Defender of the month: Mohamed Farah

Mohamed Farah, 34, is a Somali human rights defender (HRD). He is the founder and chairperson of the Somali Disability Empowerment Network (SODEN).

In addition to his work with the Somali Coalition of Human Rights Defenders as a steering committee member and Disabled Peoples’ International, Farah advocates for people with disabilities who face serious discrimination.

“Persons with disabilities in Somalia, as in many other countries in the sub-region, face numerous challenges that result in their exclusion from mainstream of society, making it difficult for them to access their fundamental social, political, and economic rights,” he says. “Many make their way through life impoverished, abandoned, uneducated, malnourished, discriminated against, neglected, and vulnerable.”

At the age of three, Farah contracted polio, which left him permanently disabled. Somalia’s disabled population is estimated at 15 percent, due in large part to disease, malnourishment, and the effects of decades of civil war and conflict. In 2011 Farah founded SODEN with the aim of promoting and uplifting the rights of disabled people in Somalia. Since then, he has met with both the Somali Speaker of Parliament and the former President to discuss national disability legal frameworks and the protection of those with special needs in the country. A 2015 campaign he initiated called ‘Open the Door’ aimed at making all public buildings in the country wheelchair accessible.

“In most of Somalia and the sub-region, disabled people face huge discrimination against their fundamental rights,” Farah say. “The government must ensure the rights of marginalized people, including persons with disabilities, in order to break all barriers against them and allow them to become a part of the society.”

Farah says the issues plaguing the disabled are most pronounced when it comes to economic, physical, educational, and psychological challenges, which can result in a vicious cycle of poverty and lack of access to the overall benefits of development. He says that in addition to the social and cultural stigma surrounding disability in Somalia, he has also faced threats of violence from non-state actors like Al-Shabaab – in 2017, the group was responsible for the death of Ali Osman, a disabled elder and community leader.
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“In Africa, disability is sometimes viewed as a spiritual curse, despite medial explanations,” Farah says. “Disabled persons suffer from psychological challenges due to the way society views them. Disabled people are even stigmatised when it comes to marriage. Superstitious beliefs frown at marriages between an able-bodied and a disabled person. It is regarded as a bad omen by the family.”

In June 2018, with support from DefendDefenders and ProtectDefenders.eu, Farah graduated from Kampala International University with a Master of Arts in Human Rights and Development, as well as a newfound commitment to continue the struggle for equal rights in both Somalia and beyond.

“My new studies will give me courage and spirit,” he says. “I will redouble my advocacy efforts and continue fighting against human rights violators. I will promote the rights of neglected people including people with disabilities.”

Follow Mohammed on Twitter.

See more HRDs of the Month

Human Rights Defender of the month: Omar Faruk Osman

Omar Faruk’s career, and the passion that drove it, were the product of his circumstances. He was born in 1976, in the first of strong man Mohamed Siad Barre’s two-decade rule over Somalia, which was characterized by gross rights abuses and barely existent civic space. He came of age in the 90s when those abuses and rights violations were peaking, as his country was engulfed by a ruinous civil war following the collapse of the Siad Barre dictatorship.

Human Rights Defender of the month: Rita Kahsay

When the Ethiopian Federal Government representatives and those of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) signed a peace agreement in Pretoria, in November last year, the two parties were hailed for ending arguably the deadliest conflict of the 21st century, in which over 600,000 people had died.
But long before the negotiators for peace got around to an agreement, there were many other unsung heroes, who, through individual and collective efforts helped sustain the world’s gaze on the dire situation in Tigray, despite the Ethiopian Government’s determined efforts to hush it up.

Human Rights Defender of the month: Godfrey Kagaayi

Born 33 years ago, in Bukoba, northern Tanzania, Godfrey Kagaayi did not have to look elsewhere for inspiration to tackle the daunting challenge of mental health. By his own admission, the family and community in which he was raised were fertile grounds for the same.
His family had crossed the border into Uganda when he was barely 5 months, settling into present day Rakai district. But the Rakai of the 90s was a difficult place for a child to make their earliest memories: In 1990, Uganda’s first ever case of HIV/AIDs was reported in the district, setting off a decade of suffering and anguish for many of its residents. Taking advantage of the Rakai’s fishing and polygamous lifestyle, the novel virus spread like wildfire, killing people in droves and leaving untold heartache in its wake.

Human Rights Defender of the month: Hiader Abdalla Abu Gaid

Hiader Abdalla Abu Gaid is one of the lucky survivors of Sudan’s latest conflict.

He was born 36 years ago, in Almalha locality, North Darfur state, the third born in a family of 10. Then, Darfur was not the hot bed of war and conflict it has since become infamous for. Although the region, predominantly inhabited by Sudan’s black population remained segregated by the predominantly Arab government in Khartoum, its people co-existed in thriving, predominantly subsistence communities. In Almalha, people reared camels and cattle, while others tended crops. The community was also famed for its hospitality to strangers, welcoming outsiders who ended up staying, owning land, and intermarrying with their hosts.

Human Rights Defender of the month:Immaculate Nabwire and Daphne Nakabugo

In personality, Immaculate Nabwire and Daphne Nakabugo could not be more different. Where the former is loud, if free-spirited, and mischievous, the latter is quiet, reticent, and predominantly solitary. Together though, they are the quiet champions behind DefendDefenders’ digital skilling programs, equipping (women) human rights defenders with critically transformative – and sometimes, life-saving digital tools and skills.
“You’ll be surprised how many people out there, including the literate are not exposed to the idea of digital safety. And as technology gets more advanced, it is getting ever more lucrative for hackers and other malign actors, which means that the urgency of the need for digital security skills for everyone cannot be over-stated,” says Daphne.

Human Rights Defender of the month:Mary Pais Da Silva

On 17 February 2023, in Ethiopia’s rustic resort of Bishoftu, more than 5000Km from her homeland, Mary Da Silva was announced winner of the 2023 AfricanDefenders Shield Award, in the presence of hundreds of colleague human rights defenders from 36 African countries. It was a fitting validation for the Eswatini human rights lawyer, whose sense of empathy and sensitivity to injustice has been a defining hallmark of her career.
Born 45 years ago in Lubombo, eastern Eswatini, the last of 4 siblings, Mary attributes her values to her upbringing. Although she was born in Eswatini, her parents are originally from Mozambique, and only relocated to eSwatini at the start of the Mozambican civil war that lasted between 1977-1992, which ravaged families and displaced many others.

Human Rights Defender of the month: Jane Naini Meriwas

Like many African societies, The Samburu community in Northern Kenya is a gerontocracy – a very hierarchical community in which elders hold sway over almost all private and public matters. Among these predominantly pastoral nomads, very little importance is attached to the young – especially young girls, who are barely given a chance at education and often married off before their first menstrual cycle, but not before they undergo mandatory Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
It is in this community that Jane Naini Meriwas was born 46 years ago, in Kipsing village, Oldonyiro Subcounty, Isiolo County. When she was 16, her mother passed on, and she watched with great trepidation as her father planned to marry another wife, not sure what that would mean for her or her ambitions for school. As it turned out, fate was on her side. When her father uncharacteristically asked what she thought of his plans, Jane seized the opportunity to stand up for herself and interests:

Human Rights Defender of the month: Kasale Maleton Mwaana

Kasale’s human rights activism precedes his years. The son of pastoralist parents from Ngorongoro district in northern Tanzania, he grew up seeing his parents and entire community having to defend their land and way of life against authorities who thought their lands could be put to better use. Now, at 25, Kasale is already one of the most recognizable advocates of his people’s cause, much to the ire of Tanzanian authorities.
“Our people’s struggle goes back many generations. It started with the pushing out of our forefathers from Serengeti to gazette Serengeti National Park in 1959, and then further evictions from the Ngorongoro crater to gazette the Ngorongoro conservation area in 1975. Since then, every generation has had to resist further evictions. It’s now my generation’s turn,” he says.

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