Ubah Ali | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1996 (age 28–29) |
| Education | University of Stirling American University of Beirut |
| Occupation | Somali activist |
| Awards | BBC's 100 Women List |
Ubah Ali (born 1996) is a social activist and feminist from Somaliland, who campaigns against female genital mutilation. In 2020, she was listed by the BBC as one of the world's most influential 100 Women. [1]
Ali was born in 1996 in Burco in the Toghdeer region of Somalia. [2] Her parents are both primary school dropouts: her father worked as a cab driver until he had a stroke in 2012, and her mother used to sell clothes. [3] It was her mother who encouraged Ali's education and for her to apply for scholarships. [4] She studied at the Abaarso School of Science and Technology from 2011 and left there in 2015. [5] She then moved to Miss Hall's School and graduated from there in 2016. [6] As of 2019, she was studying for a BA degree in Politics and Human Rights at the American University of Beirut. [2] Her undergraduate study is funded by the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program. [3] Whilst studying there, she also tutors Syrian refugees. [5]
In 2015, aged 18, Ali established an organization called Rajo: Hope for Somaliland Community with the aim of providing educational opportunities for orphans and under-privileged students from Somaliland. [6] This was inspired by work she undertook at the Hargeisa Orphanage Centre, between 2012 and 2015, where she tutored students. [6] In 2015 she also fundraised for communities in Somaliland affected by drought. [5]
In 2020, Ali became more widely known due to her campaigning against female genital mutilation (FGM) in Somaliland. [2] In 2018 she founded the Solace for Somaliland Girls Foundation, which aims to end the practice through education and awareness campaigns. [2] The group established the first anti-FGM group in Somaliland as a result. [4] Whilst many Somali people associate FGM with Sharia, Ali alongside doctors and a growing number of religious leaders believe it to be a cultural phenomenon, which can be altered. [2] Ali, as well as her three sisters, are survivors of FGM. [2]
In 2020, Ubah Ali was part of the BBC’s list of the 100 most influential women in the world. [7] [8]
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is the cutting or removal of some or all of the vulva for non-medical reasons. FGM prevalence varies worldwide, but is majorly present in some countries of Africa, Asia and Middle East, and within their diasporas. As of 2024, UNICEF estimates that worldwide 230 million girls and women had been subjected to one or more types of FGM.
Waris Dirie is a Somali model, author, actress and human rights activist in the fight against female genital mutilation (FGM). From 1997 to 2003, she was a UN special ambassador against FGM. In 2002 she founded her own organization in Vienna, the Desert Flower Foundation. She has won numerous awards recognizing her work on eradicating FGM, including the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur (2007).
Efua Dorkenoo, OBE, affectionately known as "Mama Efua", was a Ghanaian-British campaigner against female genital mutilation (FGM) who pioneered the global movement to end the practice and worked internationally for more than 30 years to see the campaign "move from a problem lacking in recognition to a key issue for governments around the world."
Edna Adan Ismail is a nurse midwife, activist, and was the first female Foreign Minister of Somaliland from 2003 to 2006. She previously served as Somalia’s Minister of Family Welfare and Social Development.
International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation is a United Nations-sponsored annual awareness day that takes place on February 6 as part of the UN's efforts to eradicate female genital mutilation. It was first introduced in 2003.
There is a widespread view among practitioners of female genital mutilation (FGM) that it is a religious requirement, although prevalence rates often vary according to geography and ethnic group. There is an ongoing debate about the extent to which the practice's continuation is influenced by custom, social pressure, lack of health-care information, and the position of women in society. The procedures confer no health benefits and can lead to serious health problems.
Abaarso School of Science and Technology (Abaarso School) is a non-profit, co-educational boarding school in Abaarso, located in Maroodi Jeex, Somaliland. Its campus lies 18 km (11 mi) west of the provincial capital of Hargeisa. Abaarso was only a secondary school until 2013, when it first began to run an intermediate school as well. The school now ranges from grades 7–12, with a post-graduate option. There are approximately 120 students in the upper school and 98 in the lower school.
Comfort Iyabo Amah Momoh, is a British midwife who specializes in the treatment of female genital mutilation (FGM). Born in Nigeria, Momoh is a member of the British FGM national clinical group, established in 2007 to train health professionals in how to deal with the practice. Until 2017 she served as a public-health specialist at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London. She is the editor of Female Genital Mutilation (2005).
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting (FGC), female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is practiced in 30 countries in western, eastern, and north-eastern Africa, in parts of the Middle East and Asia, and within some immigrant communities in Europe, North America and Australia, as well as in specific minority enclaves in areas such as South Asia and Russia. The WHO defines the practice as "all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons."
Women in Somalia form a key part of Somali society, with clearly defined and important roles in the family and structure. This includes Somali women in Somaliland, a self-declared republic that is internationally recognized as an autonomous region of Somalia. From the time of Ismail Urwayni's proselytizing in 1890, until the Dervish State's defeat by British air bombardment in 1920, women in the strip of land from Jidali, Sanaag in the north, to Beledweyne in the south were referred to as Darawiishaad (plural) or Darwiishad (singular).
Ifrah Ahmed is a Somali-Irish social activist. She is the founder of the United Youth of Ireland non-governmental organization and the Ifrah Foundation.
Nimko Ali, alternatively spelled Nimco, is a British social activist of Somali heritage. She is the co-founder and CEO of The Five Foundation, a global partnership to end female genital mutilation (FGM).
Leyla Hussein is a Somali-born British psychotherapist and social activist. She is the founder of Dahlia project, one of the co-founders of the Daughters of Eve non-profit organization and a Chief Executive of Hawa's Haven. In 2020, Hussein was elected Rector of the University of St Andrews, making her the third woman and first woman of colour to hold this position. Hussein received significant criticism during her role as Rector of the University of St Andrews owing to her lack of involvement in the role.
Female genital mutilation in the United Kingdom is the ritual removal of some or all of the external female genitalia of women and girls living in the UK. According to Equality Now and City University London, an estimated 103,000 women and girls aged 15–49 were thought to be living with female genital mutilation (FGM) in England and Wales as of 2011.
Hibo Wardere is a Somali-born campaigner against female genital mutilation (FGM), author, and public speaker. Born in Somalia, she moved to London, England when just a teenager in 1989, as a refugee fleeing the Somali Civil War. She currently resides in Walthamstow, London, where she worked as a mediator and a regular FGM educator for Waltham Forest Borough. Her testimonials and campaigning work have made her one of Britain's most prominent campaigners about FGM and she has appeared in numerous publications, including the Telegraph, the BBC, and The Guardian.
Jaha Dukureh is a Gambian women's right activist and anti-female genital mutilation campaigner. Dukureh was subjected to female genital mutilation in the Gambia when she was a little more than a week old. She is the founder and executive director of Safe Hands for Girls, an organization working to end FGM, and was the lead campaigner in The Guardian's End FGM Guardian Global Media Campaign. In April 2016, she was named to the 2016 Time 100 list. Dukureh was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in February 2018, has won the Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal, and is a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador for Africa. A feature film about Jaha's life was released by Accidental Pictures and The Guardian.
Hoda Ali is a nurse and human rights activist defending the rights of girls through working and campaigning to end female genital mutilation in the United Kingdom.
Amina Mahmoud Warsame is a Somali social scientist who served as executive director of Nagaad, a women's group in Hargeisa Somaliland. Co-author of Social and Cultural Aspects of Female Circumcision and Infibulation: A Preliminary Report (1985), she was one of the early voices raised in Africa against female genital mutilation, along with Raqiya Abdalla, Asma El Dareer, Efua Dorkenoo, and Nahid Toubia.
The legal status of female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting (FGC), differs widely across the world.
Mariam Dahir is a Somali doctor, researcher and anti-female genital mutilation activist. She is part of the small team that drafted the proposed law against FGM in Somaliland.