The Sixth Clan is a women's network active in Somali

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

 politics founded by Asha Haji Elmi

Asha Haji Elmi

Asha Haji Elmi is a peace activist in Somalia who won the Right Livelihood Award in 2008, with three other activists from India, USA and Germany. In September, 2009, she was one of five recipients of the Clinton Global Citizen Award.-Biography:Asha was born in Somalia in 1962...

. The name stems from the fact that traditionally Somalia's society is said to consist of five major clan

Somali clan

The demographics of Somalia describes the condition and overview of Somalia's inhabitants. Demographic topics include basic education, health and population statistics, as well as identified racial and religious affiliations.-Somalis:...

s. The "sixth clan" is the pan-Somali women's movement.

The movement stems from the earlier organization founded by Asha Haji Elmi, Save Somali Women and Children (SSWC), and grew out of a group of women with cross-clan marriages.
In 2002, she led a group of women to the Somali Peace and Reconciliation conference

2002 Somali Reconciliation Conference

The 2002 Somali Reconciliation Conference, sometimes called the Eldoret conference were a series of meetings held in Eldoret, Kenya during November 2002. It was attended by most supporters of the Transitional National Government of Somalia...

 in Eldoret

Eldoret

Eldoret is a town in western Kenya and the administrative centre of Uasin Gishu District of Rift Valley Province. Lying south of the Cherangani Hills, the local elevation varies from about 2100 metres above sea level at the airport to more than 2700 metres in nearby areas...

, Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

. There, the "sixth clan" was officially recognized, and women representatives were allowed to officially participate in the discussions.

This political activism led the Transitional Federal Government

Transitional Federal Government

The Transitional Federal Government is the current internationally recognized government of the Republic of Somalia. It was established as one of the Transitional Federal Institutions of government as defined in the Transitional Federal Charter adopted in November 2004 by the Transitional...

 (TFG) to adopt in the Transitional Federal Charter (TFC) a quota of 12% of the 275 seats in the Transitional Federal Parliament

Transitional Federal Parliament

The Transitional Federal Parliament of the Somali Republic is an interim Parliament of Somalia formed in neighboring Kenya in 2004.The Transitional Federal Parliament has 550 members representing Somalia's clans, Islamist opposition, representatives of citizens' groups and the Somali...

(TFP) to be reserved for women. While that should result in 33 seats, only 8% of the seats awarded were granted to women.