Edna Adan Ismail has a pioneer soul. The first woman to take the reins of a ministry in Somaliland, an African nation without international recognition in northern Somalia, she led the Family and Foreign Affairs portfolios. After training as a midwife in Europe, at the age of 85 she is one of the main activists on the African continent for women’s rights. In addition to breaking walls against cutting, she founded a university hospital in her homeland where today 70% of her students are girls. She recently visited Barcelona as president of UNPO, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization.
You studied when in your country girls did not study
My father and my mother both studied, so at home there were books and an educational environment, but at that time the system did not allow the education of girls, our country did not have schools for us. According to tradition, boys and girls were to grow up differently. The boys could run and play, learn things and go to school, but the girls had to stay home. A girl should not play or run or get dirty or climb trees… she should be a young lady, prepare to be a good wife, a good mother.
Did her father take her to school anyway?
No, but there was a swing near my house and the kids from the neighborhood went there to swing all day. Seeing that, my father turned our garden into a small classroom and paid a teacher to teach my brothers and those children. I stayed listening from behind a tree and that’s how I discovered that there was a letter ce, an a or a t and that if you put them together magic would happen and they would come together in the word “catâ€. It was as if a mystery was solved, as if a secret was revealed for me. My brain woke up. There was so much to learn!
His parents finally agreed to give him an education.
Yes, when they saw my desire to learn, they knew there was no other option. I could go either way: to a boarding school in Yemen, which would have been the end for a girl who ran and climbed trees, or to Djibouti, where my aunt was a science teacher. Thank God they sent me to my aunt’s house, where I was able to go to school with boys and girls and grow up in a free environment.
He went to London to study. What changed in you?
I studied to be a midwife and there I discovered women who were not mutilated. I myself had undergone the ablation, for me it was something normal, and in the United Kingdom I saw that it was not like that. Returning to Somaliland in 1961, I assisted in deliveries of women who were injured and suffering horribly. I decided to fight the taboo that did not allow us to talk about the excision and denounce the immense pain it causes.
Did you receive support in your struggle?
Not even my family understood it at first, they were ashamed of me. Fighting traditions or religious issues is hard, so I focused on medical issues and birth complications.
Her feminist activism crystallized in her great work: she founded a university hospital in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland.
Two of my four brothers died in childbirth due to midwife errors. Those things mark you and I decided that I didn’t want another family to suffer like my mother. I first ripped one off in Somalia, but Al Shabab jihadists destroyed it. I decided to go to my country, Somaliland.
And it started again.
In 2002 I founded the Edna Adan hospital where we have given birth to 32,000 babies and cared for thousands of people. But I am especially proud that we have trained more than 4,000 nurses, midwives and other health workers there. And the best: 70% of the students are girls.
Are you optimistic about the social evolution of African women?
It depends on the country, but it all depends on education. The greatest gift you can give a girl is the gift of education because she awakens the potential of her brain.
She is in Barcelona as president of UNPO, Organization of Unrepresented Nations and Peoples, of which Catalonia is also a part. Is the world ready to recognize Somaliland?
The failure to recognize my country, and I am going to use strong words, is a huge loss to the world. The planet will be sorry. They have not recognized us for 32 years. In 1960, the British and Italian colonies gave independence to Somaliland and Somalia, we were born free and decided to create the state of Somalia together. But the marriage didn’t work out, and when war broke out and Somalia descended into chaos, we went on our way.
Why are you only officially recognized by Taiwan?
We have fulfilled everything that was asked of us. We are progressing, our economy is growing, we have our own stable government, our flag and currency. We are a stable and successful country.
Is the world afraid of balkanizing an unstable region?
Somalia is already disintegrated. Peace in Somaliland is key to the world. My country occupies 850 kilometers of coastline on the Red Sea, at the mouth of the Suez Canal, through which 12% of world maritime trade passes. It is a piracy zone but there are no pirates on our coasts because our government defends its maritime territory. There is no jihadism either, we are the guardians of the region.
What does it mean to you to chair UNPO?
It is an honor to serve 44 nations struggling to achieve their self-determination and have their identity respected. It is good that we unite in one voice.
Do you think Catalonia should be an independent state?
I support the fact that the people of Catalonia are the ones who make decisions about their country.
