Hibaaq Osman

Hibaaq Osman is a director of Africa Action.

"Appointed as V-Day Special Representative, Hibaaq Osman has directed V-Day’s work in Africa, Middle East, and Asia since 2002, leading delegations to Afghanistan, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Morocco, Tunisia, Sudan, Korea, Thailand, and India to form collaborations with local women activists. Based in Cairo, Ms. Osman is the founder and Chair of V-Day's Karama Program, supporting local activists to build a multi-sectoral approach for ending violence against women in nine countries across the Middle East and North Africa. Born in Somalia, educated and raised in Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, and the United States, she has been at the helm of initiatives ever since that span from Africa to Asia to the Middle East. As the founder and director of the Center for the Strategic Initiatives of Women (CSIW), she worked tirelessly to ensure human rights, democracy, and the presence of women’s voices in conflict resolution processes in Africa. One of her lasting achievements was the establishment of SIHA (meaning “outcry” in Arabic), a network of women’s organizations in the Horn of Africa that have been long excluded from public influence and community leadership. Ms. Osman also co-founded the Coalition for Peace in the Horn of Africa, which pressured the United States government to cut aid to oppressive regimes and assert a positive foreign policy in Africa. She remains a senior fellow at the Academy for Political Leadership and Participation at the University of Maryland.“


 * Global Fund for Women: Advisory Council 2005-06