Draft:Leyla Mohamed (Ugbaad)

Leyla Mohamed, known as Leyla Ugbaad is a Somali journalist living in Kenya and studying in the UK. Leyla is the First Female Editor. at Radio Ergo,the sole media providing daily humanitarian information to Somalis. Leyla works for IMS (International Media Support), a Danish NGO based in Denmark. She manages a team of 40 journalists in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia. Unlike other fellow female journalists who drop out of journalism or give up on their careers due to social and financial constraints, Leyla broke the barrier to show women can do more Leyla is a dedicated journalist and media professional with 13 years’ experience in some of Somalia’s premier media houses, in roles including journalism, broadcasting, women’s leadership, mentoring and training.

Volunteer Work

As she is a passionate about Women's Empowerment, Leyla advocates towards improving gender equality and human rights. As a founder of Somali Women in Media (https://somwim.com/), she initiated discussions with a core group of women journalists in order to establish this local organization mandated to challenge male dominance in the Somali media, especially in broadcasting and digital, and seek long-term solutions to women’s exclusion from leadership roles. As a chairperson of SOMWIM, she led advocacy efforts for more than two years, raising greater awareness around gender equality, encouraging women journalists to work in solidarity. During her tenure as chair, she convened meetings with other organizations supporting women to discuss inequality and its solutions. As a member of East African Women Human Rights Defenders Network and founder of Women Human Rights Defenders Somalia, she collaborates with members as well as local and regional organizations to raise awareness to educate girls and end violence against women and girls.

Education

Leyla is the only Somali female journalist who has been chosen as a class of 2022 Postgraduate in Journalism Innovation and Leadership at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in the United Kingdom. This programme is scholarship funded by Google News Initiative. Leyla also holds a master’s degree in Diplomacy and International Relations from Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya. She has a bachelor degree in Public Administration.

External Sources
Interview with Leyla Mohamed, Radio Ergo editor on World Radio Day - https://radioergo.org/en/2024/02/world-radio-day-radio-ergo-shares-the-voices-of-ordinary-people/

CNBC interviews Leyla Mohamed, Radio Ergo editor -https://www.cnbcafrica.com/media/6340737194112/

Global experts including Leyla Mohamed to address the industry's key innovation challenge - https://mediainnovationstudio.org/2023/10/16/medias-next-chapter-join-global-experts-to-address-the-industrys-key-innovation-challenge/

”AI could save us more time so that we improve our work,” said Leyla Mohamed, Editor of Radio Ergo, IMS’ humanitarian news service for the Somali region.” - https://www.mediasupport.org/blogpost/how-african-newsrooms-are-using-ai-to-analyse-data-and-produce-good-journalism/

Information as a right: what's holding us back? |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/world/information-right-whats-holding-us-back-key-takeaways-advancing-rights-based-approaches-communication-and-participation

JIleaders innovate new ways in Cape Town with the support of Google News Initiative - https://mediainnovationstudio.org/2023/11/20/cape-town-study-week-inspires-jileaders-participants-to-innovate-in-new-ways/

UCLan Programme Forum - https://mediainnovationstudio.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/JILeaders-Forum-programme-new.pdf