Latif Ismail
Doctor of Law
Thursday 27 July 2023 - Orator: Professor Eric Herring
Listen to full oration and honorary speech on Soundcloud
Pro Vice-Chancellor
I’m Eric Herring, a Professor of World Politics. My focus is the promotion of locally led development, and my key partner in that work for the last ten years has been Latif Ismail: his contribution has been immense and inspirational.
When Somalia collapsed into a brutal civil war in 1988, Latif was a teenager in Hargeisa, the second city of Somalia at the time, and now the capital of Somaliland. Many were massacred but fortunately he managed to escape. He lived in a refugee camp until relatives got him onto a flight to Heathrow in 1990. He was given temporary status in the UK and released into London. Knowing no English, he worked to support himself and acquire an education. After fleeing Hargeisa, Latif was only able to have indirect contact with his parents because there was no phone service due to the civil war. As he could not afford a lawyer, after years of trying to obtain refugee status he turned to his local MP for help. That MP was Paul Boateng, a refugee from Ghana who was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Bristol in 2007 for his services to the disadvantaged and marginalised – including Latif. Due to Paul Boateng’s help, Latif was granted Indefinite Leave to remain in the UK and eventually acquired British citizenship.At lasthe could travel to Hargeisa in 2001 to see his parents again, after thirteen years of being apart.
Latif told me that when he returned to Somaliland, it had a healing effect on him to see places returning to normal where previously he had seen people being shot. His life’s mission ever since has been to spread the healing effects of positive inter-community relations and assist the least well off and most marginalised. In 1999 he graduated from the University of East London with a BA (Honours) degree in Development Studies. In 2001 he co-founded Transparency Solutions, which is a social enterprise providing multi-sector services in research, strategy, training and project management.It is the top research company in Somalia and it has had a strategic partnership with the University of Bristol since 2015.
Latif’s remarkable cross-cultural communication skills led quickly to prestigious advisory roles with the UK Ministry of Defence, EUand NATO, among others. In 2012 Latif was offered a number ofposts in the Federal Government of Somalia and nominated for the role of Foreign Minister. He has also been recognised for his exceptional work in Bristol in various roles focused on community bridge-building and counter-radicalisation. In 2013 as a graduate student at the University of Bristol, he received its Convocation Award for his outstanding contribution to the University and wider community.
I had the pleasure of meeting Latif in 2012 when he enrolled as a student on the University’s MSc in International Security. I pitched to the seminar group a research funding application about transforming insecurity through academics collaborating with people achieving social progress against the odds. He said that these ideas would resonate in Somalia and its breakaway region Somaliland. I knew little about Somalia, but that was the point – networking academic expertise with local innovators. In 2014 we co-founded the Somali First initiative to promote Somali led development and have worked closely together ever since. Somali First received the University’s Engagement Award in 2015.It has generated dozens of academic and policy projects; the creation of hundreds of jobs and use of profits for numerous charitable activities.Latif is respected at the highest levels of government and the private sector at home and abroad. He is alsoable to engage marginalised communities such as nomadsin research and programmes that improve their lives and livelihoods.
During the civil war, Government aircraft would take off from Hargeisa’s airport and bomb civilians in that same city, Latif among them. Many years later, with the University in a supporting role, Latif led the upgrading of Hargeisa airport’s security so that it served the needs of the people. This turnaround symbolises his life’s work.
I have only scratched the surface here. Latif Ismail truly is an enormous force for good in this world. That positive impact is intertwined with, and enhanced by, his deep and ongoing relationship with the University of Bristol. Latif says his story is common to many Somalis and other refugees around the world. While this is true at one level, perhaps his most special skill is the ability to show others within and beyond the University how they too can use their abilities for the good of all.
Pro Vice-Chancellor I present to you Latif Ismail as eminently worthy of the degree of Doctor of Laws honoris causa.