per cent of chief mediators and 8 per cent of negotiators, despite “irrefutable evidence” of the positive results evidenced when women participate meaningfully in such processes.200 According to the Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security in Africa, in 16 African peace processes between 1992 to 2011, only two had 5 percent female signatories and only three of 16 processes had female lead mediators.201 Elected women can and have boosted what they lack in numbers by working across political entities to join hands with women’s civil society organisations and male and female champions. By building non-sectarian coalitions across the political divide, women in official peace processes are espousing the values universalism of peacebuilding and leveraging their strategic advantage to influence formal peace processes. The example from Somalia serves to illustrate the effectiveness of this strategy. Building bridges across the divide: The Sixth ‘female’ Clan of Somalia The phenomenon of the Sixth Clan in Somalia gained prominence during the peace negotiations involving the Somali Transitional National Government. Obtaining access to the peace process and the Transitional National Assembly (TNA), women across clan divides established an extraordinary clan based on gender rather than clan identity. This was a significant break from past peace negotiations processes that were exclusively led by male clan leaders. In the face of the prolonged conflict, Somali women in Somalia and the diaspora progressively built a track record of peacebuilding, working together across clan and social divides. 100 women from various local and regional networks and clans influenced the five main clan heads of southern Somalia to be part of the Djibouti Peace talks in 2000.202 Initially, women were integrated in each clan’s delegation but on realising that patriarchal clan based negotiations of about 2000 to 3000 men would 200 UN Women “Women, peace and security experts look ahead to 2020.” Available at http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2019/3/news-womenpeace-and-security-experts-look-ahead-to-2020 201 African Union Special Envoy’s Remarks at Panel Discussion on the Theme ‘Women’s Empowerment in the 21st Century’ to mark South Africa’s Women Month, Addis Ababa, 31 August 2016 202 Timons D ‘The Sixth Clan —Women Organize for Peace in Somalia. A Review of Published Literature’ 2004, University for Peace, Switzerland 72