Raqiya Haji Dualeh Abdalla

Raqiya Haji Dualeh Abdalla (Somali: Raqiiyaa Xaaji Ducale Cabdille, Arabic: زاقيي ا حاجي دوالي عبد الله‎) is a Somali sociologist and politician. She has held a number of senior policy-making posts in governmental, non-governmental and international institutions, including as Vice Minister of Health of Somalia. She was also a founding member of the Somali Women's Democratic Organization (SWDO), serving as the group's Acting Chairperson and Vice President. Additionally, Abdalla is the founder and President of the Somali Family Care Network.

Raqiya Haji Dualeh Abdalla
زاقيي ا حاجي دوالي عبد الله
Born
Somalia
Alma materPresident of the Somali Family Care Network
Occupationsociologist, politician

Personal life

Abdalla was born in Somalia. For her post-secondary education, she earned a B.A. in Social Sciences from the College of Education in Mogadishu. Abdalla also holds a master's degree in Public Policy and Women in Development from the Institute of Social Studies which is part of Erasmus University Rotterdam based in The Hague, Netherlands.[1]

Career

Abdalla is a trained sociologist.[2] She has held a number of senior policy-making posts in governmental, non-governmental and international institutions.[1]

Abdalla 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, Abdalla 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, Abdalla 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, Abdalla 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]

Abdalla 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, Abdalla 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]

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References
  1. Rogaia Mustafa Abusharaf (ed.) (2007). Female Circumcision: Multicultural Perspectives. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 273. ISBN 0812219414. Retrieved 17 August 2014.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  2. Ufahamu, Volume 20. African Studies Center, University of California. 1992. p. 19. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  3. Somali Women's Democratic Organization, SWDO: Somali Women's Democratic Organization, The Organization, 1984, p. 1
  4. 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
  5. Santosh C. Saha, Dictionary of Human Rights Advocacy Organizations in Africa, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999, p. 142
  6. International Journal of Women's Studies, Volume 3, Eden Press, 1980, p. 312
  7. 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
  8. Women's International Network News, Volume 9, Women's International Network, 1983, p. 75
  9. "The Democratic Republic of Somalia/ Jamhuuriyadda Diimoqraadiga ee Soomaaliya". Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  10. "Fellowship Site: Somali Family Care Network (SFCN), Washington D.C." University of Minnesota. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  11. Library Information and Research Service (2005). The Middle East, Abstracts and Index, Volume 29, Part 4. Northumberland Press. p. 406. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
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