Human Rights: This year's Amnesty International Award

[Grad Student]

This year's Amnesty International Award for activism goes to Hawa aden mohamed of Somalia. The annual general meeting (AGM) of Amnesty International USA was held Austin, TX this year.

I attended the meeting representing my school chapter. It was an exciting and unexpected for me when her name was announced and she walked to the podium to give a speech. After her emotional speech about FGM, she met activists from all over the world as they lined up to chat with her and take pics. As one one of them, I waited for my turn patiently while my friend stood with her camera to take a picture of me and her together.

When my time came, I spoke sofly saying "haye mama." Shocked to hear my greeting in Somali, She politely extended her hand saying, "see tahay." We chatted for a bit. Of course, people were still lined up to meet her. so, I asked her if I could have a picture with her. And as soon as the camera snapped the shot, I stepped aside. She told me she was looking forward to talk to me afterwards.

 

[Grad Student]

here's a link

http://women.amnestyusa.org/defenders/hawaaden.asp

[Garyaqaan2]

good info I must say thanks .

Is wonderful to see our sister do their thing.

 

 

Great news bro

 

April 8, 2005

Hawa Aden Mohamed will receive the 11 th annual Ginetta Sagan Award, awarded for outstanding contributions to the human rights of women and children, at Amnesty International’s Annual General Meeting in Austin, Texas

Great news

[Grad Student]

Activism makes a difference in Somali society just like any other. This lady acted and commands respect in her recognition.

Btw, FGM-female Genital Mutilation is what she speaks about and works to eradicate. It may be a minor issue to most of you(silent ones) but I contend its central to the demise of our society.

a beauty pageant in African country that was asked what FGM was about and what she thought it stands for, said it stands for Female Genital Vegetation. LOL! that is a joke!

my point is most learned Somalis know what it is. And if we do act against it, we do not know what it does to women. In fact, its impact is dismissed by mere speculation of its either practical legitimacy in Islam.

[Sky]

theorist, good news thnx. the abuse of women should be stopped. its crippling our nation, by the fgm. as somalis we need to save those future women that will go through this barbaric n pagan practise. tru the famous song begins with: "its a mans world!" but it ends with: "it aint nothing without a woman or a girl!". somalis still think uncircumcised women need to use matrasses against the monthly fluids.

 

congratulations to xaawo aadan maxamed.

 

to the ladies of sol, com'on make your voices heard! maxaad isu qarineysiin?

[Rahima]

somalis still think uncircumcised women need to use matrasses against the monthly fluids.

Who the bloody hell believes that :confused: ? That is revolting and backward to say the least.

 

As for the winner, kudos to her, I can only imagine what she had to fight. She must be one heck of a woman .

[J.Lee]

^^^Lol, I feel you.

 

Sky, Hear Hear!

 

A role model in her own right and hopefully there will be more Somali women like her insha'allah.

 

Congrats to her.

[king_450]

Worthy piece of informtion, thanks and hopefully one day she will be elected one of the somali leaders.

[rudy-Diiriye]

Amensty int'l, i really diz them!! dont get me wrong! this is a bad thing, fgm! but hey reality is much more on the side of the hundreds getting killing in country!!

 

putting a small bandit on big problem aint gonna solve no problems here! so is taking your picture with it!! namean!! lets be honest!!

 

lets talk about reality!! i rather Amensty int'l talk about 100 of somalis in jails for no crimes!

where is beef!! :confused:

[Grad Student]

Rudy, you miss my point bro. This lady acted! I don't mean to put you on the spot but what have you done of those killings you speak of? FGM is not exactly killing. I concede. It's wrong though! infact, it should be eradicated! so, as killings.

She found her purpose. I suggest you do and act bro. Perhaps, teaching how to use the comp. and the internet is what you are good at. u offer basic comp. skills to your local community.

[NASSIR]

Let her work transcend time. She will join the high ranking Somali Human Rights activists N Experts.

[Grad Student]

AFRICA SPURNS FEMALE CIRCUMISION

By Mike Crawley

The Christian Science Monitor

KER SIMBARA, SENEGAL — This tiny, sleepy village in Senegal's arid interior is part of a swelling movement against the long-held but controversial practice of female circumcision.

Back in 1997, 13 Senegalese villages publicly declared that they would no longer permit female circumcision, or female genital mutilation (FGM) as it's called by critics. In the eight years since, the number has grown to 1,527, representing 30% of Senegalese communities where FGM has been practiced. Dozens more villages are preparing to make similar declarations in the coming months.

 

Campaigners have tried for decades to bring an end to FGM. But their tactics of providing alternative employment to the circumcisers, introducing alternative rites of passage for girls, or demanding legislation to outlaw the practice have all failed to make a dent: an estimated 2 million girls in about 26 African countries are circumcised every year.

 

The sea-change in Senegal is being credited to a slow but steady program of human rights education that allows villagers to make up their own minds about whether to abandon female circumcision. Spearheaded by a local rights agency called Tostan, the program's success is proving so eye-catching that the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is endorsing it as a model.

 

"The Tostan approach is working because it's a holistic approach, and it works with communities," says Lalla Toure, UNICEF's regional adviser for women's health. "The starting point is not female genital mutilation; it's about rights, it's about health, it's about development. We think that's the best approach."

 

The program is being replicated with some success in Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Mali, and is currently being considered for one of the strongholds of FGM, Somalia, where nearly 100% of girls are circumcised.

 

Excision of all or part of the female sexual organs before puberty has long been considered a prerequisite for marriage among many of the pastoral cultures immediately south of the Sahara and in the Horn of Africa. Despite growing awareness of the health risks, which can affect childbirth, parents continue carrying out the practice because they fear their daughters won't otherwise be able to find a husband.

 

It's this same power of social conformity that is helping the campaign to end FGM in Senegal. As more villages publicly announce that they are abandoning the practice, Tostan says others begin realizing it may no longer be a marriage requirement, momentum builds, and the number of villages following suit snowballs.

 

"People are realizing that the social convention is changing," says Molly Melching, the Texas-born director of Tostan who has lived in Senegal for more than two decades.

 

According to Gerry Mackie, a professor at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., the groundswell of opposition to FGM in Senegal is approaching a "tipping point." No one is willing to predict a date by which the practice will cease, but Mr. Mackie suggests that there are parallels with the practice of foot-binding in China, which went from widespread at the turn of the 20th century to nil within a generation.

 

Once Tostan commences its program of health, human rights education, and economic development in a village, it typically takes two to three years before citizens decide that they want to abandon FGM, says Ms. Melching. The public declarations the villages make, amid vibrant celebrations with music, dancing, and speeches from elders and prominent citizens, generally contain other statements about respect for women's rights and children's education.

 

The declarations are also coming from places where Tostan staff have never set foot. Enthusiastic villagers are taking it upon themselves to talk to neighboring villages, causing the movement to spread even more quickly.

 

Melching says that Tostan didn't set out trying to end FGM when it began its programs, nor is the eradication of FGM its only goal. Yet in some ways Tostan is becoming a victim of its own success. As the number of declarations swells, some Senegalese have come to see Tostan as simply an anti-FGM agency. Particularly in northern Senegal where resistance to ending the practice remains strong, some villages have protested and rioted to dissuade the organization from doing any sort of work.

 

Here in Ker Simbara there was similar — albeit less heated — initial refusal to listen to visiting women from nearby Malicounda Bambara, the village where the first anti-FGM declaration was made, says Imam Demba Diawara. But the public declarations soon made the issue of excision "the talk of the town," he says.

 

The debate that ensued was a big shift from the previously secretive approach to the practice, says Ramata Sow, who staffs the local clinic and nursery. "No one talked about the health troubles before — it's a difficult subject," she says.

 

Ker Simbara eventually declared in 1999 that its citizens would no longer practice female circumcision. Ms. Sow's family illustrates the transformation. She circumcised her eldest daughter, but her two youngest, Sadio, 13, and Nabou, 7, and her granddaughter Duma, 2, are not circumcised.

 

"I will never do it again," she declares. "Things have changed."

 

The Christian Science Monitor.

[rudy-Diiriye]

dont take that, rewind it back, lil rudy is gonna make your head pop!!

 

fgm! another women created syndrome!! so far this so called disease has not been scientifically proven!

 

well homie, lemme get this straight, there was nothing going on in town so u just figured to pop in a FGM party! what! the circus wasnt in town!! lord have mercy!!

 

what about us guys! do u women know how much pain ours was!! let me see u ladies pee with bandages covering all your stuff!! for while my family use to call the Sprinkler!! n that was not funny!!