Famine and civil war have torn Somalia for decades, and suffering contributed to highlighting the role of peace activists and those with patriotic dreams. Among the most famous of them in Somalia are the family of peace activists Elman and Vartwan Aden, who are a couple who worked in the peace process until they felt fear for their daughters, So the family decided to immigrate to Canada, and the father stayed in Somalia in order to complete his activity, but he was assassinated there.
The death of the father instilled in the hearts of his daughters a strong desire to return to Somalia and complete his career, and their roles emerged so that the eldest daughter Ellwood was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019. As for Almas, who joined the diplomatic work alongside the humanitarian side, she followed her father after a shooting incident, which prompted the family To complete the march to bring peace, especially Iman, who became the highest military officer for a woman in Somalia.
Let's get in formation 🇸🇴 pic.twitter.com/W0QaQx7kP8
- Iman Elman (@Imaan_Elman) February 5, 2020
The genesis of faith
Iman was born in Mogadishu on December 10, 1992, the youngest of her three sisters.
On March 9, 1996, her father inaugurated the slogan "Disarm your weapon and hold your pen", and that was after he established a center for the rehabilitation of children involved in violence.
At this time, the family obtained asylum in Canada, and the family moved to Canada without the father. The three daughters grew up in Ontario without forgetting their Somali roots and their father’s goal to bring peace to their country.
Iman graduated from the Faculty of Public Arts at the University of Ottawa, Canada, and decided to join the Somali army in 2011 after visiting Mogadishu from Canada, when she was 19 years old.
Some accused her of not following her father’s steps to bring peace. However, she declared that joining the military action does not contradict her father’s hopes, and told the British newspaper The Independent, “that she and her father work in the same direction, both of them work in bringing peace, but in a different field,” despite the attempt of many The fighters discouraged her desire to join the army, she did not give up.
In the face of racism
Early in her joining the army, Iman was exposed to many racist statements and attitudes, most notably when distributing military uniforms.
For everyone, two suits were distributed, each consisting of two shirts and pants, except that she had a smaller share of military clothing, and when she asked why she was told that perhaps you would sew a skirt suitable for you.
Eman tells this story on the TEDEX platforms, and she deals with it as a mockery of the past after she became a military leader who leads a squad of 90 men, but there is no doubt that at the time of the situation she was suffering from the racist pressures that were brought against her.
The Somali armed forces were dismantled and demobilized after the outbreak of the civil war, and this prevented the presence of a regular army in the internationally recognized sense, and the Somali government began establishing armed forces that numbered 25,000 fighters, including 900 women, of whom only Iman assumed a leadership position.
Eman seeks to raise the efficiency of training programs for women in the Somali army, and is keen to organize training courses in human rights and combating rape and sexual assaults, as well as working to rehabilitate children who join armed groups to keep them away from the cycle of violence.
It also works to establish and promote reforms aimed at creating an army that represents the true interests of the state, rather than clan loyalties.
She held the position of colonel in the Planning and Strategies Department, and she is the only woman in the department, and in an interview with The New York Times after her assumption of the new position, she said that there is still a long way to go and that she has an obstacle to changing the prevailing view in Somalia towards women who occupy senior positions in the army.
She added that she is not sure that the country accepts the presence of a woman in a leadership position in the army, but regardless of that, she is happy with the steps she has taken, as it is very important to her.