In conservative Somalia, a rare woman presidential candidate

By HASSAN BARISE
Associated Press

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The woman who broke barriers as the first female foreign minister and deputy prime minister in culturally conservative Somalia now aims for the country’s top office as the Horn of Africa nation moves toward a long-delayed presidential election. Parliament member Fawzia Yusuf H. Adam is well aware of the challenges in gaining electoral support in a nation where women often remain marginalized. Even as more educated women return to Somalia from the large diaspora to help rebuild the country after three decades of conflict, attitudes toward her run for office are mostly skeptical, if sympathetic. COVID-19 and deadly insecurity pose other challenges.