women’s meaningful participation in peace processes.
U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325 calls for women’s full participation in peace and security efforts.
She said younger women journalists should be represented in editorial leadership, media ownership, public institutions and peace discussions.
Seylac’s journey from surviving gunfire in Baidoa to supporting women journalists reflects her belief that safety, representation and press freedom are connected.
“Every voice for peace counts,” she said.
“But for every voice to count, women must be safe, heard, and able to influence.”
