Born: 1965, Somalia
Died: NA
Country most active: Somalia, Austria
Also known as: Waris Walsh
Model, author, actor and activist Waris Dirie worked for the United Nations from 1997 to 2003 as a Special Ambassador for the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation. She had written several books on the subject, and in 2002 launched her own non-profit, the Desert Flower Foundation, which raises money to increase awareness about FGM and to help those affected.
Waris herself was a victim of FGM when she was only 5 years old, and at 13, she fled through the desert to Mogadishu to escape an arranged marriage to a 60-year-old man. Her relatives would not allow her to stay with them because she had run away from the marriage, but her uncle, then the Somali ambassador to the United Kingdom, brought to London, where she worked at the Somali embassy without pay. She later survived homelessness as a teen in London before becoming a model at age 18.
Her 1998 autobiography, Desert Flower, became an international bestseller, selling more than 11 million copies. She her later books include Desert Dawn, Letter to My Mother and Desert Children, which was launched in coordination with a European campaign against FGM. In 2002, she won the Corine Literature Prize.
In 2004, she received the World Social Award at the Women’s World Award Gala in Hamburg, Germany. Dirie also opened the World Conference against FGM in Nairobi, delivered a popular speech and published the Waris Dirie Manifesto against FGM.
In 2006, she addressed the ministers of all European Union Member States in Brussels, leading to legal updates to tighten restrictions and preventive measures were initiated in many European countries. The following year, Waris appeared on Al Jazeera’s popular talk show with Riz Khan, and spoke about FGM for the first time on an Arab channel in front of over 100 million viewers.
The 2009 feature film Desert Flower, an adaptation of her autobiography, won the “Best Movie” award at the 2010 Bavarian Film Awards in Munich, was nominated for a Film Award in Gold in the “Outstanding Feature Film” category at the German Film Awards, and won the Audience Award in the “Best European Film” category at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. She was also appointed Peace Ambassador for the Year of Peace and Security by the African Union in 2010.