Khadidja Hamdi

Khadidja Hamdi (Arabic: خَديجة حَمْدي) is a Sahrawi politician and activist. She is one of two women ministers in the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) Government and holds the post Minister for Culture.^[1]

Political career[edit]

Hamdi is an outspoken campaigner for Sahrawi women's rights, the value of cultural heritage and the importance of education to young people, especially those, like many Sahrawi who are displaced from their homeland.^[2] Her work in these areas encourages international support for Sahrawi self-determination and in 2009 Hamdi led the delegation to the 2nd Pan-African Cultural Festival, held in Algiers.^[3] During the festival, Hamdi publicly called on the Kingdom of Morocco to obey international law to enable self-determination and independence for the Sahrawi people.^[4] She has been a vocal critic of the government of Morocco and their treatment of Sahrawi political prisoners, especially about a media black-out that was imposed on a group of 24 activists in 2013.^[5]

Women's rights[edit]

Speaking in public at international events is an important part of Hamdi's ministerial work. She has travelled widely discussing Sahrawi rights and the rights of Sahrawi women - women who have often taken up leadership roles within refugee camps.^[2] In 2013, Hamdi travelled to Nigeria as part of the Global Power Women Network Africa (GPWNA) event. She praised the support the Nigerian government was giving the struggle for independence and commented on how women from all countries in Africa needed to work together to claim, support and expand their human and civil rights.^[6] She travelled to the UK in 2007 to lobby Members of Parliament, at the invitation of Jeremy Corbyn. She spoke alongside activists, Aminetou Haidar and Makaela Wallinder.^[7] Hamdi had previously led, with her colleague Zahra Ramdan, the 2003 delegation of the National Union of Saharawi Women on their tour of political party conferences in the UK. This tour lasted nineteen days and they canvassed support for the Sahrawi cause and met with political leaders including Tony Blair, Jack Straw and Glenys Kinnock.^[8]

In 2006, in the Week of Solidarity with the SADR held in Algeria, Hamdi spoke to the conference under the title "The Saharawi woman : between duty of liberation and demands of the state". She was part of a wider discussion which included Nouria Hafs, the Secretary General of the National Union of Algerian Women, and Saida Benhabilès, the President of the Algerian Women's Movement for Solidarity with Rural Women.^[9] Hamdi had previously led a 2003 delegation of Sahrawi women to the Algerian Popular Assembly, and met with its president Karim Younes.^[10]

Children's rights[edit]

Educating young people about Sahrawi heritage and culture and the access of Sahrawi young people to wider educational opportunities are important areas that Hamdi supports. In 2007, whilst in London she also spoke about the Sahrawi struggle at two schools.^[11] In 2001, Hamdi supported the delegation of Scouting and Guiding in Western Sahara to attend an international forum that eleven young people from the organisation attended.^[12] She continues to campaign for better access to education in refugee camps.^[2]

Cultural heritage[edit]

Hamdi was praised in 2014 for leading a "cultural resistance" to the occupation of the SADR, when she was welcomed to Algiers by the Algerian Minister for Culture Khalida Toumi.^[13] She has spoken out publicly about the power of culture, both in terms of identity politics in Western Sahara, but also in term of how art or poetry can be a catalyst for the cause of self-determination.^[14] In 2008, Hamdi petitioned Koïchiro Matsuura, Director General of UNESCO, to support educational programmes in Sahrawi refugee camps, as well as supporting work to preserve and promote their cultural heritage for the future.^[15]

Film[edit]

Hamdi is closely involved with the Sahara International Film Festival. She launched the 12th festival in 2015 jointly with SADR Prime Minister Abdelkader Taleb Omar and Dennis Thokozani Dlomo, who is South Africa's ambassador to Algeria. Its theme was "Universal Justice" and it had 423 participants from 20 countries.^[16] During the 2012 festival, Hamdi presented the festival's highest award, The White Camel, to Javier Bardem and Alvaro Longoria for their documentary film “Sons of the Clouds: Last Colony”.^[17]

Archives[edit]

In 2008, Hamdi visited Austria, where a team from GEZA were working to build a National Electronic Archive for Western Sahara.^[18] She has led on a variety of cultural programmes for the population in exile, from projects around violence against women, to an oral history project called "Tell Me, Grandfather" to continually build up Sahrawi cultural heritage with young people.^[2]

Arts[edit]

In 2013, Hamdi travelled to Finland to raise awareness about women's rights in Western Sahara, especially in refugee camps and to open a new exhibition of artwork by Sahrawi artist Fadel Jalifa.^[19]

Accusations of aid misappropriation[edit]

In November 2011 it was rumoured that a CD-ROM was being sent around refugee camps and on it were details of financial missappropiation of humanitarian aid, led by the Khadidja Hamdi.^[20]

Personal life[edit]

Hamdi was married to the president of the SADR, Mohamed Abdelaziz until his death in 2006.^[21] She is also a writer and her book "Wedding in a Prison" was one amongst 7000 that was donated to the SADR, by the Algerian Minister of Culture.^[22]

References[edit]