Dr. Maryan Qasim Heads Somalia’s First Human Rights Commission

Dr. Maryan Qasim Ahmed has been elected chairperson of Somalia’s first Independent Human Rights Commission, marking a key step in national human rights oversight. The commission’s creation follows a 2025 law and the end of the UN rights mandate, reflecting Somalia’s shift toward Somali-led human rights monitoring and accountability.

Former Somali minister Dr. Maryan Qasim Ahmed was on Wednesday elected as the chairperson of Somalia’s Independent Human Rights Commission, marking a historic moment as the country establishes its first-ever body dedicated to independent human rights oversight. The election represents a significant step toward strengthening national ownership of human rights monitoring and accountability.
The vote took place during an official session of the commission in Mogadishu and effectively completes the final institutional process required to make the commission fully operational. The body is mandated to document and investigate human rights violations, provide support and redress mechanisms for victims, and offer guidance and recommendations to the government on governance rooted in human rights principles.
Dr. Qasim, who was born in 1959 in Baardheere, is a trained medical doctor and an experienced public servant with decades of service across the health sector, humanitarian response, and government administration. She studied medicine and surgery at Somali National University before pursuing further education in Germany and the Netherlands. She later obtained a master’s degree in public health from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.
Throughout her career, Dr. Qasim has held several senior cabinet positions, including ministerial roles responsible for women and family affairs as well as social development. In addition to her government service, she has worked extensively with international organisations operating in Somalia, contributing to policy development and humanitarian initiatives.
The establishment of the Independent Human Rights Commission follows President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s signing into law in early December 2025 of legislation creating Somalia’s first National Human Rights Commission. The move represents a major milestone in a reform process that has unfolded over several years, with the goal of transferring responsibility for human rights oversight from international mechanisms to nationally owned institutions.
The law was enacted after Somalia’s Council of Ministers, through a majority vote, approved nine nominees to serve on the National Independent Human Rights Commission. These nominees were put forward by the Minister of Family and Human Rights Development and subsequently received presidential assent, paving the way for the commission’s formal activation.
This development comes amid a broader transformation of Somalia’s human rights framework. In October 2025, the 60th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council concluded with the termination of the mandate of the UN Independent Expert on the human rights situation in Somalia. The decision followed a formal request by the Somali government, submitted under its Human Rights Transition Plan.
A month earlier, Somalia’s cabinet, during a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre, had unanimously supported ending the UN mandate. Government officials argued at the time that Somalia’s national institutions had reached a level of capacity sufficient to take full responsibility for monitoring, promoting, and protecting human rights within the country.
Civil society organisations have for years advocated the creation of an independent national human rights authority, maintaining that such a body would enhance accountability, improve the documentation of abuses, and establish a sustainable and credible framework for the protection of human rights under Somali leadership.