Nurse to nation-builder, Somaliland’s honorary ‘first lady’ hails ‘natural’ ties with Israel

Key Highlights

• Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar visited the deeply traditional Muslim country in early January.
• The country’s first trained female nurse-midwife, who served as Somaliland’s top diplomat between 2003 and 2006, Edna has earned the moniker “first lady” of Somaliland because of her lifelong dedication to the country.
• She prefers that people refer to her as “simply Edna” because, she explained, in Somaliland people have their given name, then their father’s name, followed by their grandfather’s name.
• Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Newsletter email address Get it By signing up, you agree to the terms “We’re not fundamentalists,” she said.
• “Yes, we’re Muslim.