Abdulkadir Khalif
Somalia’s Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon has appointed Ms Fawzia Yusuf Haji Aden as the first woman Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister.
Ms Aden, who lived in Britain for long before returning home, is among 10 politicians joining the country’s new Cabinet announced on Sunday.
She hails from the north-western regions where a self-declared authority, Somaliland, was established in May 1991. It claims separation from the rest of Somalia.
“My nomination as the Foreign minister is historic for the Somalia and particularly for the women of Somalia, it turns a new page for the political situation of our country and will lead to success and prosperity,” she said.
Also in the Cabinet is another woman, Ms Mariam Kassim. She takes the ministry of Development and Social Affairs.
“It is a glory for the Somali women to rise to this prominence,” said Ms Aden who spoke during the occasion at Villa Somalia, the presidential palace in Mogadishu.
Source: The African Review