Ambassador for world peace to speak to students

Hosted by the Peace and Justice Studies Program, Asha Hagi Elmi Amin will speak on Oct. 8 about the Sixth Clan as a Somali women’s initiative for participation on peace-building and political decision-making. Elmi Amin has dedicated her life to gaining a better and more peaceful future for her war-torn country, Somalia. At great personal risk, she has fought for women to have a voice in the decisions that affect them. She has mobilized women in the cause of peace across clan and political divides and continues to play a vital role in mediating across warring clans in the ongoing peace process. In 1992, Elmi Amin co-founded Save Somali Women and Children. As the current chair of the organization, she works for a safe and sustainable Somalia by supporting women to overcome marginalization, violence and poverty in their communities.  Elmi Amin has received a number of awards for her human rights and peace-building work. In 2001 she was made an “Ambassador for Peace” by the Inter-Religious and International Federation For World Peace. In 2005, she received the Blue Ribbon Peace Award from the Women Leadership Board of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. She also received the Right Livelihood Award in 2008.  Elmi Amin will be speaking from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45p.m. in SC 213a. To learn more about her or about the Peace and Justice Studies Program, visit uvu.edu/peaceandjustice/ or contact Dr. Michael Minch, Director of the program at 801-863-7482 or mminch@uvu.edu