There are many strong, capable women in Somalia. Dr. Hawa Abdi,
Deqo Mohamed, Amina Mohamed, Edna Adan, Ilwad Elman, Fartuun Adan, and Fatima
Jibrell are seven such amazing women. The actions of each demonstrate that in
adversity there is the opportunity to make a positive difference and even to
inspire others. Here are their stories:
Dr. Hawa Abdi’s and her Daughters’ Health
Initiatives
As a 12-year-old, Hawa Abdi lost her mother to complications
related to childbirth. Determined to understand why her mother had died, young
Ms. Abdi studied medicine and, in 1971, obtained a medical degree. The
following year, her grandmother died and Dr. Abdi learned that Somali laws
prevented female relatives from inheriting land or other possessions. She
immediately took up legal studies and, working as a physician during the day
and studying law at night, obtained a law degree from Mogadishu’s Somali
National University in 1979.
After working in Mogadishu for several years Dr. Abdi opened a
small clinic on her farm. Within a few years she was providing healthcare to
approximately 800 internally displaced families, and over 4,000 people that
were living in makeshift homes neighboring her clinic and a nearby Red Cross
feeding station. That number quickly grew. By 2009, around 90,000 people were
being assisted by Dr. Abdi and people outside of Somalia were increasingly
aware of her amazing work. Swiss associates, inspired by Dr. Abdi, established
the Association Suisse Hawa Abdi that enabled Dr. Abdi to open a Women’s
Education Center at her clinic. What began as a small clinic has grown into a
400-bed hospital, an accompanying school, and nutrition center. Approximately two
million people have been assisted by Dr. Abdi’s facilities since 1983.
Dr. Abdi hasn’t been doing all of this impressive work entirely on
her own. She is aided in her work by her daughters Dr. Deqo Mohamed and Dr.
Amina Mohamed. The women represent three of ten female doctors in all of
Somalia, a country with approximately 200 doctors for a population of over nine
million. Dr. Abdi’s daughters grew up working alongside their mother. They were
treating wounds and delivering babies while still in high school. In 2010 all
three were named Glamour Magazine’s women of the year.
Since 2012, when Dr. Abdi was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize
and recognized by the Women in the World Foundation, approximately 100 staff
and 150 volunteers have assisted Dr. Abdi and her daughters. Funds to support
the growing enterprise are channeled through the Dr. Hawa Abdi Foundation
(DHAF) which is run by Dr. Abdi and her daughters. Through DHAF the women are
able to treat more than 250 patients per day as well as provide scholarships to
train female doctors and nurses.
Edna Adan: Founder of a Teaching Hospital
Edna Adan (also known as Edna Adan Ismail) is the daughter of a
prominent Somali medical doctor. She was trained as a nurse in the United
Kingdom and married Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal, a Somali politician who was
elected Prime Minister of Somalia in 1967.
In the mid-1980s she began building a hospital in Mogadishu, but
the Somali Civil War began and she fled the country. She worked for, and with,
the World Health Organization for around a decade before returning to Somalia
in the late 1990s.
In 2002, she founded the non-profit Edna Adan University
Hospital through which she has trained many healthcare professionals and
made notable strides in the fight against maternal mortality. Edna Adan was the
only female minister in the Somaliland government until July 2006. She holds an
Honorary Doctoral Degree from Clark University in Massachusetts in the USA and
is an Honorary Fellow of Cardiff University’s School of Nursing in Wales, in
the United Kingdom. Edna Adan also has been featured in the documentary Half
the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide and named
among the 100 most influential Africans. She is recognized internationally as a
pioneer of women’s health and education.
Ilwad Elman and Fartuun Adan: Promoters of
Peace
Ilwad Elman was born in Somalia, raised in Canada, and returned to
Somalia in 2009, a time of significant conflict. Her aim was to continue the
work of her father, Mr. Elman Ali Ahmed, an activist for peace who was
assassinated for his efforts to remove weapons from the hands of Somali
children in Mogadishu.
In his honor, Mr. Ahmed’s wife and children created the Elman
Peace Centre in Mogadishu. It is the country’s first program to assist
the victims of gender-based violence. The Center also provides counseling and
health and housing support for women in need.
In the present day Ms. Elman runs a program to rehabilitate child
soldiers and integrate them back into society. Through the Elman Peace Centre
she provides shelter for the victims of abuse and educates against the stigma
and silence surrounding sexual violence. In addition Ms. Elman serves as the
Chairperson of the Gender Based Violence Case Management group and the Street
Children Task Force, both based in Mogadishu.
In mid-2012 the first
TEDx conference was held in Mogadishu and Ms. Elman was a speaker at the event.
In 2013, she was featured in the documentary Through the Fire (with Dr. Hawa
Abdi and Edna Adan) and in 2014 Ms. Elman was appointed a Young African Leader
Initiative (YALI) Fellow by the US Department of State.