Edna Adan not only trains mid-wives so they can return to their rural environment and provide pre-natal and birthing support, but also teaches them to carry with them the message that genital mutilation of any girl or woman does not serve them.
In our modern society we forget that maternal mortality is a threat that still plagues the world.
Edna Adan Ismail has literally committed everything she has to achieve one purpose: decreasing the newborn and maternal mortality rate in Somaliland and the Horn of Africa.
Needless suffering and death can be avoided if women are invested in and valued culturally for more than just their reproductive capacity.
For Somalia, this is wonderful news, but what does this statement mean for Somaliland, an unrecognized state, located in the northern tip of Somalia, that declared its independence from Somalia in 1991?
Since not everyone can visit a hospital, Edna now wants to take the hospital to the people by training a large cadre of "barefoot midwives" who will travel from village to village to offer their medical services.
Edna Adan, a 75-year-old former U.N. diplomat who has rubbed shoulders with presidents and kings, says her greatest achievement is her most recent: building the first maternity hospital in her country.
Edna is as tough as General Petraeus, as compassionate as the Pope, as tireless as Michael Phelps, as beautiful at 75 as Tina Turner, and has a 'get-it-done-no-excuses" work ethic to rival Bill Gates.
Moguay was weak and needed this attention in order to fatten up. I also loved to just hold him and tell him he would grow up to be a big strong guy.
A new book argues that the livestock trade in the Horn of Africa, across Ethiopia, Somaliland, Somalia, Sudan and Kenya, much of it unrecorded, informal and often illegal, amounts to around $1 billion each year.
Attacks are unlikely on Somali ships and for a fee tourists can hitch a ride from Yemen with some cargo. In my case, there were a lot of cookies involved.
A new approach to Somalia is urgently needed. Somali women and men are asking for a greater say in efforts to bring about peace and security in their country.
This post was co-authored by Ross Thuotte. Last week, lawmakers in Somaliland (Somalia's northern, semi-autonomous region) reportedly established Som...
Neither Somaliland nor Puntland has indicated any interest in mediating between their warring brethren in the South.
For many Africans khat is a stimulant drug that also stills hunger pangs. But the world's biggest seller of khat doesn't fit the typical profile of a ...
Instead of embracing and learning from indigenous Somali successes in the north, the international community undermines them by supporting the Transitional Federal Government.
MOGADISHU, Somalia — A court official says a Somali judge sentenced a 72-year-old German man to four years in jail for making pornographic films...
Now I'm not saying Africans don't like being photographed. Lots of them do and are anyway very gracious when they don't. But here are a few experiences on a recent trans-continental trip.
The new Dual-Track approach is based on engaging diplomatically and economically any and all Somali political actors -- armed or unarmed -- as long as those entities are not supporting the extremist group al-Shabaab.
The northern section of Somalia is free of the mindless violence tearing the rest of the country apart and offers rewarding sites from age-old rock paintings to spectacular escarpments to blinding white beaches.
Ask people what they know about Somalia and most will probably start talking about pirates, terrorists, and Black Hawk Down. Not many would think to mention democracy or free elections as well, but they should.
This week Somalia marked its 50th anniversary of independence from colonial rule. It could not have been celebrated more differently in the north and...
The release of two more men yet again demonstrates how hysterical and unsubstantiated are Republican claims that Guantánamo is full of hardcore terrorists.
By Tristan McConnell | GlobalPost BERBERA, Somaliland -- The slight figure of Farah Ismail Eid is a far cry from the swashbuckling, murderous imag...
Somalilanders rightly pride themselves on succeeding without international intervention and they do not take their accomplishment of peace lightly but they may yet face one of their greatest tests.
