Hadjira Oumouri

Hadjira Oumouri (born 1969) is a Comorian politician and midwife. She served from 2015 to 2020 in the Assembly of the Union of the Comoros, becoming the second woman elected to the body in the country's history.

Early life and education

Hadjira Oumouri was born in 1969 in Foumbouni, a town on the island of Grande Comore in the Comoros.[1][2] Her father, Mze Oumouri Wa Moindze, was a prominent scholar of the history of Grande Comore.[3]

After finishing high school, Oumouri trained as a midwife in Moroni and Mauritius.[1][3]

Career

Women's health and rights

Oumouri was recruited in 1995 to work in family planning for the United Nations Population Fund in the Mbadjini region of Grande Comore, eventually becoming director of the NGO ASCOBEF from 2001 to 2014.

She also became involved in women's rights activism, including through the organization L'Réseau National Femmes et Développement. She also founded the women's association Femme en Mouvement in the Mbadjini region.[1][2]

Politics

The former midwife eventually became more directly involved in local politics in her commune, Itsahidi, aiming to represent women in the country's largely male-dominated political scene. She was appointed mayor of the commune from 2012 to 2014.

After seven years with the RIDJA party (Rassemblement pour une Initiative de Développement avec une Jeunesse Avertie) she joined the Democratic Rally of the Comoros (RDC) ahead of the 2015 Comorian legislative election.[1][2][3]

As a member of the RDC, she ran to represent Itsahidi in the Assembly of the Union of the Comoros in 2015. She was elected as one of only two members of her party in the legislature, with 64.91% of the vote in her district.[4]

Oumouri was the only woman in the legislature in that session, and only the second female lawmaker elected to the assembly, after Sittou Raghadat Mohamed.

During her time in the Assembly, Oumouri fought for increased participation of women in politics, passing laws to establish quotas for both appointed and elected officials. She also worked to pass laws on sexual harassment and to oppose violence against women.[1][2][5][6]

As a member of PFPOI, an organization of women politicians in the Indian Ocean region, she worked with peers in Madagascar and Mauritius.

On becoming one of the few prominent women politicians in her country, Oumouri said:

"To tell the truth, it was not easy. You know, men like for us all to work together, but to take their place is difficult. They don't give up their positions, so you have to go look for them and snatch them."[1]

In 2019, after Oumouri voted in favor of the "enabling law," which gave President Azali Assoumani expanded powers, she was kicked out of her opposition RDC party.[7][8][9] She did not run again in the 2020 Comorian legislative election, and Abdou-Rahim Mistoihi of the Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros succeeded her to represent Itsahidi.[10][11]

References
  1. Youssouf, Nasser (2017-10-30). "Portrait de la députée Hadjira Oumouri". Comores Infos (in French). Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  2. Youssouf, Nasser (2018-04-04). "From midwife to MP - Advancing the rights of women in the Comoros". UNFPA. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  3. "Hadjira Omouri : le combat d'une vie". FEMMES DES ÎLES (in French). 2020-06-25. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  4. Résultats du 2ème tour des élections de Représentants de la Nation 2015 Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine CENI (in French)
  5. Youssouf, Mohamed (2018-03-08). "Journée de la femme Hadjira Oumouri: « La femme doit s'imposer et arracher les grands postes»". La Gazette Des Comores (in French). Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  6. "Independent Country Programme Evaluation: Union of the Comoros". UNDP Independent Evaluation Office. May 2019. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  7. "La députée Hadjira Oumouri est exclue du parti RDC". Comores Infos (in French). 2019-09-09. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  8. "Comores: l'assemblée confie au président les pouvoirs pour organiser les législatives". Le Figaro (in French). 2019-09-04. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  9. Mbaé (2019-09-19). "Exclusion de Hadjira Oumouri du parti Rdc I Djaé Ahamada Chanfi conteste la décision et la légitimité de celui qui l'a prise". Al-Watwan (in French). Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  10. "Compilation des Resultats du Scrutin". Commission Electorale Nationale Indépendante (CENI) (in French). 2020-01-20.
  11. AFP (2019-11-14). "Comoros leader urges opposition to drop vote boycott". Yahoo News. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
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