Dekha Ibrahim Abdi (, 17 November 1964 – 14 July 2011) was a

Kenyan The Demographics of Kenya is monitored by the Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics. Kenya is a multi-ethnic state in East Africa. Its total population was at 47,558,296 as of the 2019 census. A national census was conducted in 1999, although t ...

peace activist based in

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. She worked as a consultant to government and civil society organisations. She was of Somali ethnicity.

Personal life

Dekha was born on 17 November 1964 in

Wajir Wajir () is the capital of Wajir County in Kenya. It is situated in the former North Eastern Province. History A cluster of cairns near Wajir are generally ascribed by the local inhabitants to the Maadiinle, a semi-legendary people of high ...

. She was married to Dr. Hassan Nurrow Abdirahman with whom she had four children. The couple divorced in 2007 and in 2009, she married Abdinoor, a Kenyan Somali

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

Career

Dekha was a trustee of Coalition for Peace in Africa (COPA) and of NOMADIC, a pastoralist organisation based in

. She was also a founding member of the Wajir Peace and Development Committee, the Coalition for Peace in Africa, ACTION (Action for Conflict Transformation), and the Peace and Regeneration Oasis (PRO). Dekha worked as a consultant trainer on peacebuilding and pastoralists' development with many local and international agencies in various countries, including Cambodia, Jordan, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Africa, Netherlands, Israel, Palestine, Zimbabwe, the UK, Uganda and Kenya. She was also an Associate of Responding to Conflict and previously worked as RTC's Trainer and Learning Coordinator. Some of her mediation and peacebuilding insights can be read up in the book "Mediation and Governance in Fragile Contexts: Small Steps to Peace" that was published in 2019. Audio clips of interviews of 2010 and 2011 with Dekha can be found online.

Awards

In 2007, Dekha was honoured with the

Right Livelihood Award The Right Livelihood Award is an international award to "honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today." The prize was established in 1980 by German-Swedish philanthropist Jakob vo ...

. The Jury commended her "for showing in diverse ethnic and cultural situations how religious and other differences can be reconciled, even after violent conflict, and knitted together through a cooperative process that leads to peace and development". She was also honoured with Gernika´s Peace and Reconciliation Prize in 2008 (Basque Country) and Hessian Peace Prize of Germany in 2009.

Death

On 7 July 2011, Dekha, her husband Abdinoor, and their driver were on their way to a peace conference in

Garissa Garissa ( Arabic: قارسا) is the capital of Garissa County, Kenya. It is situated in the former North Eastern Province. Geography The Tana River, which rises in Mount Kenya east of Nyeri, flows through Garissa. The Bour-Algi Giraffe ...

, when their car crashed into a truck. Her husband and driver died instantly. Dekha sustained heavy injuries and was airlifted to

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

. She died shortly afterwards at the Aga Khan Hospital at 11.45 am, 14 July 2011. She was 46 years old.

Notes

References

Abdi on the Website of the Right Livelihood Award
*

External links

Working for Peace in Conflict Systems in Kenya - Addressing the Post-Election Crisis 2008

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdi, Dekha Ibrahim 1964 births 2011 deaths Kenyan Muslims Kenyan people of Somali descent Road incident deaths in Kenya Somalian Muslims Kenyan women activists People from Wajir County Kenyan anti-war activists