How women reduce maternal mortality in Somaliland | Edna Adan Ismail | TEDxAmsterdamWomen

Summary

The speaker, a retired health professional from Somaliland, shares her journey of returning to her war-torn homeland to rebuild after years of civil war. She highlights the destruction of hospitals and the lack of healthcare workers, which led her to train nurses and midwives despite difficult circumstances. The speaker also advocates against female genital mutilation (FGM), urging collective action to protect young girls from this harmful practice. She calls for global support in defending human rights and dignity, emphasizing the need to end FGM and protect the future of children.

Takeaways

• 🌍 Somaliland is a self-declared but internationally unrecognized country in the Horn of Africa, located between Somalia and Djibouti.
• 🏥 The speaker, a retired senior diplomat and nurse, returned to Somaliland to help rebuild the country after a devastating civil war.
• 💔 During the civil war, many cities were flattened, hospitals were destroyed, and a significant portion of the population was displaced or died.
• 👩‍⚕️ The speaker focused on training nurses to address the severe shortage of medical professionals in the country.
• 📚 The training program had to start by improving the basic education of the trainees, many of whom were raised in refugee camps.
• 👩‍🏫 The speaker emphasizes the importance of education and training in medicine to provide quality healthcare to the population.
• 👶 The speaker highlights the issue of female circumcision, a harmful cultural practice that needs to be eradicated.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 The speaker calls for collective action to protect young girls from female genital mutilation and to educate communities against it.
• 🌟 The speaker appeals to the audience's conscience and sense of human rights to join the fight against female circumcision.
• 🙏 The speaker expresses gratitude for the opportunity to speak and leaves the audience with a call to action to protect children and uphold human dignity.

Q & A

What country is the speaker from, and why might it not appear on a map?

The speaker is from Somaliland, a self-declared country in the Horn of Africa. It may not appear on a map because it is not internationally recognized as an independent nation.

What role did the speaker have with the World Health Organization (WHO), and how long did they serve?

The speaker was a senior diplomat representing the WHO and served the organization for 3,200 years, which seems to be an exaggeration or transcription error.

What event caused widespread devastation in Somaliland, as described in the transcript?

A civil war between 1982 and 1991 led to widespread destruction in Somaliland, including the flattening of cities, bombings, mass graves, and significant loss of life.

How did the speaker contribute to rebuilding Somaliland after the civil war?

The speaker returned to Somaliland after the war and focused on building a hospital and training nurses to help provide medical care to the population.

What challenges did the speaker face when training nurses in Somaliland?

Many of the young people who came for training had limited formal education, as they grew up in refugee camps and learned basic literacy by writing in sand. The speaker had to improve their basic education before training them in nursing.

What success story does the speaker share about one of their nursing students?

The speaker shares the story of a young girl who learned to read and write in a refugee camp, trained as a nurse, and later became the chief surgeon in Somaliland.

What issue does the speaker highlight regarding the widespread practice of female circumcision?

The speaker highlights female genital mutilation (FGM) as a harmful tradition that needs to be eradicated. They emphasize the severe, lifelong physical damage it causes to women and call for collective efforts to stop this practice.

How does the speaker suggest involving men in the fight against female circumcision?

The speaker emphasizes the importance of involving men in the fight against female circumcision, as these girls often look up to their fathers. Men must take responsibility in protecting their daughters from this harmful practice.

What are the speaker’s views on how female circumcision relates to Islam and human rights?

The speaker states that female genital mutilation is against the teachings of Islam, medical ethics, human rights, and the dignity of the human body. They advocate for the protection of girls from this harmful practice.

What is the speaker's final message to the audience regarding female circumcision?

The speaker urges the audience to protect children and their future by helping to end female genital mutilation. They appeal to the audience's conscience to do what is right for the child, as young girls cannot defend themselves from adults who inflict this harm.