Diaspora African Women’s Network

By DAWNers Hassanatu and Hussainatu Blake

January was declared by President Barack Obama National Slavery and Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Now that the month has concluded, what do we really know about this global issue?

According to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), Human Trafficking is an act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring or receiving a person through a use of force, coercion or other means, for the purpose of exploiting them.  Commonly labeled as “Modern Day Slavery,” this social issue affects nearly every country in the world and impacts everyone, especially women and youth. Approximately 800,000 people are trafficked annually with 2.4 million people living as modern day slaves and a global enterprise worth in the region of US$ 32 billion[1].

However, with these statistics, human trafficking is still taboo to many. The need to bring attention to this issue and educate the public about what it is, what it looks like, and its causes, can help to tackle and prevent human trafficking in communities. Collaborations are imperative to provide additional and effective interventions to address the matter.

To assist in increasing awareness around human trafficking, our non-profit organization, Focal Point Global, has partnered with local organizations in cities where human trafficking is prevalent - Atlanta, GA and Bamenda, Cameroon. Focal Point Global’s US-Cameroon Child Trafficking Awareness Project will launch on Saturday, February 4, 2012 and empowers youth in Atlanta and Bamenda to become more aware of the problem, understand how culture and community impact child trafficking, and collaborate with one another to minimize this epidemic. The project will include Atlanta organizations such as Young, Fit and Fly, and Innocence Atlanta; and Bamenda organizations GLOWA Cameroon and YCW Cameroon.

Help educate people about human trafficking by getting involved and staying informed. Learn more about Focal Point Global and its project by visiting www.focalpointglobal.org.

Hassanatu and Hussainatu Blake, Founders and Executive Directors of Focal Point Global, a 501c3 non-profit organization using global education and technology to link, educate, and mobilize underserved youth in the US and African countries on global issues.

[1] Statistics from United Nations Office of on Drugs and Crimes and International Office of Migration

By Semhar Araia
January 12, 2012

This was originally posted on the Royal African Society's African Arguments Diaspora Debate Blog. Readers are welcome to post their comments here. 


Beyond the broad categorizations of the African diaspora and rhetorical questions posed by Dele Fatunla in his blog post, “What’s Diaspora Got To Do With It?”, he raises an important and timely question about what role the African diaspora plays and should play in supporting Africa’s growth.

Fatunla correctly lists remittances, tourism and brain drain as areas where diaspora have proven to have a critical impact in Africa, albeit sporadic at times.  These are the most recognizable ways in which diaspora relate with Africa.  They are not comparable to the experience of day-to-day living in Africa, but as a member of the diaspora that once relocated to my ancestral homeland of Eritrea for two years and currently spends half my time on the continent, I know there are additional ways Africans abroad are making an impact in Africa.

Before we explore those examples, it’s worth noting that Fatunla fails to define who exactly the diaspora is within the context of his analysis.  It is overly simplistic and dangerous to suggest they are “a group of people who by and large fled the continent when it was most in need, and returned when it least needs them”. The diaspora must be disaggregated into its many parts and identify what contributions they actually are providing.

To begin, the “African diaspora” is not monolithic.  We are a diverse, multifaceted & multigenerational demographic spanning every continent and socioeconomic status.  There are exhaustive studies by the World Bank, Migration Policy Institute, DFID and countless NGOs exploring this definition.  Many diaspora left home or were raised abroad for a variety of reasons, including war, conflict, insecurity or the lack of economic opportunity.  Yet we remain connected with our homelands.  Others grew up abroad and maintained a relationship with the continent by any means, either through regular visits, community language school or establishing transnational business ties.  Even more significant however are the emerging diaspora youth leaders raised abroad and seeking to forge deeper relationships with their homelands, as will be revealed later in this piece.

The other shortcoming with What’s Diaspora Got to Do With It is that it falls completely short on recognizing the diaspora’s added value – which is far beyond economic remittances and sporadic tourism.  Even though remittances continue to be the largest form of diaspora contributions, amounting to roughly $40 billion a year to support livelihoods and development, it is not the only form of significant deliverables from diaspora.

The last decade’s sudden explosion of technology, social media and new models for change has resulted in more contributions from the diaspora, particularly around long term development and advocacy.  Here are just a few examples:

1.      Promoting development:  Through innovation, broad based networks, and tried and true outreach, diaspora are taking their love for Africa and applying it with ingenuity for good.  Diaspora entrepreneurs and organizations are widening spaces in the continent for African-led development and growth. Initiatives such asVillages in Action, Shea Yeleen, Sierra Visions, Face Africa, and Akili Dada are just a few of the successful diaspora efforts launched in Africa with local communities.  With each example, these organizations were founded by diaspora who arrived to the States at a young age, or were educated abroad, or were raised entirely abroad.  The new face of diaspora and development is continuing to change.

2.      Support for humanitarian emergencies: When disaster strikes, Africa’s greatest resource has consistently proven to be its people.  Diaspora groups are a crucial lifeline to access those in need, by sending messages and delivering help.  The current drought ravaging East Africa spurred Africans on the continent and abroad into action.  Within weeks, Kenyans, South Africans, Nigerians, the broader Horn of Africa diaspora and more helped to raise millions of dollars for relief.  Somalia’s famine motivated Somalis abroad to relocate and help people most in need.  Efforts such as the Global Somali Response is one of many incredible examples of partnership and support.  Again, another organization founded by a next generation diaspora leader.

3.      Building bridges between Africans & non-Africans: Africa is not bound by its borders.  As Nigerian-American journalist Dayo Olopade calls it, Africa is the “Bright Continent”. Its people are a rich source of energy, life and innovation.  They are the bridges between countries and continents.  By celebrating our rich cultural heritage, diversity and histories, relationships are forged with foreigners, including those unable to visit the continent themselves. Photos and stories are shared in the halls of the diaspora community center.  Myths are dispelled. Messages are conveyed. And stereotypes are broken.



4.      Adding new layers to the African narrative: Stories of Africa’s development and its needs must be told by those on the continent first, but diaspora do help facilitate those stories. They add a deeper layer to Africa’s story and are an asset.  As diaspora groups grow in presence and participation, so too will these narratives. In addition to storytelling, diaspora owned businesses, faith based groups, community organizations, youth associations, and private enterprises are eager to carry Africa’s message to newcomers and supporters alike.

5.      Helping to shape Western & regional foreign policy agendas and offering models of civic participation:  New advocacy groups, civic associations and diaspora networks have also flourished in the West, particularly around conflict resolution, networking and economic trade with the continent.  Assuming diaspora apply effective advocacy strategies, they can help shape foreign policy priorities and shift analyses for Africa’s betterment.  Governments, organizations and decisionmakers recognize this power and potential of the African diaspora. They understand that beyond their wallets, diaspora are legitimate stakeholders in Africa’s future.  The African Union has already declared the African diaspora as the Sixth Region of the AU.  The United States, United Kingdom, and various African countries have also created initiatives and opportunities to engage with diaspora directly.

I agree with Fatunla’s premise that more investment must be made in Africa’s leaders on the continent to create the next generation of Adichies, Okollahs, Iewalas, and yes The Elders.

But having worked for and traveled with The Elders myself, and having had the chance to learn from African leaders in the diaspora, I can personally attest to the power and notion of Ubuntu: I am because you are.  It is clear that diaspora have quite a lot to do with Africa because Africa has quite a lot to do with the diaspora.

Semhar Araia is founder & executive director of DAWN, the Diaspora African Women’s Network.

December 28, 2011

Dear Friends, 

It's been a very long six months for DAWN. Certainly far too long since we sent our last newsletter! When I returned from Kenya in late July, I became immersed with my work at Oxfam around the massive emergency in East Africa, where 13 million people across five east African countries have been facing the worst drought in sixty years and millions in southern Somalia were suffering from famine, both which still continue to this day. 

Like so many other African diaspora, I found myself personally and professionally pulled between my life here and the needs there. I couldn't focus on much else and the crisis became all I could think about. My heart and mind were heavy with the massive needs of 13 million people.  As a result, DAWN had to switch gears and we laid low with our outreach and marketing while our programs continued. 

I realized that for real change and impact, my heart and attention must continue with DAWN and the diaspora, fully and completely. That's why I've decided to leave my policy work in DC and make it official.  We are finally becoming a full time non-profit organization and will expand nationally in the new year.

As of January 2012, I'll be based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, home to one of the largest Horn of Africa and Liberian diaspora communities in the United States, and continue building DAWN's foundation. Our DC chapter will continue and we look forward to starting chapters in other cities, like New York and San Francisco.  

As I read this month's special newsletter, I'm very proud of DAWN's accomplishments and thankful to be around so many strong women. In five months, we were featured in more media, we launched a new event for our Twitter friends, presented at a major conference, and held two community service project fundraisers ! All the while celebrating our fourth birthday!I thank you for believing in us and supporting DAWN over the years. 

If you would like to help us with our expansion, as a volunteer, advisor, or future donor, please contact us at info@dawners.org!  2012 is the year for more great things to come and we are ready for it!  Like our saying goes, we must be Fearless in Our Excellence!

Thank you,

Semhar Araia 
Executive Director and Founder of DAWN 

By DAWNer Solome Lemma

Born into a nomadic, pastoral family and motivate by love for the fragile, semi-arid landscape and the pastoral way of life, Fatima Jibrell of Somalia has dedicated her life to the preservation of the natural environment in Somalia. 

1n 1993, Fatima founded Horn Relief, a non-profit organization, to mobilize local and international resources for protection of the fragile pastoral environment in Somalia. In the late 1990s, Fatima organized and advocated against unrestricted use of charcoal in Puntland.  

Through Fatima's powerful advocacy, the Puntland regional government of northeast Somalia was persuaded to prohibit export of charcoal through the port of Bosasso in 2002. This has reduced charcoal exports by 80 percent.  In 2004, Fatima established Sun Fire Cooking to promote solar alternatives to charcoal cooking. Bender Bayla in Somalia is the first solar cooking village in the world. By 2007, Sun Fire had distributed over 1,000 solar cookers to villages.

I nominated Fatima for the National Geographic Conservation Award, which she received in 2008. When we met then, she told me she had just completed a first-hand assessment of the environmental degradation along the Somali coastline. She walked the coastline-a journey of about 100 miles, I believe-for days for this assessment. She was 60 or so at the time!

In an era when Somalia's public image has been reduced to conflict and piracy, Somalis need and deserve recognition of someone that represents their very best efforts in working for peace and restoring their ravaged natural, social, and political environments.

Fatima Jibrell has shown through her life and work that she represents the best aspects of Somali pastoralist culture, peace building, love for the natural environment, and belief in Islam as a religion of caring and commitment. A true African heroine!

By Semhar Araia


I came across a headline today on the internet which pretty much sums up my problem with our current approach to International Women’s Day.  It read:  “A Day For Women”.   

As I looked for more, I found endless statements, press releases and speeches of women’s rights not yet achieved, or coverage that either highlighted the ongoing suffering and violence against women.  I also found laudable attempts for recognizing women’s triumphs and sources of inspiration, like The Guardian’s great list of the Top 100 women and Newsweek & Daily Beast’ 150 Women Who Shake The World list.

Well what does it mean to have a “Day for Women”? If that’s all we can come up with for one day, what does that say about the other 364 days when the rest of the world returns to their normal activities?  Can my gender’s accomplishments really be embodied and recognized in one day or in a list of names? 

The obvious answer is no.

International Women’s Day is today and every day.

Millions of women and girls around the world overcome unimaginable challenges of poverty, sexism, and injustice on a daily basis to fight for their rights.  Women are the first victims of conflict and insecurity, as evidenced by the stories of rape and gender-based violence in various parts of the world.  Yet as we've seen recently in Egypt, Cote D'Ivoire, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, these women are still strong enough to keep on fighting.  Some even manage to get an education or a a small loan to pick themselves and their families up out of poverty.

For those of us who are fortunate to live in peace, security and conflict-free environments, there are countless strides, contributions, and advancements being made at all various levels. Groups such as Solidarity for African Women’s Rights, Vital Voices, Femme Afrique Solidarite, My Sister's Keeper, Nobel Women's Initiative, Women for Women International, Women Inheritance Now Africa, Peace Women, NoWomenNoPeace and the African Women’s Development Fund are doing critical work everyday with partners throughout Africa and all over the world to advance women’s rights.  Also, the United States’ new Office for Global Women’s Issues in the State Department and the White House’s Council on Women and Girls signifies a growing trend from governments to incorporate gender justice and gender equality into their mainstream political agendas. 

Despite these success and achievements, the international community has yet to integrate notions of gender equality and justice into our everyday framework. If we are serious about putting women’s rights at the forefront of any agenda, then the language, tone and scope needs to change. And that starts with women.

As the motto of my organization, the Diaspora African Women’s Network, says, we believe that Change Starts with Women.  Women must use the great gift of fearlessness that we possess in everything we do.  We must own our stories, document them, share them and tell it to everyone we know. We must insert ourselves and lead in more conversations. We must expect more and explain to those in power how we want it done.

For real change, it requires the active participation, coordination and leadership from women and supporters of women's groups at all levels of society.  It requires diverse partnerships – not based on gender but based on equality.  It means exposure in media and on the web on a regular basis by all – through stories and narratives that show how women’s rights are everyone’s rights.

That was the first thing I learned as a child. It was my daily reality to see women pushing, owning and claiming for their independence, even when they weren’t given that power to do so.  My mother balanced a full time job, took care of the family, served as a leader in our community, and still managed to take care of herself through it all. She established her own business, met with elected US officials as a taxpaying American to seek their support for Eritrea’s thirty year struggle for independence, participated in local and national politics and still made time for my brother and I to have birthday parties, sleepovers and family visits.  She carried her voice as a woman, an African and a women’s health expert near and far.

So the sight of women, organizations, communities and leaders organized; demanding and expecting nothing short of justice and equality is exactly what the world needs to see and hear. 

To my sisters and supporters of women’s rights, expect more. Be fearless. And at all times, make yourself heard.

I will see to it that this is my mission 365 days of the year. 


Semhar Araia is the Founder and Executive Director of DAWN, the Diaspora African Women's Network.  

By Tina Musoke, Head of GirlUp Campaign and DAWNer


Three women. Three continents. Three strong examples of the potential of women and girls. 


Earlier this month I was fortunate enough to be a part of history. As the Head of Communications for the UN Foundation's Girl Up Campaign, I traveled with Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women and former President of Chile; and Kathy Calvin, the CEO of the UN Foundation, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, with the first female president of an African nation: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia.

Still recovering from its civil war, Liberia is full of opportunity and the determination to build back its country. But like in so many African countries, one thing was clear to me - and it is a belief we hold dear to in DAWN - change starts with women. 

While in Liberia, we met women from all walks of life who are redefining their role in the rebuilding of their country.  We met government ministers, senators and security officers. We met the first-ever full contingent of UN female peacekeepers. Each serve as incredible examples that Africa is practicing what it preaches and placing women in critical leadership positions to move the country forward.

For example, we met with women in their communities, in rural villages and small towns. They introduced us to a "peace hut" program-- a community court, staffed by an all-woman team of volunteers who resolve conflicts in their neighborhood ranging from child support and domestic violence to land disputes and corruption.

And on March 8th, at a stadium filled with thousands of women and girls, President Sirleaf, Dr. Bachelet and Ms. Calvin, three powerful leaders on the world scene, came together to send the message that women matter, that girls count, and that our world can only progress if we work together to keep these issues at the top of the world agenda. They brought together people from all over the country not to celebrate the day, but to celebrate the value of women.

The trip was more than an experience to me. It served as a reminder of what I already knew: that there is an entire generation of young women just like us who are ready to become future presidents, world leaders, ministers, community leaders and changemakers everywhere.    

So as we celebrate International Women's Day this month, let's think of all the women who have made an impact in our communities, our countries and our world, and let's learn from their journeys and their conviction-- that change starts with women.  

The original posting of this blog can be found here at The Source Magazine's Politics Blog Page.

January 6, 2011 - The buzz in Washington on Africa these days is growing, so I had to wonder what would happen in Hip-Hop to reflect that – musically and culturally. Please believe that with anything “Africa” I turn to my girls at the Diaspora African Women’s Network (DAWN) to make sense of my politics. So when I needed someone to give me the business about the biggest story this week – Sudan – I reached out to DAWN Founder and Executive Director, Semhar Araia. My sista specializes in conflict resolution, international law, humanitarian affairs and the development of effective advocacy and organizing strategies for Africa policymaking. Hell yeah.

Ms. Araia had this to share about Sudan in the context of Hip-Hop activism:

The first time I met Emmanuel Jal was five years ago when he came to Capitol Hill to share the release of the film “War Child”, which documented his travels from Sudan as a child.  Soft spoken and careful with his words, he shared an incredible story of his life as a child soldier, who narrowly escaped death and found his way to freedom.  Today, he’s a global superstar, rapping his way for Africa and its people and for his beloved country Sudan's quest for peace. 

What peace you ask?  Well this weekend, Sudan is set to hold a landmark referendum that will determine if the southern half of the country will break away and secede to become a new state. Just days away from this historic event, Jal debuted his new single telling the whole world that “We Want Peace” for Sudan.  From the heart of Africa to the bright lights of New York and Hollywood, Jal has called on the most influential celebrity activists to draw attention to Sudan including, Alicia Keys, George Clooney, former head of the United Nations Kofi Annan,  and Former US President Jimmy Carter.  

After a deadly 20 year war between North and the South Sudan, where two million people were killed and four million were uprooted from their homes, both sides agreed to commit to peace and let the people speak for themselves on the fate of their country. Jal was about seven years old when he suddenly found himself a victim to this – running for his life and being forced to become a child soldier.

So this weekend’s referendum is a pivotal moment for the future of Sudan and Africa. After years of insecurity, struggle, and bloodshed, the country’s 44 million residents are holding on to the hope and promise of peace but all to weary of the reality of war. This weekend, the entire world will be watching Sudan.

Will you?

By Semhar Araia

Photo By Kemi Davies