Nimco Ali

Who is she?

Nimco Ali is a British social activist of Somali heritage (Wikipedia, Nimco Ali). She campaigns to end female genital mutilation (FGM) (same source). This page covers her public work only.

Early life

She moved to Britain from Somaliland at age four (Business Day, 2019). Her family lived in Manchester and then Cardiff (Wikipedia). At seven she was cut while on a family holiday in Djibouti (Business Day). It led to health problems and surgery (same source). She studied law at Bristol University and then worked in the civil service (Wikipedia).

Daughters of Eve

In 2010 she and the psychotherapist Leyla Hussein founded Daughters of Eve (Wikipedia). It supported girls in Britain affected by FGM (Business Day). See female genital cutting.

The Five Foundation

In 2019 she co-founded The Five Foundation with Brendan Wynne (Wikipedia). It launched in New York beside the UN's yearly meeting (Business Day). It aims to raise FGM on the world agenda and get funds to grassroots groups (same source). It backs the global goal of ending FGM by 2030 (same source). The UN population agency estimates that about 3.9 million girls undergo FGM each year (same source). She says money should reach African women on the front line, "the orchestrators of their own destiny" (same source).

Writing and honours

In 2019 she published her first book, built from interviews with women in 14 countries (Wikipedia). She was made an OBE the same year (Business Day).

Advising government

From 2020 to 2022 she was the UK government's Independent Adviser for Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (Wikipedia). In 2020 she also co-founded the Ginsburg Women's Health Board (same source). See Somalis in London.

In short

A campaigner against female genital cutting and co-founder of the charity Daughters of Eve.