Zahra Ugas Farah

Somalia

2003 Residency

If there is a problem, there is also a solution.
Women's roles have risen up and they can do things
that men cannot do. Women can find ways to make peace. 

Zahra Ugas Farah is the founder of the Family Economy, Rehabilitation Organization (FERO), a Somali non-governmental organization (NGO) created in 1992 to assist in meeting the basic needs of people in communities ripped apart by violent civil wars. She is also a key civil society leader and facilitator in the Somali peace talks that began in 2002 and resulted in the January 29, 2004 peace agreement that is now the basis of an interim government and framework for a new constitution. Zahra has focused on addressing Somalia's cycle of vicious conflict by working as a peacemaker and a peace-builder to overcome the legacy of warring clan factions who destroyed the country's political, economic, and social infrastructure, leaving ever greater poverty, starvation, and disease behind in a "failed state."

Zahra created FERO in the early 1990s to assist in meeting food, medical, and basic survival needs of civil-war devastated communities in Somalia. The women of FERO assumed tasks of feeding the hungry, finding medical care for those in need, and helping rebuild shelters. In 1993, because of their initial success, FERO was asked to serve as deputy head of food distribution in Somalia for the World Food Program. As FERO continued to expand its humanitarian assistance efforts, Zahra and her colleagues began to develop additional programs that addressed education, peace activism, and civil society participation committed to a new Somalia. They demonstrated how women could organize for family survival, and it was not long before these women began to collect guns from the youth on the streets in exchange for education. Zahra and brave members of FERO are committed to making the world around them different, safer, better and more hopeful.

Zahra is the daughter of a clan chief, a highly respected and revered role in Somali culture. She recalls how, when she was young, she watched her father solve bitter disputes peaceably. She acknowledges him as her model and admired how he could bring responsibility and fairness into conflict resolution. Due to the violence and insecurity in modern-day Somalia, such clan chiefs have not been able to exercise their traditional roles. Zahra experienced the loss of justice and the demise of her nation state with the awareness this was not necessary. The brutality of greedy faction leaders, "warlords," had an impact on everyone in Somalia, as well as the world's belief about her culture. As the national government collapsed, Zahra decided she would have to do more than provide food or shelter to the desperate and abused. She began to seriously organize what she identified as a national resource of the Somali culture: women.

Drawing upon both her Muslim faith, and her bedrock belief that women in her community could restore and bring peace to the land, Zahra focused on a series of goals.  First she devoted her energy to creating community programs that addressed the basic needs of the ordinary people caught in the crossfire of the fighting warlords.  Next she sought training and experiences that would help her understand what had gone wrong in her country, what could be done, and how to become a leader in bringing her people together for peaceful resolution to the deadly chaos of her times.   She participated in the UN's 4th World Conference on Women, and the 2001 UN Conference on Racism. She attended the 2000 ARTA Conference for the establishment of a Somali Transitional National Government in Djibouti, and organized a forum for the Somali Diaspora separated by war.  In 2002, Zahra's organization conducted a workshop for Somali women in Mogadishu that focused on "Common Understanding and Vision" to find common ground on peace matters. Currently, she is working with women and community groups to create a better understanding of human rights and women's rights.  She is particularly concerned with ending female genital mutilation (FGM), which she points-out has neither a basis in religion nor a place in a world where women must play a part in building a peaceful and just society for all. 

Zahra maintains what is valuable in her culture has been distorted by historical greed and self-serving people. While religiously and ethnically homogeneous, the Somali people are divided into clans and "class" by access to education and power. The history of division by colonization and then by warring clan leaders who would rule by violence and self-decree, fueled cycles conflicts in Somalia. According to Zahra, although Somalia's last decade has been the most destructive in its history, it has brought the strength of women to the forefront in ending the violence. "Women are now seen as valuable; families celebrate the birth of a girl."

Through her organization, FERO, Zahra tackled some of the most pertinent and controversial issues plaguing Somalia; but it is Zahra herself, the well-respected and distinguished member of Somalia's civil society, who helped create a real chance for Somali's future peace. In October 2002, a conference was called in Eldoret, Kenya, where 400 delegates, including members of the Transitional National Government of Somalia, various faction leaders, and members of civil society, met to negotiate a cease-fire and peace plan for Somalia. Zahra was invited to the conference as an official civil society delegate and a member of the conflict resolution committee. A few weeks later, in November, when warlords met and agreed to discuss an end to the civil war, Zahra was elected by the faction leaders to chair the meeting. As chair, Zahra created guidelines for the meetings, settled disputes, and built bridges between sworn enemies. Zahra's efforts helped to legitimize the peace process as an agreement on January 29, 2004 was established for an interim government and guidelines for a constitution.

Zahra defies the constraints that her society has placed on many women; instead she uses her faith, her self-motivation, and her intellect to demonstrate women in her society are capable of making monumental change. She is a leader and role model among women in Somalia, and she is an inspiration to the international community. Zahra Ugas Farah is truly an advocate for women and the thousands of voiceless citizens who desire peace in her beloved Somalia.

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For more information on the Women PeaceMakers Program please contact

Dee Aker, Ph.D. daker@sandiego.edu

Erika Lopez, MA erika.lopez@sandiego.edu

WPM is made possible by a grant from the Fred J. Hansen Foundation