Safia Otokoré (born Safia Ibrahim; October 17, 1969, in the

French Territory of the Afars and the Issas The French Territory of the Afars and the Issas (FTAI; french: Territoire français des Afars et des Issas) was the name given to present-day Djibouti between 1967 and 1977, while it was still an overseas territory of France. The area was former ...

, in present-day

Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...

) is a French politician and member of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

Biography

She was born to parents who were

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s from

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

. She married

Didier Otokoré Didier Otokoré (born 26 March 1969 in Gagnoa) is a retired Ivorian footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder. Best known for his spell with AJ Auxerre, he spent most of his career in France. Club career Otokoré was signed at ...

, who at the time of their marriage played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

for

AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or simply Auxerre (), is a French football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division o ...

. Otokoré ran

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

Political career

Otokoré served as a regional councilor, vice president of the regional council, and an advisor for international development for Burgundy. She was a supporter of

Pierre Moscovici Pierre Moscovici (, ; born 16 September 1957) is a French politician who served as the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs from 2014 to 2019. He previously served as Minister of Finance from 2012 to 20 ...

and often served as his press officer. In June 2012, she was a member of his ministerial cabinet in charge of communication. She has consistently spoken out for

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

and promoted sports.

Works

* Safia Otokoré and Pauline Guéna, ''Safia: un conte de fées républicain, récit Safia Otokoré'' (Paris: J'AI LU, 2006) —autobiography (in French)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otokore, Safia 1969 births Living people 21st-century French women politicians Djiboutian women in politics