In Conservative Somalia, A Rare Woman Presidential Candidate

MOGADISHU, SOMALIA - The woman who broke barriers as the first female foreign minister and deputy prime minister in culturally conservative Somalia now aims for the country's top office as the Horn of Africa nation moves toward a long-delayed presidential election.

Parliament member Fawzia Yusuf H. Adam is well aware of the challenges in winning votes in a nation where women often remain marginalized. In an interview with The Associated Press, she described the struggle of leading a foreign ministry staff that was overwhelmingly male. "They were very reluctant to collaborate with me just because I am a female," she said. Even as more educated women return to Somalia from the large diaspora to help rebuild the country after three decades of conflict, attitudes toward Adam's run for office are mostly skeptical, if sympathetic. Even friends and colleagues see her chances as next to impossible because of her gender.