Fawzia Yusuf Adam, the woman who made history by becoming Somalia's first female foreign minister and deputy prime minister is now country's only female presidential candidate. Here's her experiences as a woman politician
Fawzia Yusuf Adam entered the pages of Somali political history as a woman who broke the political glass ceiling. Her aim is to go down in history as a striking political figure who became Somalia's first female president.
During this period, she married Abukar M. Liban, who was also a diplomat and a general in the Somali army. They later had three children. ''Throughout this devastating time, my purpose was to raise and deal with thousands of orphans in different cities. And eventually, I did'' ''To be honest, it was not easy. When I was establishing the university my husband was unwell. And I was having small kids. It was a challenge. But it never stopped me. I wanted to help those young people coming from the war, and prevent them to go back to conflict.''
''They closed down the TV channel, they nationalized the university, and rejected my political party. They were preventing me from becoming active and serving my country. They were afraid a woman like me might win the election as I was becoming popular. I was a threat. That triggered me to become more active in politics.''Adam held street protests with her university's student union against what she saw as a violation of her rights as a citizen.
The appointment of Adam was a brave move made by the fledgling government, defying the country's patriarchal and conservative attitudes. ''Men were not accepting the leadership of a woman. Only a very few accepted me. Others resisted. They could not say much but, you could see the resistance. It was something that I wanted to share with my sisters. I wanted to show the women of the world that stopping is not a choice, we should always continue.''
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