Hawa Abdi

Dr. Hawa Abdi is a physician and human rights activist who established the Rural Health Development Organisation (RHDO) to serve rural Somali women. Despite the bloody civil war that erupted in the early 1990s, Abdi remained in Somalia, establishing a new clinic as well as a school for displaced children and orphans. In 2007, Abdi transformed the RHDO into the Dr. Hawa Abdi Foundation (DHAF) which she runs with her two daughters. The DHAF expanded its operations to include a relief camp that has provided health services, shelter, and food for over 2 million Somalis and up to 90,000 people at once during the drought of 2011.

Abdi has been called the “Mother Teresa of Somalia” and has received various accolades for her service including a Nobel Peace Prize nomination in 2012.