Raqiya Haji Dualeh Abdalla
Raqiya Haji Dualeh Abdalla زاقيي ا حاجي دوالي عبد الله | |
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Born | |
Alma mater | President of the Somali Family Care Network |
Occupation(s) | sociologist, politician |
Raqiya Haji Dualeh Abdalla (
Personal life
Raqiya was born in
Career
Raqiya is a trained sociologist.[2] She has held a number of senior policy-making posts in governmental, non-governmental and international institutions.[1]
Raqiya was a founding member of the Somali Women's Democratic Organization (SWDO). Established in 1977, it was the first women's parliamentary caucus in Somalia.[3] She would also serve as the group's Acting Chairperson and Vice President.[1][3] Among other initiatives, the SWDO was mandated with implementing the ruling Supreme Revolutionary Council's law prohibiting female genital mutilation.[4][5] In this capacity, Raqiya initiated the first anti-FGM campaign in Somalia.[1] In 1979, on behalf of the SWDO, she represented Somalia at the WHO global seminar in Khartoum.[6] She was concurrently elected as Somalia's representative to the conference's five-person Sub-Committee, which was tasked with formulating resolutions and recommendations on FGM.[7]
While working with the Ministry of Culture, Raqiya published Sisters in Affliction in 1982. It was the first book on infibulation by a Somali woman.[8] The work had a widespread impact, particularly when it was later translated into Abdalla's native Somali language.[1]
From 1983 to 1986, Raqiya was Somalia's Assistant or Vice Minister of Health.[1][9] For a five-year period, she also served as Senior Program Advisor to the UNDP in Sudan.[1]
Raqiya later served as a consultant for Immigrant and Refugee Services of America, a national voluntary agency. She therein held national workshops on reproductive rights for women immigrants from Somalia and Iraq, and worked with community leaders.[10]
In 2001, Raqiya founded the Somali Family Care Network (SFCN) in Washington, D.C., serving as the group's president.[1][11] The SFCN offers technical support to ethnic Somali community organizations in the United States. It also provides assistance on general health care to women immigrants from the Horn of Africa.[1]
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0812219418. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
- ^ Ufahamu, Volume 20. African Studies Center, University of California. 1992. p. 19. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
- ^ a b Somali Women's Democratic Organization, SWDO: Somali Women's Democratic Organization, The Organization, 1984, p. 1.
- ^ U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Report Submitted to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1990, p. 330.
- ^ Santosh C. Saha, Dictionary of Human Rights Advocacy Organizations in Africa, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999, p. 142.
- ^ International Journal of Women's Studies, Volume 3, Eden Press, 1980, p. 312.
- ^ Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children: Female Circumcision, Childhood Marriage, Nutritional Taboos, Etc. : Report of a Seminar, Khartoum, 10–15 February 1979, Volume 1, World Health Organization, Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, 1979, p. 134.
- ^ Women's International Network News, Volume 9, Women's International Network, 1983, p. 75.
- ^ "The Democratic Republic of Somalia/ Jamhuuriyadda Diimoqraadiga ee Soomaaliya". Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
- ^ "Fellowship Site: Somali Family Care Network (SFCN), Washington D.C." University of Minnesota. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
- ^ Library Information and Research Service (2005). The Middle East, Abstracts and Index, Volume 29, Part 4. Northumberland Press. p. 406. Retrieved 17 August 2014.