By Ashley Hamer

Their ranks are small, and their task is huge: protecting Somalia from al-Shabab.

MOGADISHU, Somalia—On a warm September morning, behind the towering blast-proof concrete walls of Mogadishu National Police Academy, a batch of young recruits celebrate graduation.

Fatima Abdi Mohamed, 24, is one of six graduating women who are entering Somalia’s nascent national police force. She is the first woman in her family to wear the uniform.

For Mohamed’s entire life, Somalia has been in the throes of war: A decades-long civil war was sparked in 1991, creating a security vacuum that gave way to piracy and the rise of Islamist militant groups, including the al-Qaida-aligned al-Shabab.

She has seen improvement, however, over the last two years and space opening for women to publicly participate in rebuilding the country.

“I realized the situation in my country required young, educated people to contribute,” Mohamed tells TakePart, recalling why she persuaded her family to allow her to join the police on graduation from high school. “In the past, you would see uneducated security forces, but now we are starting to see that educated people are better equipped to understand and establish the rule of law.”

Somalia’s police force is some 7,000 officers strong. Ten percent are women, according to Lt. Col. Zakia Hussen. She says the force recently recruited its first two female SWAT members, adding that “this was unthinkable before today.”

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Hussen mentors the women during their months of training. She hails from the expansive Somali diaspora—she was born in the capital city of Mogadishu but educated in London, and she returned to her homeland in 2013. Hussen holds three degrees, including a master’s in international relations, and her high rank earns her respect in a heavily gendered society.

“Women are the backbone of the Somali society. They’re also better skilled in community relations and management skills than the males. The Somali Police Force is in desperate need of such skills, as the long civil war took its toll on the force,” she says.

Police officers, on patrol or overseeing neighborhood checkpoints, are frequently the target of al-Shabab attacks. Mohamed is aware of the danger yet undeterred. “The bombs don’t discriminate, whether you are a police officer or a civilian. Everyone is affected. Part of the reason I joined was in order to fight that,” she says.

SOURCE:TAKEPART