By Abdisamad Nur Bidaar
We were elated that my cousin Ambassador Fatima Isak Bihi visited us this past month. We had a great time, and the kids and I learned a great deal from her. It is not often anyone gets a chance to sit down with a trailblazer–a female trailblazer at that from a different era, when young girls were not accorded the opportunity to attend school. Perhaps her perfect influential growth from childhood to adulthood has roots in Islamic history, because, the name Fatima, which denotes captivating, was the name of Prophet Muhammad’s (PUH) beloved daughter. Giving children good names is part of Islamic etiquette. To be exact, she was born in 1942 in Iskuraran neighborhood of Hamar–a neighborhood established by the newcomers to urban Mogadishu in the late 20s. They were an amalgamation of urbanites hailing from all corners of Somalia.
The residents of Iskuraran–a Somali word denoting composition of people from all walks of life, played a pivotal role in the independence movement. Likewise, the children of Iskuraran, in essence, became the first generation of Somalis in Italian Somaliland to have formal education.
Fatima attended her elementary school at Collegio Femminile and Collegio Nuova Somalia that was a Boarding School. She graduated from Scuola Magistrale (Teachers Training College) in 1960 and became an elementary teacher. In 1962, while at Primo Luglio Elementary School, Fatima became the Acting Principal when the headmaster got seriously sick, and mind you, she was only 20 years old by then.
In 1962, Fatima secured a scholarship to study at Karachi University in Pakistan. Armed with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, Fatima returned home in 1966 and was placed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since she was adventurous and studious, she was offered another scholarship to pursue her Masters in International Relations from the Institute of Social Studies at The Hague, in The Netherlands.
As part of her studies, she came to the US in 1968, sort of an intern to study the UN and the US government institutions. Shortly after her arrival back in her home country, she was appointed Head of the Passport and Visa Section in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In January of 1970 she was assigned First Secretary at the Somali Mission at the United Nations in New York. At that time, the venerable Somali Diplomat Abdirahim Abbi Farah was the Permanent Representative of Somalia. Up to this day, she tears up mentioning his name. She thinks highly of him and is grateful that she got the opportunity to train under his guidance in International Affairs.
I do recall as a youngster in the 70s, the confidence and stylishness she displayed while being courteous and dignified when she paid us a family visit in Mogadishu.
Fatima was recalled home in 1975 to head the Department for Asia and Socialist Countries. Both China and the Soviet Union fell under her portfolio at the ministry. Her successful stint at the Foreign Ministry included being the Director of Africa Department.
In 1984, she was finally appointed the Permanent Representative of Somalia to the Office of the United Nations and its specialized agencies (ILO, WHO, UNHCR…) in Geneva, Switzerland.
It took Fatuma Bihi a combined 18 years in the Foreign Service to become an ambassador. With her academic training and experience, there is no doubt that gender has played an important role in her not becoming an ambassador much sooner. She confided to me that there were males that she trained over the years who eventually became ambassadors much sooner than expected. For some reason, I feel like it is inadequate in highlighting her accomplishments in an exclusively male-dominated society. Strong, determined, and courageous in all aspects, Fatima waded through tough times and hard situations in an era when global politics was entombed in superpower political medleys. Fatima specialized in multiculturalism since she spoke fluent English, French, Italian, and some Arabic–a factor that elevated her prestige and honor making her the first female in high profile role in Somali Foreign Service. She had a strong-willed, lionhearted, and a forward-looking father who was far ahead of his time.
Today, we have ambassadors whose first real jobs in life place them in luxurious and prestigious ambassadorial positions without undergoing strenuous training and hardships as experienced by Fatima!
Ambassador Fatima was privy to confidential information and also present in many high-level meetings during the Cold War–another detailed instalment!
Abdisamad Nur Bidaar
Email:[email protected]
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