Somaliland's leading lady for women's rights: 'It is time for men to step up'

Somaliland's leading lady for women's rights: 'It is time for men to step up'
Edna Adan has dedicated her life to building her country's first maternity hospital, and campaigning against FGM. Now she is looking for new allies in the fight against gender violence
Alexandra Topping
theguardian.com
Monday 23 June 2014

Edna Adan has led a life filled with firsts. The 76-year-old was the first woman from Somaliland to study in the UK and the first qualified-nurse midwife in her country, as well as the first female foreign minister and one of the first in the world to speak out publicly about the horrors of female genital mutilation (FGM).

Now she is experiencing another first: a cautious hope that the balance of power is finally tipping in the fight against violence against women and girls, particularly against FGM. But this veteran campaigner knows too well the dangers of over-optimism.

"I wish I could say emphatically that I had real hope now that things were going to change, but we've had resolutions before in Cairo, Nairobi, Copenhagen," says Adan, who has spent her life fighting for women's rights, even cashing in her World Health Organisation (WHO) pension to build the first maternity hospital in her country. "But I am optimistic now: this is the first time that the British government is fully on board in trying to put a stop to FGM. That makes a big difference."

She praises Britain – a "strong ally" – for its work on targeting health professionals who carry out the illegal procedure, which involves the partial or complete removal of a girl's outer sexual organs and can result in lifelong physical and mental complications....

MORE at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/23/somaliland-womens-rights-gender-violence