(Mogadishu) 09 November 2018 – Former Somalia Presidential candidate Fadumo Dayib has for the first time gone public in why she quit her position as the UN Women Somalia Country Director.
In series of tweets the Finnish-Somali alleged that top UN officials entertained a culture of racism against Somali staff working in the UN.
“I was the first #Somali to be hired as a country director. Upon reporting for duty in #Somalia, I was told no Somali was allowed to hold such a position. I was verbally harassed, bullied & ostracized. I spent a hellish one year & six months dealing with this” Dayib tweeted.
She lashed out at the UN Deputy Special Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator For Somalia and UNDP Resident Representative for being behind her troubles at the UN
“Censorship I was verbally harassed, threatened & bullied by DSRSG De Clercq as the #metoo movement raged internationally, oblivious to women in the UN experiencing the same nightmares. It’s time for a #metooUN. I was eventually smoked out & left last month” Dayib tweeted.
“ThisIsSomalia Similarly, other #Somalis holding international specialist positions were also being told to leave systematically. We hold different nationalities and citizenship, our only crime is our ethnicity. Who is being racist here?” She added.
“Apparently a Somali by virtue of her/his ethnicity, is a #terrorist, works in cahoots with the government, is corrupt & biased. They might as well as put a sign saying, “No Somalis and dogs allowed”. #ThisIsSomalia #Censorship” Dayib tweeted.
“So what’s racism? Who is a racist? When the SG of the UN was asked whether a Somali can hold an international position in Somalia, he said yes. So long as they were not born there & didn’t hold a Somali citizenship. Clearly DSRSG De Clercq thinks differently” Dayib tweeted.
According to Dayib she had been offered the same position elsewhere but declined.
“I was being reassigned from #Somalia to either New York, Nairobi or Uganda. I turned it down because I am not a careerist. I believe serving is a vocational calling, not a profession. I’m still going to be in Somalia serving women/girls but on my own terms” she tweeted.
“The UN has a lofty mandate. One that inspires and drives majority of its officials. I still respect and believe that mandate despite what I’ve gone through, and many others are, in the hands of DSRSG De Clercq in #Somalia” said the former Presidential candidate.
“There are 100s of others going through this & unable to speak up. It’s clear I was that other, the helpless #Somali that you did things for instead of with. I was that #slave that had the audacity to sit at the table with the #master and his family. Somalia” she added
Somalia twitter came to live following her revelation.
“You are brave to speak up on this, it’s an issue kept under the rug. The one thing that should’ve been honored is that you are educated, returned to serve your country which is the very thing that agencies are working to prevent & one of the reasons Somalia is yet to rise” Anisa Haji Muumin tweeted.
Mohamed Ingiriis tweeted “In Mogadishu, during my recent research fieldwork, a female MP told me that de Clercq warned her not to elect a certain candidate for presidency on 8 February 2017. In light of this new evidence, I would suggest to the UN chief in New York to investigate into these interferences”
“After all INGOs relocate headquarters to #Somalia, the next step @MoPIED_Somalia & Min of Labour must take the next step of ensuring that posts that can be filled by #Somali nationals/Non resident Somalis must be filled by them, the experience of @fqdayib should be a warning” Dalmar Hassan tweeted.
Dayib joined in the race for Villa Somalia i 2016 but later dropped out od tbe race citing election anomalies.
The 46 yr old Dayib was later appointed tge UN Women Country Director Somalia.
Hadalsame Media
