Somali Customary Justice: Interactive Data on Clan Elders and Attitudes Toward Reform

The Somali system of customary justice (xeer) serves as both a conflict resolution and legal mechanism, operating alongside formal state-backed courts. In a study supported by the Knowledge Management Fund, we interviewed 408 Somali clan elders to generate the first large-scale empirical evidence on xeer procedures and practices. We also analyzed the backgrounds of clan elders and their openness to adapting xeer in ways that would make it more fair, transparent, and inclusive. You can explore the public data via this interactive dashboard to understand more about xeer, its primary actors (elders), and their attitudes toward change.