Usara01

I am a change maker by calling. And have acquired basic skills in initiating and facilitating changes.

Garden, river side at , staying alone in the forest, and midnights

To create change in the way people handle issues relating to the staus and rights of women in the society especially in Africa through empowering them to have a strong voice and use it to help themselves.

Born 1968 in Zuru, Nigeria and graduated as production engineering student from The Polytechnic Birnin Kebbi in 1997. When in school, Mr. Umar Farouk Mohammed served in various capacity of leadership of youth associations and was involved in the facilitation of inter religious understanding for improve harmonious coexistence. In 1996, the different Muslim students’ groups within The Polytechnic Birnin Kebbi Islamic community unanimously elected him as President of Muslim Student Society of Nigeria for the school chapter. And from 1992 – 1998, Mr. Farouk served as deputy imam of Haliru Abdu Central Mosque in Birnin Kebbi. In 2009, he was inducted as LDM fellow courtesy the development Research and Project Centre (dRPC) and has continued working through Changing Lives Initiative Network dedicating more time and resources to the course of rural women. In the same year, he started an integrated TBA program to help in reducing maternal deaths in rural communities. He has contributed toward restoring trust and ensuring acceptance across religious divides in Kaduna State through a project he initiated in 2008 and was supported by German Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations Berlin. The project increased intercultural, inter-religious and inter-ethnic understanding and reinforced engagement of community based organizations in conflict prevention and resolution at the grassroots level. In appreciation of the project, the Kaduna State Media Corporation offered a one year television slot in support of it and will last from 2009 – 2010. Mr. Farouk also served with the Interfaith Mediation Centre Kaduna as Senior Program Manager from 2006 – 2008. In this capacity he was exposed to working with high-level religious and traditional leaders. He was involved in promoting dialogue among the elected and the electorate to foster sustainable democratic discipline in Nigeria. He also designed a partnership that have utilized the potential of faith in mobilizing religious communities together to take action in promoting transparency and accountability in the Local Government Areas in Kaduna State. The project has also established open space dialogue between representatives of the LG Authorities and key stakeholders including traditional and religious gatekeepers. Mr. Umar Farouk was involved the Generations for Peace – Peace Pioneer training program held 2008 in Amman, Jordan. The international peace building and leadership training camp is an annual event with participants drawn from post conflict communities around the world. In 2007, he served as intern at Bertelsmann Stiftung Gutersloh. He worked in the Cultural Dialogue Department to make Trilogue Salzburg 2007 event a great success. The Trilogue is an annual forum on cultural values in which international leaders from arts, business and politics convene to address fundamental issues of socio-political importance to Europe. Mr. Umar Farouk has acquired first-hand experience with project management, highly self motivated and goal oriented in his approach. He is both creative and strategic in problem solving, and finds workable solutions that everyone can support at all times. He is able to grapes complex situations and matters quickly, and has demonstrates acumen in making sound judgments. Fearless in confronting new challenges and has demonstrated high degree of flexibility and willingness to learn from these situations. He has excellent communication skills. A talented debater, highly effective in the art of evoking enthusiasm for his ideas and is attentive to those of others. He is always eager to engage in genuine dialogue on a variety of topics, including projects aimed at encouraging social change. In the public sector, he is currently serving as the Head of Field Operations with Nigerian Identity Management Commission at its Kaduna Office, a position he is occupying from September 2009 to date while in the non-profit sector, he is serving as Project Manager with Changing Lives Initiative Network. In 2011, he initiated a partnership initiative involving Arab Al Hafiz Campaign Organization and Changing Lives Initiative Network provided a program of action for a female political aspirant in order to help establish a social contract between a constituency and aspirant. He is happily married to Halima Sadiya and blessed with five kids, and his hobbies include travelling, reading and writing.