Women who led
Maryan Seylac (Marian Zeila)
Maryan Seylac (born 1987) is a Somali journalist and women's rights activist from Baidoa, and founder and executive director of the Somali Women Media Association (SOMWA), set up in 2006 to bring more women into Somali media. She left Somalia in 2009 after death threats from al-Shabaab and has since worked in UK Somali television.
Maryan SeylacMarian Zeila · Maryan Saylac
- Lived
- 1987 to today
- Known as one of
- Women who led
- Era
- The Republic, 1960 to 1991; Rebuilding without a state, 1991 to 2012; Who holds power, 2012 to now
- Sources
- 1 sources
Who is she?
Maryan Seylac, sometimes called Marian Zeila, is a Somali journalist and women's rights activist born in 1987 (Wikipedia, Maryan Seylac). She was born in Baidoa, where her father was a teacher, finished primary and secondary school in Mogadishu, and studied journalism at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (same source).
Journalism
After a short time teaching in Baidoa she became a news anchor on local radio, training on the job at stations in Baidoa, Mogadishu and Bosaso (Wikipedia). In the United Kingdom she has been a news anchor and reporter on Universal TV and Royal TV (same source).
Somali Women Media Association
In 2006 she founded the Somali Women Media Association (SOMWA) to increase the number of women in Somali media, and she is its executive director (Wikipedia).
Leaving Somalia
In 2009 she left Somalia for Kenya and then England, after insecurity and a number of death threats from al-Shabaab because she was a woman working in media (Wikipedia). In 2020 she was studying health and social care at the University of Bedfordshire (same source).
In short
A radio journalist from Baidoa who founded SOMWA to bring Somali women into the media.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Maryan Seylac · en.wikipedia.org
Maryan SeylacMarian Zeila · Maryan Saylac
- Lived
- 1987 to today
- Known as one of
- Women who led
- Era
- The Republic, 1960 to 1991; Rebuilding without a state, 1991 to 2012; Who holds power, 2012 to now
- Sources
- 1 sources
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Where this matters
- Muqdisho (Mogadishu) and BanaadirMogadishu (Muqdisho) is Somalia's capital and makes up the Banadir region, with about 2.97 million people in 20 districts.
- Baydhabo (Baidoa) and BayBay is a farming region in South West State, with Baidoa (Baydhabo) as its main city and about 1.25 to 1.8 million people.
Same era
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- Birmingham (Somali diaspora)About 17,000 to 21,600 Somalis live in Birmingham (Census 2021), mostly in Nechells, Newtown, Small Heath and Alum Rock. History, work, health and ties home.
- Bristol (Somali diaspora)9,167 people in Bristol identified as Somali or Somalilander in Census 2021, the city's largest minority group. Where they live, work, housing, leaders and ties home.
- Calgary, Alberta, Canada2,845 people of Somali origin lived in Calgary at the 2021 Census, plus 890 in Brooks. How they came, who serves them and what they face.
- Denmark (Somali diaspora)21,885 people of Somali origin lived in Denmark in 2026, half born there. Numbers, history, work, permit reviews, and ties home.
- DjiboutiAbout 13,900 refugees from Somalia live in Djibouti (Aug 2026): numbers since 1990, Ali Addeh, Holl-Holl, the 2017 refugee law, Arta 2000 and 2025 returns.
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