By:Guiled Yusuf Idaan
Somalilandsun – Edna Adan was born in Hargeisa, the daughter of a prominent Somali medical doctor and was trained as a nurse in the United Kingdom at the Borough Polytechnic
Edna Adan has led a life filled with firsts. She was the first woman from Somalia 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).and the first Somali woman to drive
She was the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Nursing Adviser during 1986. From 1987 to 1991, she was Regional Technical Officer for Mother and Child Health, with responsibility for issues relating to harmful traditional practices which affect the health of women and children (such as female Genital Mutilation ), and for training of Midwives and Traditional Birth Attendants in the 22 countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region of WHO. Afterwards, she was the representative of WHO in Djibouti between 1991 and 1997.
She spent her life fighting for women’s rights, even cashing in her World Health Organization (WHO) pension to build the first maternity hospital in her country.
She returned to Somaliland and she sold all of her possessions to pursue her dream of opening her own hospital and built from scratch a maternity hospital, which she continues to run. The Edna Adan Maternity Hospital officially opened on March 9, 2002 in land donated to her by the regional government at a site formerly used as a garbage dump.
The region lacked trained nurses to staff the hospital 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 center and a complete wing dedicated to training nurses and midwives.
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 she opened Edna Adan University in 2012,For Adan, her
Scholarly achievements made her accountable to the Women and girl of Somaliland and gave her the ability to create educational opportunities that previously may not have been able to be realized, besides giving her anew purpose in life, the Edna adan University gave her a new purpose in life Hospital has also become a platform from where she can influence educational in her country, where she can encourage girls to go to the schools
In recognition of her lifelong contribution to Humanitarian work, the name of Edna Adan Ismail was added to the Medical Mission Hall of Fame, University of Toledo Ohio, in March 2007. She has an Honorary Doctoral Degree from Clark University in Massachusetts and was made Honorary Fellow of Cardiff University School of Nursing in Wales on July 8, 2008.
In 2012 Edna Adan was featured in the documentary Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide premiering on PBS October 1 and 2. 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 has been called “The Muslim Mother Teresa” by The Huffington Post
She won the Global Citizen Movement Awards on 28 September 2012, the award was presenting to four outstanding individuals who embody the diversity of efforts and resources that are needed to achieve our generation’s Common goal: the end of extreme poverty
The University of Pretoria accepted the Chancellor’s Medal for her outstanding contribution to humanity and particularly with regards to helping the under –privileged people of Somaliland to realize there to health
According to what Edna did to her marginalized people, and humanitarian activities, if she is not deserve the Nobel Peace Prize
Guiled Yusuf Idaan
Email: idaan54@hotmail.com
see hundreds of Edna’s activities in pictorial
Watch: The History Of Somaliland is written in My Blood, Dr Edna Aden
