Edna Adan Ismail | |
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8th Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
In office June 25, 2003 –June 26, 2006 | |
President | Dahir Riyale Kahin |
Preceded by | Mohammad Saed Gees |
Succeeded by | Abdilahi Mohamed Dualeh |
Personal details | |
Born | 8 September 1937 86) Hargeisa,British Somaliland | (age
Spouse | Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal |
Education | Borough Polytechnic,currently London South Bank University |
Occupation | Activist |
Known for | Activist for the abolition of female genital mutilation (FGM) |
Awards | Templeton Prize (2023) |
Signature | ![]() |
Edna Adan Ismail (Somali :Edna Aadan Ismaaciil ama Adna Aadan Ismaaciil;born 8 September 1937) is a nurse midwife,activist,and was the first female Foreign Minister of Somaliland [1] from 2003 to 2006. She previously served as Somaliland's Minister of Family Welfare and Social Development.
She is the director and founder of the Edna Adan Maternity Hospital in Hargeisa and an activist and pioneer in the struggle for the abolition of female genital mutilation. She is also President of the Organization for Victims of Torture. [2]
She was married to Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal who was the prime minister of the State of Somaliland five days prior to Trust Territory of Somalia's independence and later the Somali Republic (1960–1960) and (1967–1969) and President of Somaliland (1993–2002).
Ismail was born in Hargeisa,Somalia on 8 September 1937, [3] the daughter of a prominent Somali medical doctor. [4] She was one of five children born to her mother,but two died at the time of delivery. [5] At the time girls weren't educated in Somaliland,but her father hired a tutor for some local boys and she learned to read and write with them. She later went to a school in Djibouti where her aunt was a teacher. [6] When she was eight years old,she underwent FGM. It was arranged by her mother and grandmother when her father was on a business trip;when he returned he was furious. [5]
Wanting to prevent other women from undergoing the same trauma she did,she trained as a nurse and midwife in the United Kingdom at the Borough Polytechnic,now London South Bank University. [5] She later married Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal,a Somali politician who was elected Prime Minister of Somalia in 1967.
She is said to be "the first Somali girl" to study in Britain, [7] Somalia’s first qualified nurse-midwife [7] [8] and the first Somali woman to drive. [7]
In 1980,Ismail began building a hospital in Somaliland's capital of Hargeisa,but was forced to leave the country due to the beginning of the Somaliland War of Independence in 1981. [9]
She returned to Somaliland and built from scratch a maternity hospital,which she continues to run. The Edna Adan Maternity Hospital officially opened on 9 March 2002,in land donated to her by the regional government at a site formerly used as a rubbish dump. The region lacked trained nurses to staff the hospital [10] –as most had either fled the country or been killed during the civil war –and so Edna recruited more than 30 candidates and began training them in 2000 while the hospital was still under construction. The hospital now has two operating theatres,laboratory,library,computer centre and a complete wing dedicated to training nurses and midwives. As of 2018, [update] the hospital had 200 staff and 1500 students. [6]
The mission of the Edna Adan Hospital is to help to improve the health of the local inhabitants,in particular the high rate of maternal and infant mortality. The facility is a non-profit making charity and a midwifery teaching hospital that is also undertaking the training of student nurses and Assistant Laboratory Technicians.
Ismail's work is supported by charities in the United Kingdom and the United States which help her raise support and awareness to train additional midwives and fight FGM in Somaliland. [11] [12]
Ismail was the only female minister in the Somaliland government until July 2006,when she was replaced as Foreign Minister by former Minister of Information and National Guidance Abdillahi Mohamed Dualeh. In addition to her work in government,she continues to be a voice for the Somaliland peoples' democratic will. In March 2022 she was elected as President of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization.
Ismail was a recipient of the AMANITARE 2002 Annual Award for her efforts to open a private maternity hospital in Somaliland in 1998. [13]
In recognition of her lifelong contribution to humanitarian work,the name of Edna Adan Ismail was added to the Medical Mission Hall of Fame, [14] University of Toledo,Ohio,in March 2007. She has an Honorary Doctoral Degree from Clark University in Massachusetts. She was made an Honorary Fellow of Cardiff University in Wales in 2008. [15] In 2018,she was granted an Honorary Fellowship by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. [16]
In 2012,Ismail was featured in the documentary Half the Sky:Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide ,premiering on PBS 1 and 2 October. The series introduces women and girls living under very difficult circumstances and bravely fighting to challenge them. The Half the Sky PBS TV series is produced by Show of Force along with Fugitive Films. She was the castaway in the long-running series Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4 on 22 October 2017. [17]
She has been called "The Muslim Mother Teresa" by Kate Grant,CEO of the Fistula Foundation. [18]
In 2018,she was awarded an honorary doctorate from London South Bank University. [6]
In 2019,she wrote a book about her life,"A Woman of Firsts" [19]
In 2023 she was awarded the Templeton Prize. [20]
The Arap or Arab clan is a major Northern Somali clan of the wider Isaaq clan family. The Arap predominantly live on the middle and southwest side of Hargeisa and in the Baligubadle district Hawd region) of Somaliland, with its capital Baligubadle being an exclusively Arap territory. The territory of the clan extends to Ethiopia, in the area of Faafan, gursum, dhagahle. The Abdalle Arab, a sub-clan of the Arap clan is based in the Togdheer, Sahil. The Celi Arab, a sub-clan of the Arap clan is based in Maroodi Jeex Hargeisa Muuse celi arab living also Bakool South West State of Somalia Rabdhure Elbarde, They also live Fafan Zone Gursum, Somali Sheekh cismaan Arab based in Nogob Zone Jarar Zone regions.
The Eidagalle, is a major Somali clan of the Isaaq clan family. Members of this clan are concentrated in Somaliland and the Somali region. They are the traditional holders of the Isaaq Sultanate since the 18th century. As descendants of Ismail bin Sheikh Isaaq, its members form a part of the Habar Magaadle confederation, and they constitute the largest sub-clan of the Isaaq. They traditionally consist of nomadic pastoralists, merchants and skilled poets.
Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud "Silanyo" is a Somaliland politician who was President of Somaliland from 2010 to 2017. He is a long-time member of the government, having served as Minister of Commerce of the Somali Republic, and among other Cabinet positions. During the 1980s, he also served as the Chairman of the Somali National Movement.
The Awal, also contemporarily known as the Habr Awal, Subeer Awal, and alternately known as the Zubeyr Awal is one of the largest subclans of the wider Isaaq clan family, and is further divided into eight sub-clans of whom the two largest and most prominent are the Isamusa and Sa'ad Musa sub-clans. Its members form a part of the Habar Magadle confederation.
Dame Karlene Cecile Davis, DBE is a former General Secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Midwifery, Regional Representative for Europe in the International Confederation of Midwives, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, and a member of the Wellbeing Council at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
East Bardera Mothers and Children's Hospital (EBMCH) is a non-profit institution women's and children's hospital located in Baardheere, Somalia. The hospital was started by expatriate Somalis based in North America. The hospital, locally referred to as Isbitaalka Bariga Baardheere, is managed by a team of nurses in addition to one of the most experienced midwives in the Bardera district of the Gedo region.
Edna Adan Maternity Hospital is a non-profit charity hospital built in Hargeisa, Somaliland. It was founded by the autonomous northwestern Somaliland region's former foreign minister and former first lady of Somalia, Edna Adan Ismail. The hospital has as its primary mission to provide better health care to people whose lives have been traumatized by war, and also to provide training for nurses, midwives, and other health workers. In addition to services and facilities relating specifically to maternal and infant health care, the hospital has diagnostic laboratory facilities and an emergency blood bank, and offers diagnosis and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases.
Healthcare in Somalia is largely in the private sector. It is regulated by the Ministry of Health of the Federal Government of Somalia. In March 2013, the central authorities launched the Health Sector Strategic Plans (HSSPs), a new national health system that aims to provide universal basic healthcare to all citizens by 2016. Somalia has the highest prevalence of mental illness in the world, according to the World Health organization. Some polls have ranked Somalis as the happiest people in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Ahmed Mohamed Adan was the foreign minister of Somalia from 1990 until 1991. He was Somalia's Ambassador to the United States, Soviet Union, Britain, and the United Nations. He was the speaker of House of Representatives of Somaliland from 1997 to 2005.
The Isamusa is a prominent Somali clan which is part of the Isaaq family clan. The Isamusa traditionally consists of coastal people, nomadic pastoralist and merchants. This clan are primarily settled in Somaliland, including Maroodi Jeex, Togdheer, Sahil, Awdal, Djibouti, Yemen, as well as Kenya. Isamusa populations are present in southern Somalia such as Mogadishu.
The Edna Adan University is a private university located in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland. The current president of the university is Edna Adan Ismail.
Events of 2020 in Somaliland.
Suleiman Mohamoud Adan, also known as Saleebaan Gaal is a Somaliland politician and the current speaker of Somaliland House of Elders. Previously, he served as the Minister of Interior in Somaliland's first government under President Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur. He belongs to the Mohamed Abokor subclan of the Habr Je'lo Isaaq.
Events of 2018 in Somaliland.
The Somaliland Declaration of Independence was made on 18 May 1991 by Somali sultans from the Isaaq, Dhulbahante, Issa, Gadabursi, Warsangali clans, as well as the Somali National Movement.
The Sa'ad Musa or Saad Musa is a northern Somali clan. Its members form a part of the Subeer Awal sub-clan of the Isaaq clan family. The Sa'ad Musa traditionally consists of nomadic pastoralists, coastal people, merchants and farmers. The clan inhabits Somaliland, including Maroodi Jeex, and Sahil as well as Djibouti, the Somali Region of Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.
The Farah Garad or the Garad Farah is a Somali clan which is part of the Dhulbahante clan-family, a sub-division of the larger Harti/Darod clan. The Farah Garad are divided into two sub-clans — Yassin Garad and Abdalla Garad. Abdalla has four clan eponyms, Ahmed Garad, Mohamed Garad (Baharsame), Guled Garad (Barkad) and Ali Garad. They are largely significant in Sool and Togdheer regions of Somalia, and Dollo Somali region of Ethopia.
Ibrahim Ismail Koodbur is an early member of Somali National Movement (SNM). He died in 1987, before the restoration of Somaliland's independence.
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