Edna Adan Ismail

Who is Edna Adan Ismail?

Edna Adan Ismail is the former Foreign Minister of the autonomous Somaliland region in northwest Somalia. She held this office from 2003 until 2006, and had previously served as Somaliland's Minister of Family Welfare and Social Development. She is the director and founder of the Edna Adan Maternity Hospital in Hargeisa and an activist and pioneer in the struggle for the abolition of female circumcision. She is also President of the Organization for Victims of Torture.

She was married to Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal who was Head of Government in British Somaliland five days prior to Somalia's independence and later the Prime Minister of Somalia and President of Somaliland.