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| Mama Hawa in the classroom. “Illiteracy in women is the reason why they can't demand their rights” |
Her genteel bespectacled looks belie the
steely determination that 2012 Nansen Refugee Award Laureate Hawa Aden Mohamed
has demonstrated she has in spades.
The founder of the Galkayo Education Centre
for Peace and Development (GECPD) in Puntland, Somalia,
Hawa has overcome the opposition of war lords, local leaders and the dangers of
operating in one of the world’s worst conflict zones to help transform the lives of thousands of
girls in Somalia by providing education
,vocational training,shelter and protection.
A traditional patriachical society
fractured by two decades of conflict has led to Somalia being rated as the fifth
worst place to be a woman. High maternal mortality rates, female genital
mutilation (FMG), rape, lack of health care and opportunities and poor access
to education all mean that Somalia
women and girls are extremely vulnerable.
