Defying years of internal strife, women in Somalia on Monday joined the rest of the world in marking this year’s International Women’s Day.

The main ceremony in the war-ravaged country was held at what remains of the  national theatre in Mogadishu.

Speaking during the occasion, the Transitional Federal Government’s minister for Rural Development, Ms Khadija Mohamed Dirie, urged the local and international groups to come to the aid of the Somali women, who have been affected by the ongoing conflict.

Ms Dirie singled out displacement of thousands of women as one of the major consequences of the conflict in Somalia.

Islamist groups

The United Nations first recognised March 8 as the International Women’s Day in 1975.

Ms Dire reminded the Somalis in diaspora to always remember their compatriots back home.

She said that the government would always consider the Women’s Day as an occasion to raise and act on women’s issues such as education, maternity and child care.

Several human rights and women empowerment groups honoured the day in different parts of the capital held by the government.

There were no celebrations in most of southern and central Somalia that are controlled by Islamist groups, al-Shabaab and Hizbu Islam. The two groupings do not recognise the UN.