FATUMA HAKAR
Fatuma Hakar is a grassroots feminist, survivor advocate, legislator, and gender equality champion from Garissa County. She is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Girlkind Kenya and serves as a Nominated Member of the Garissa County Assembly, where she champions policies and programmes that protect and empower women, girls, and marginalised communities. Through both public leadership and grassroots organising, she works to advance gender equality while challenging harmful social norms.
Fatuma describes herself as a passionate leader, community development professional, and advocate committed to improving the lives of women and girls. She believes leadership is about creating opportunities for others, building meaningful partnerships, and ensuring that every girl has the chance to live with dignity, confidence, and hope. Her work is grounded in integrity, collaboration, compassion, and justice.
Her advocacy journey is deeply personal. Fatuma underwent female genital mutilation as a young girl and lived through its physical and emotional consequences. As a mother, she made a promise that her daughters would never experience the same harm. When they later faced pressure from members of the community to undergo FGM, she chose to stand firm despite criticism and resistance. That decision transformed her life and strengthened her determination to ensure no other girl would have to suffer because of harmful traditions. It also inspired her to establish Girlkind Kenya as a platform for protecting girls and empowering women across northern Kenya.
Today, Fatuma works on issues of FGM, child marriage, gender-based violence, girls’ education, menstrual health, women’s empowerment, and mental health. She collaborates with women, girls, youth, schools, religious leaders, government institutions, and development partners to strengthen community systems that promote gender equality and protect the rights of women and children.
Over the years, Fatuma has directly reached and supported more than 10,000 women, girls, men, boys, parents, teachers, religious leaders, and community members through awareness campaigns, mentorship, leadership development, training, and advocacy. She founded Girlkind Kenya, has led large-scale community dialogues challenging FGM and child marriage, mentored young women through leadership and digital literacy programmes, and advocated for stronger policies protecting women and children within the Garissa County Assembly.
One story continues to define her impact. Choosing to protect her own daughters from FGM despite enormous social pressure became a turning point not only for her family but for many others within her community. Her decision inspired other parents to reject the practice and demonstrated that one courageous choice could encourage an entire community to begin questioning long-held beliefs. Every girl protected from FGM reminds Fatuma that lasting change begins with individual acts of courage.
The journey has not been without challenges. Speaking publicly against FGM within a community where the practice has long been normalised brought criticism, resistance, and periods of social isolation. Building trust while challenging deeply rooted beliefs has required patience, respect, and continuous engagement. Limited resources have also made it difficult to respond to the growing needs of women and girls. Nevertheless, these obstacles have strengthened her resolve to continue advocating for justice and equality.
What makes Fatuma’s approach unique is that it is grounded in lived experience, survivor leadership, and community trust. As someone who has personally experienced FGM, she is able to connect with survivors, families, and community members with empathy and authenticity. Rather than imposing solutions, she creates dialogue that allows communities themselves to identify pathways toward lasting change while combining grassroots mobilisation with policy advocacy.
Her work is guided by compassion, courage, integrity, respect, collaboration, and justice. She believes every woman and girl deserves to live free from violence and discrimination while enjoying equal opportunities to learn, lead, and thrive. To Fatuma, sisterhood means women standing together, supporting one another, celebrating each other’s achievements, and using their collective voices to create lasting social change.
Fatuma sees the Sister to Sister Initiative as a powerful platform for strengthening grassroots leadership through networking, mentorship, collaboration, and shared learning. She believes the initiative will amplify local voices while creating opportunities for women leaders across Africa to learn from one another and build stronger movements together.
Speaking about the Somali community in Garissa, Fatuma describes a people with a rich cultural heritage built on hospitality, resilience, faith, and strong family values. She acknowledges that harmful practices such as FGM have affected many families, but emphasises that these practices do not define her community. Instead, she sees encouraging progress as more families, elders, and religious leaders choose to protect girls while preserving the positive values that make their culture strong.
Looking ahead, Fatuma envisions a future where every woman and girl lives free from violence, harmful practices, and discrimination. She hopes to see more girls completing their education, more women occupying leadership positions, and stronger community systems that promote equality and opportunity. Her long-term dream is to grow Girlkind Kenya into a sustainable movement that reaches communities across Kenya and beyond while leaving a legacy of courage, compassion, and transformation.
I was once the little girl who had no voice. Today, I use my voice to ensure that no girl has to suffer in silence. Real change begins when one person has the courage to say, 'It ends with me.
The African Women’s Rights Advocates (AWRA) is a dynamic, survivor-led movement founded by African women across the continent and in the diaspora.
NEWSLETTER
QUICK LINKS
SOCIALS
© Copyright African Women’s Rights Advocates (AWRA)
Leave a Reply