Ubah Ali (Ubax Cali)

Who is she?

Ubah Ali is a social activist and feminist from Somaliland who campaigns against female genital mutilation (FGM) (Wikipedia, Ubah Ali). In 2020 the BBC listed her among its 100 Women (same source). See female genital cutting.

Early life and study

She was born in Burao, in the Togdheer region, in 1996 (Wikipedia). She studied at the Abaarso School of Science and Technology from 2011 to 2015 (same source). She graduated from Miss Hall's School in the United States in 2016 (same source). She then studied politics and human rights at the American University of Beirut, as a Mastercard Foundation scholar (same source). Somaliland declared independence in 1991; Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025, and most states and the African Union regard it as part of Somalia. See Somaliland, 1991 to 2026.

Work with orphans

From 2012 to 2015 she tutored students at the Hargeisa Orphanage Centre (Wikipedia). In 2015, at 18, she set up Rajo: Hope for Somaliland Community, to give orphans and poor students a chance to study (same source). That year she also raised funds for communities hit by drought (same source).

Campaign against FGM

In 2018 she founded the Solace for Somaliland Girls Foundation, which works to end FGM through education and awareness (Wikipedia). Wikipedia says the group set up the first anti-FGM group in Somaliland (same source). She argues, with doctors and some religious leaders, that the practice is cultural rather than religious (same source). She has said she is an FGM survivor (same source).

Awards

She won the Resolution Project award in 2018–19, and was the American University of Beirut's Volunteer of the Year in 2019 (Wikipedia). She was on the BBC 100 Women list in 2020 (same source).

In short

A Burao-born campaigner who founded Solace for Somaliland Girls in 2018 to work against FGM.