The fourth-cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR) national report presents Somalia as undergoing significant legal and institutional transformation in the field of human rights. Prepared through the National Mechanism for Reporting and Follow-up (NMRF), the report reviews progress in implementing 246 recommendations accepted during the previous UPR cycle and identifies reforms undertaken across constitutional law, justice, governance, social protection, women’s and children’s rights, disability rights, education, health, and climate governance.
A central feature of the report is the expansion of Somalia’s normative and institutional human-rights framework. Constitutional amendments in 2026 reaffirmed the Bill of Rights, while several important laws were adopted or advanced, including legislation concerning disability rights, elections, data protection, environmental protection, labour, counter-terrorism, and child protection. The establishment of the National Independent Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) in 2025 represents another important institutional development.
The report also demonstrates increasing engagement with the international human-rights system. Somalia has progressed in treaty ratification and reporting, including developments concerning CEDAW, the Maputo Protocol and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. At the same time, several important international instruments remain outstanding, indicating that treaty engagement is still an unfinished process.
However, the most important analytical issue is the distinction between legal and institutional reform and effective implementation. The report itself identifies continuing challenges in areas such as access to justice, freedom of expression, fair-trial guarantees, political participation, forced evictions, water and sanitation, poverty, gender-based violence, and the protection of persons with disabilities. In the area of capital punishment, for example, procedural safeguards exist, but the report acknowledges that these safeguards are not specifically adapted to terrorism-related prosecutions and that due-process concerns remain.
The same implementation gap is visible in socio-economic rights. Government programmes have expanded social protection, education, health and humanitarian assistance, yet significant portions of the population continue to experience multidimensional poverty, inadequate sanitation and hygiene, food insecurity and displacement-related vulnerabilities.
Main Discussion
The report therefore reflects a broader transition from norm-setting toward institution-building and implementation. Somalia has increasingly developed laws, policies, institutions and reporting mechanisms that correspond with international human-rights standards. The principal challenge is whether these formal frameworks can be translated into consistent protection of rights throughout the country.
This challenge has several dimensions. First, institutional capacity remains critical: the effectiveness of newly established institutions depends upon adequate resources, independence, coordination and enforcement authority. Second, federal and regional differences can affect the uniform application of laws and policies. Third, insecurity and humanitarian pressures continue to compete with long-term institutional development. Finally, weaknesses in data collection and monitoring make it more difficult to measure the actual impact of reforms.
Overall, the fourth-cycle report can therefore be read not simply as a catalogue of legislative achievements, but as an account of Somalia’s continuing movement from formal legal commitment toward practical human-rights implementation. Its significance lies in the extent to which new laws, institutions and policies can be converted into accessible, enforceable and effective rights for individuals across Somalia.
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