Lul Hassan Matan

Lul Hassan Matan is a Somaliland human rights activist and politician. She is known for her work helping street children, women, and minority communities in Somaliland.

Biography

Early life and education Lul Hassan Matan was born in Hargeisa. She attended the Hussein Giire intermediate school in the city and then went to the SITY school. She later studied at the SIDAM school, where she studied management for three years and accounting and administration for two years. also known as the Mustaqbal center, for street children in Hargeisa. To raise money for the center, she sold her own land and received donations from her relatives, traders, and local companies like Dahabshiil and Telesom. At first, some people spread false rumors that the center was selling children to foreigners in Mogadishu, and religious leaders preached against it. However, people stopped opposing the center after they visited it. The center successfully returned 130 street children to their families. Following the dispute over the ownership and management of the center, President Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo sent a delegation of ten members of parliament to demand that Lul either hand over the keys or place the center under the ministry. To enforce the takeover, a direct order from the presidential palace sent a military unit with six armored vehicles to raid the center in the early morning. Lul was eventually forced to hand over the center. After the government took over, about 150 children living there ran away because they did not trust the new managers.

Lul created a local charity called SOCWER. Through this organization, she protected abused children and supported women and minority groups.

In 2019, Lul ran for election to become the mayor of Borama. During her campaign, she worked to build a new care home for street children in the city. At the same time, she was one of 10 women in a local group lobbying for more government positions for women in Somaliland. In September 2020, the parliament had rejected a quota law that would save 18 seats for women. Lul stated that rape and violence against women and children increased because there were almost no women in parliament. Even though the quota law was rejected, she decided not to drop out and continued her campaign to compete against men for votes.

Family As of August 2019, Lul had six children.