File:Waris_Dirie,_2018_during_her_visit_to_Sierra_Leone.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Waris Dirie
Sign in to saveSomali model, author, actress, activist
Waris Dirie is a Somali model, author, actress, and activist who has used her platform to raise awareness about female genital mutilation (FGM) and other human rights issues. Her work matters because she has brought international attention to these practices and advocated for their elimination, becoming a prominent voice for women's rights globally.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 1964
- Works
- 15
Top works
- Peraḥ ha-midbar
- Wüstenblume
- Aube du Desert (l')
- Amanecer en el desierto
- Mijn Woestijn
via Open Library + Wikidata
Film & TV
Known for
- Samia — Saado Abdullahi2024
- Poland's Next Top Model — Self - Special Guest2010
- Kulturplatz — Self2004
- Abendschau — Self2000
- The Johannes B. Kerner Show — Self1998
via TMDB
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- female
- Citizenship
- Austria
- Place of birth
- Galkayo
- Position held
- UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador
- Employer
- United Nations
- Languages spoken
- German
- Native language
- Somali
- Notable work
- Desert Flower
- Field of work
- female genital mutilation
- Image
- Waris Dirie, 2018 during her visit to Sierra Leone.jpg
- Height
- 175
- Residence
- Gdańsk
Show 6 more facts
- Commons category
- Waris Dirie
- ethnic group
- Somalis
- name in native language
- Waris Diriye
- start of work period
- 1998-00-00
- social media followers
- 7510
- date of birth
- 1965-10-21
via Wikidata · CC0
~19 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Waris Dirie (Somali: Waris Diiriye; born 21 October 1965) is a Somali model, author, actress and human rights activist in the fight against female genital mutilation (FGM). From 1997 to 2003, she was a UN special ambassador against FGM. In 2002 she founded her own organization in Vienna, the Desert Flower Foundation. She has won numerous awards recognizing her work on eradicating FGM, including the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur (2007).
Born in Somalia, she moved to London where she began her modeling career. She was a model for top brands such as Chanel, Levi's, L'Oréal and Revlon. As a model, Dirie was the first black woman to appear in an Oil of Olay advertisement. In 1987, Dirie played a minor role in the James Bond film The Living Daylights.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Waris Dirie” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.