Rethinking 42 with Ilham Hasan of Somaliland, first woman to be elected, who almost made it

I met Ilham Hasan on my recent trip to Hargeisa, Somaliland. I met her at Shaqodoon, an NGO, where she and her team are focused on harnessing the power of the Internet to develop the job market for the youth in the Somalia and Somaliland. Prior to Shaqodoon she was a presenter on television. However, the reason for this interview is to catch up with her after she ran for office as a representative of the city of Hargeisa, in Somaliland's Local Council. The Local Council, in Somaliland's complex political system, is one of the three layers of representative bodies, along with the Parliament and the Council of Elders. Not a bad career track record for a 25 year old Somali woman.

Divon: So how did you get it involved in politics?

I was always a social activist. Initially, I was a Youth Leader in the NDB party, under Mrs. Fawzia Adan who is now the Deputy Prime Minister of Somalia (our neighboring country). I have a strong desire to make sure that all people are treated in a fair and just way throughout their lives.

Divon: It must be unusual for a woman to run for a public office in Somaliland, how did your family take it?

When I decided to run for office myself, my mother was supportive, but my father strongly opposed, saying that its not the place for a girl to get involved in politics. Finally, I was able to convince him to allow me to run, and he was one of my biggest supporters - campaigning for me with the Council of Elders.

Divon: Tell me about the election

I campaigned from door to door, and got a lot support from my friends in Somaliland and in the diaspora overseas, and also from people that knew me from television. However, it was very difficult, as most people vote according to their clan, and they say "you are a woman, women don't have a clan".

The issue of women running in the election was a hot topic, with the Council of Elders strongly fighting to disallow it, and on the other hand Woman Right and Civil Rights organizations were supporting it. Since I was the youngest candidate I got a lot of media attention and the newspapers kept on writing about me.

Finally, my party, Rays, managed to get one seat in the Local Council, which was very good news for me, as I was the top candidate on the party's list.

Divon: So you are now a member of the Local Council?

Unfortunately not. I got disqualified because I am a woman. In fact, the National Council decided to disqualify all women from all parties. So my male friend in my party, who was #2 on this list, got in instead of me.

Divon: Wow, that is outrageous! Is there anything that can be done to change the decision?

Women in this country have done a lot to contribute to peace and political stability, but we need to work more on establishing a strong relationship with our traditional leaders, to make them aware of the need to change our society's approach to women - both in urban settings and in pastoral communities.

We, the women that got disqualified, are currently engaged in a public debate on television and the media, to try to get the National Council to revisit its decision, but we are a very traditional country, and it is very hard.

Divon: Thanks Ilham for an inspiring story, and good luck

you may contact +Ilham ALI on ilhamali8@gmail.com

Rethinking 42 with Roya Mahboob - Afghanistan's first female tech-entrepreneur

I first met Roya Mahboob when I visited Afghanistan over a year ago. She left a strong impression on me as a young, energetic and optimistic entrepreneur, in a country not known in particular for female entrepreneurship. Today, I circled back to her to hear about her experiences.

Rethinking 42 with Nin: A failed Lao monk turns top filmmaker

I've been working with Lao filmmaker, IT activist and ex-monk Thanavorakit Kounthawatphinyo (better known as Nin) on a number of projects over the past year, and in the course of working together, we became friends. Nin has a unique view on life, which I thought is worth sharing. I sat down with Nin, and Puppy, his horse-sized dog, at Pha That Luang - the 1800 year old Buddhist stupa in Vientiane, Laos, for an chat.

Rethinking 42 with Anan Bouapha, Laos gay leader

(some of the sections of this interview containing more personal questions were removed on Monday 23/7 9am Laos time, per Anan's request. The original interview text was approved by Anan prior to publishing, but he had second thoughts after seeing it live, which is totally legitimate dl)

Anan Bouapha is the unofficial recognized leader of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender) community in the Asian country of Laos, who recently organized the country's first ever Pride event, hosted at the US embassy. Anan is involved in a million and one activities around LGBT empowerment and HIV prevention. I sat down with him for a chat on the answer to life, the universe and everything. Our meeting was appropriately set to 11pm at Pack Luck, a gay-friendly bar in Vientiane. On a Thursday night, the bar was empty except for us - myself, being in the midst of a self-imposed no-alcohol month, sipping mineral water and Anan drinking coke. I wonder how this bar stays in business.

Why are these Lao and Drukpa people so darn happy?

King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the previous king of the remote Himalayan country of Bhutan, is greatly admired by his subjects. Laying quiet in the Himalayas and cherishing its isolation and lack of development since its formation in the early 1600s, it was time for a change. And change it was: among other things, King Wangchuck led Bhutan to join the United Nations and SAARC, introduced television to Kingdom (in 1999), created a constitution (2005), took the initiative to abolish absolute monarchy in favor of democracy (first elections were in 2007), and finally, at the peak of his popularity, abdicated in favor of his son, thereby sealing his legacy for posterity. Internationally, he is famous for inventing Gross National Happiness (GNH) as an alternative measure for the state of nations to Gross National Product (GNP).

Bhutan landscape

Revealing my Exotometer

"Where are you coming from?" "I am flying in from Laos". The security person at Istanbul airport stares down at me with a look that almost makes me want to confess that I am a terrorist: "there is no such country" he asserts. I reply softly, "Sir, I can assure you there is a country like that. It is next to Thailand".

Life and Death of Written Languages

First: a quiz: how many "primary written languages" are there in the world? By "primary written languages" I don't mean languages that merely have an orthography (writing system) developed in academia - I mean languages which are truly written in the real world - in other words, languages which their native speakers (or other nationals of their respective countries) use as their language of choice for reading and writing. Examples: English, Amharic, Bahasa Indonesia, Japanese. Examples of languages that are widely used verbally, but their native speakers do not use them as their primary language for writing: Swiss Deutsch, Hausa, Balinese, Zulu.

On the Perceived Directionality of the World

In the past few months I have been fortunate to be able to visit some places in which Salafi Islam has a strong following - countries like Somalia, Afghanistan and the Kashmir valley in India. It was when I was sitting in a tea shop having strong Somali tea and chatting with some Somali elders on a quiet Friday morning in Hargeisa, that it suddenly occurred to me.