Fadumo Dayib moved to Finland in the 1990s to escape the civil war in Somalia. She’s now studying at Harvard but planning to return to Somalia—and she thinks she can make quite an impact on the country.

”I want to be Somalia’s president because I believe women have a chance to lead Somalia,” said Dayib. ”Women lead the country economically, manage family budgets and are very visible in society, but they have been kept out of politics. Somalia is now ready for a female president.”

In addition to improving the position of women in Somali society, Dayib’s campaign themes are fighting youth unemployment, protecting minorities and improving education.

”It’s shocking that we have a younger generation that hasn’t experienced anything but war,” said Dayib. ”They can’t even imagine any other kind of future than war and destruction.”

Dayib will go to Somalia next year, when her campaign officially gets off the ground.

”There are Somalis and foreigners from all over the world in my campaign team,” said Dayib. ”Many of them have come voluntarily to support me, which means that they’re of the opinion that a woman can become president of Somalia.”

Clans crucial in Somali elections

Dayib travels to Finland in December to discuss her plans with Somali communities based in Finland. She does not want her campaign to be clan-based, which has been the custom in previous Somali elections.

”In the past, clans have chosen Somalia’s president,” said Dayib. ”Now there’s a hope Somalia can have a democratic election. I hope that people will vote for candidates, not clans.”

Two years ago, another Somali woman based in Finland, Amal Abdi Ibrahim, made an unsuccessful bid to run for president, but was denied because she was just under the minimum age of 40.

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