killed during the civil war – and so Edna recruited more than 30 candidates and began training them in 2000 while the hospital was still under construction. The hospital now has two operating theatres, laboratory, library, computer centre and a complete wing dedicated to training nurses and midwives. the hospital had 200 staff and 1500 students. The mission of the Edna Adan Hospital is to help to improve the health of the local inhabitants, in particular the high rate of maternal and infant mortality. The facility is a non-profit making charity and a midwifery teaching hospital that is also undertaking the training of student nurses and Assistant Laboratory Technicians. Charity work Ismail's work is supported by charities in the United Kingdom and the United States which help her raise support and awareness to train additional midwives and fight FGM in Somaliland. Government work Ismail was the only female minister in the Somaliland government until July 2006, when she was replaced as Foreign Minister by former Minister of Information and National Guidance Abdillahi Mohamed Dualeh. In addition to her work in government, she continues to be a voice for the Somaliland peoples' democratic will. In March 2022 she was elected as President of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. Awards and recognition Ismail was a recipient of the AMANITARE 2002 Annual Award for her efforts to open a private maternity hospital in Somaliland in 1998. In recognition of her lifelong contribution to humanitarian work, the name of Edna Adan Ismail was added to the Medical Mission Hall of Fame, University of Toledo, Ohio, in March 2007. She has an Honorary Doctoral Degree from Clark University in Massachusetts. She was made an Honorary Fellow of Cardiff University in Wales in 2008. In 2018, she was granted an Honorary Fellowship by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. In 2012, Ismail was featured in the documentary Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, premiering on PBS 1 and 2 October. The series introduces women and girls living under very difficult circumstances and bravely fighting to challenge them. The Half the Sky PBS TV series is produced by Show of Force along with Fugitive Films. She was the castaway in the long-running series Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4 on 22 October 2017. She has been called "The Muslim Mother Teresa" by Kate Grant, CEO of the Fistula Foundation. In