As former US president Barack Obama once put it, “women have got the power to change the world."
Sophia Abdi Noor is one of a kind when it comes to women and politics.
The outspoken politician went into history books as the first woman to be elected Ijara MP in Garissa county in 2017 on a Party for Development and Reform ticket.
She is the founding member of a strong civic education and governance initiative called womankindkenya.
Sophia Abdi Noor has wild passion for gender equality and women rights campaigns. She has dedicated her career in empowering women from North Eastern to fully stand out and fight for their rights.
Having been born in a low-class pastoralist family in Garissa, the MP was so lucky to be among the few women from her community to receive education.
She trained as a teacher and commenced serving her community through several organizations such as CARE International, UNHCR, among others.
Sophia Abdi Noor first tried vying for an elective seat in 1997 but her nomination was cancelled due to cultural and religious arguments. But that did not make her to give up.
Her passion was just too heavy to wither away.
She has kept lobbying for anti-Female Genital Mutilation campaigns plus dismissing early marriages and wife inheritance.
The MP was in 2018 accorded an award by Women Advancement for Economic and Leadership Empowerment Foundation in Africa (WAELE Africa) following her role in the liberation of Women.
She has also received several awards including: a social justice award from the International Leadership Institute in Minnesota; the International Democracy Fellowship from the Lees Aspen Center for Governance in Washington DC for her work in women’s empowerment and democratization in 1996.
Sophia Abdi Noor holds a Bachelor of Arts in Community Development Studies from Kimmage Development Studies Centre in Ireland .