Thursday December 9, 2021
Ottawa (HOL) - Ilwad Elman, the chief operating officer of the Elman Peace Centre and a three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday to discuss youth empowerment in Somalia and Canada.
Elman arrived in Canada in 1993 with her mother, Fartun Adan, as a refugee from Somalia before returning to Somalia in 2010 to carry on the work her father - and namesake of her organization - began nearly four decades ago.
She told her 183k followers on Instagram that it was “surreal” to be meeting with the highest echelons of power in her adopted home.
“I came to this country a refugee & it felt quite surreal to be able to share my vision & ideas for youth in #Somalia& #Canada with the minister of defence, minister of gender equality and youth, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion as well as the minister of humanitarian assistance. “
The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative most recently recognized Ilwad and her mother for their work with former child soldiers and sexual assault survivors in Somalia. They received a prize of $1,000,000 that they could use to support an organization of their choice.
Ilwad was in Canada attending an event hosted by Masai Uhuru and his Giants of Africa youth programme. Ujiri is the Toronto Raptor’s President of Basketball Operations. The event was held in honour of the late Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first Black president.