Ujuni Ahmed

Ujuni Ahmed is a Somali-Finnish activist and writer whose work centers on immigrants in Finland.

Early life and education Ahmed was born in Somalia. She immigrated to Finland with her family in the early 1990s, at age three. In Finland, Ahmed experienced "quite incomprehensible" racism, and was sometimes driven to and from school despite it being in walkable distance. For her secondary education, she studied practical nursing, a choice she attributes to family pressure, and youth counselling.

In 2020, Ahmed worked for Yle as a news anchor and as a producer of content on the COVID-19 pandemic. She also pitched the idea of presenting news on the pandemic in Somali, allowing broader access to information. While working as an anchor, Ahmed received racist and sexist comments on Twitter, leading her to delete her account. Ahmed also translated the book into Somali. Publications

Awards and recognition

2020 Finnish PEN freedom of speech award