Nimko Ali ( so, Nimco Cali), alternatively spelled Nimco (born ), is a British social activist of

Somali Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali ...

heritage. She is the co-founder and CEO of The Five Foundation, a global partnership to end

female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...

(FGM). Ali underwent female genital mutilation in

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 ...

, and later went on to form the Daughters of Eve organisation with Leyla Hussein to campaign against FGM. She released her first book in 2019 that contains 42 stories from 152 interviews that Ali collected from women across 14 countries. Later that year she co-founded The Five Foundation with Brendan Wynne, and in 2020 she co-founded the Ginsburg Women's Health Board with

Mika Simmons Mika Simmons is a British actress, film-maker and podcaster, who is known for ''The Happy Vagina'', covering women's health. She started the Lady Garden Foundation, which aims to raise awareness of gynaecological cancers and fund research into t ...

. She contested a seat in the 2017 general election under the Women's Equality Party. In 2019, she supported

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as ...

, endorsed the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

and campaigned for Conservative candidates. She was appointed as Independent Government Adviser for Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls in 2020, a post which ended in 2022.

Early life

Ali was born in December 1982 in

Somaliland Somaliland,; ar, صوماليلاند ', ' officially the Republic of Somaliland,, ar, جمهورية صوماليلاند, link=no ''Jumhūrīyat Ṣūmālīlānd'' is a ''de facto'' sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still conside ...

. When she was four, her family moved to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

in England later moving to

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

, Wales. She has four brothers, one of whom, Mohamed, is chair of the Somali Conservatives. Aged seven, Ali underwent

(FGM) in

while on holiday with her family. She later suffered health complications and had to undergo reconstructive surgery. The experience, and meeting other females who had been incised later inspired her to assist at-risk girls and to call for the practice's eradication. Ali studied law at Bristol University.

Career

In 2010, Ali along with psychotherapist Leyla Hussein founded Daughters of Eve. The non-profit organisation was established to help young women and girls, with a focus on providing education and raising awareness on female genital mutilation. Ali co-founded The Five Foundation, "The Global Partnership to End FGM", with Brendan Wynne in 2019. This non-profit organisation works to raise the issue of FGM on the international agenda and leverage funding for grassroots organisations working to end FGM. Ali previously worked as a civil servant. She also served as a women's rights activist and an independent training consultant for a number of years. Additionally, Ali served as a Network Coordinator for The Girl Generation. She has also written extensively on national gender rights. Her book ''What We’re Told Not to Talk About (But We're Going to Anyway): Women's Voices from East London to Ethiopia'' was published by

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year. In ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'', Hannah Betts described the book as "a compelling cross-cultural account of vaginal life". Isobel Shirlaw said in '' i'' that it was an important book and that "The chorus of women's voices which provide a multi-dimensional, global view of these hidden issues is powerful". ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' review by Arifa Akbar praised the book as "rich collection of intimate and uncensored stories" and wrote that Ali "delivers the physicality of the women's experiences with all the leaking, faecal, bloody mess of the body laid bare", although noting that "deeper reflection is lacking" and criticising the omission of coverage of anyone that was not heterosexual and

cisgender Cisgender (often shortened to cis; sometimes cissexual) is a term used to describe a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth. The word ''cisgender'' is the antonym of '' transgender''. The prefix '' cis-'' is L ...

. Ali told an interviewer from ''The Guardian'' that: In 2020, Ali and

co-founded the Ginsburg Women's Health Board, to campaign for a more effective and equitable healthcare system for women from the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

. The organisation is named after

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; ; March 15, 1933September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by Presiden ...

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all nationa ...

of the United Kingdom

Priti Patel Priti Sushil Patel (born 29 March 1972) is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 2019 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she was Secretary of State for International Development from 2016 to 2017. Patel has been the Me ...

appointed Ali as an Independent Government Adviser for Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls, in October 2020. Ali was a direct appointment to the role, which, as is common with such roles, was not advertised. The role involves the formulation of a strategy to reduce violence against women and girls, with recommendations expected to be produced in 2021. The report, with forewords from Priti Patel and from Ali, was published in July 2021. Ali expressed her hope that the strategy would be a foundation to improve safety for women and girls through education and legislation, but that "whole system" change would be required to reduce violence. In December 2022 Ali said she does not want to serve under new Conservative Home Secretary

Suella Braverman Sue-Ellen Cassiana "Suella" Braverman (; ''née'' Fernandes, born 3 April 1980) is a British barrister and politician who has served as Home Secretary since 25 October 2022. She previously held the position from 6 September to 19 October 2022 ...

and was on a "completely different planet" to Braverman on women's rights and ethnic minorities.

Political activity

At the 2017 general election, Ali contested the seat of Hornsey and Wood Green in North London for the Women's Equality Party. Ali polled 551 votes (0.9% of the total), finishing in 5th place out of the 8 candidates that stood and losing her

election deposit In an electoral system, a deposit is the sum of money that a candidate for an elected office, such as a seat in a legislature, is required to pay to an electoral authority before they are permitted to stand for election. In the typical case, the de ...

. During the campaign, Ali's campaign workers received dozens of abusive and aggressive telephone calls, and Ali received a death threat. Ali is godmother to the son

, the former

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

of the United Kingdom, and his wife

Carrie Johnson Caroline Louise Beavan Johnson (' Symonds; born 17 March 1988) is a British media consultant and the wife of former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson. She is the daughter of Matthew Symonds, co-founder of ''The Independent.'' ...

. She endorsed Johnson, who she has referred to as a "real feminist", in the 2019 Conservative leadership election. During the 2019 general election, Ali campaigned on behalf of the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Honours and awards

In 2014, Ali received the community/charity award, jointly with Leyla Hussein, at the 2014 ''Red Magazine'' Woman of the Year awards for their work with Daughters of Eve. They also placed sixth in the Woman's Hour Power List 2014. Ali was named one of BBC's ''100 Women'' during 2018. On

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wo ...

2019 it was announced that the 2019

Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy The Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy is an annual human rights summit sponsored by a coalition of 20 non-governmental organizations. Each year, on the eve of the United Nations Human Rights Council's main annual session, activists from a ...

’s International Women's Rights Award would be awarded to Ali for her "approach to ending FGM by offering holistic support to survivors of the practice". Ali was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) in the

2019 Birthday Honours The 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as ...

for services to tackling female genital mutilation and gender inequality.

References

External links

The Five FoundationDaughters of Eve website
(Archived homepage from 18 January 2021) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Nimco 1983 births Living people Ethnic Somali people Somalian health activists Somalian women activists English people of Somali descent Somalian emigrants to the United Kingdom BBC 100 Women Women's Equality Party people Officers of the Order of the British Empire English health activists English women activists People from Manchester Activists against female genital mutilation 21st-century Somalil women politicians Alumni of the University of Bristol Violence against women in Djibouti