Nairobi- Somali Asha Hagi has dedicated much of her life to fighting for the rights of women and against the tide of violence that has ripped her country apart since 1991. She was honoured for her work on Wednesday with the Right Livelihood Award, also called the Alternative Nobel Prize.
Hagi in 1992 co-founded Save Somali Women and Children (SSWC), which helps women overcome marginalization, violence and poverty in their communities.
In 2000, she founded the Sixth Clan - a clan comprised of women in response to the five traditional male-dominated Somali clans.
Hagi was inspired to start the Sixth Clan after marrying a man from a rival clan.
Rejected by her own family and considered a spy by her husband's clan, she declared: "My only clan is womanhood."
An MP, Hagi is currently a member of the High Level Political Committee in the Djibouti Peace and Reconciliation Talks, aimed at bringing an ongoing insurgency to an end.
Somali has been embroiled in violence since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991.
However, the situation worsened after Ethiopian troops invaded in 2006 to kick out the Islamist regime and put the transitional federal government back in power.
Almost ten thousand civilians are believed to have been killed in the insurgency and around one million have fled.
The daily violence has prevented Hagi from living in Mogadishu, forcing her to instead set up home in Nairobi in neighbouring Kenya.
"Asha Hagi has been working tirelessly to help restore peace and stability to her homeland," said Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, Special Representative for the UN Secretary-General for Somalia.
Hagi has been recognized several times for her efforts, including in 2005 when she received the Blue Ribbon Peace Award from the Women Leadership Board of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Born in 1962, she graduated in economics from Somalia National University and holds a Master's degree in business administration from the US International University in Africa.
