Adam Matan OBE (Somali Adan Mataan) (Arabic: آدم متان) is a Somali-British civil society leader and social activist.[1] He is the former Director of the Anti-Tribalism Movement, a non-profit organisation established in 2010 to combat tribalism and inequality amongst the British-Somali community.[2] In 2019, he became the first British-Somali to be appointed an OBE for "services to the Somali community in the UK and wider British-Somali relations".[3]
Matan came to the United-Kingdom as a teenager following the Somali Civil War.[4] He lives in London and holds a PgDip in Law and Leadership from SOAS University of London[5] and an LLM in International Minority Rights Law from Middlesex University.
Matan was the director of Anti-Tribalism Movement for over 10 years —a charity established in 2010 in the United Kingdom to combat tribalism within the Somali community following the Somali Civil War.[6] He is a former One Young World Ambassador[7] and has advised the British government about the Somali community.[8] He has participated in a number of high-level engagements connecting the British and Somali government[9] such as the London-Somali Conference 2012 and 2017.[10] He participated in a successful UK-wide campaign to save vital remittances in 2017.[11][12][13] He also serves as Trustee on two charitable boards (Hammersmith United Charities[14][15] and Trust for London) as well as chairing the Independent Policing and Crime Commission for Hammersmith and Fulham which published an independent-resident led report in 2020 assessing crime in the borough.[16][17][18]
Matan has been invited to speak at a number of events with think-tanks such as Chatham House,[19][20] Global Youth Summit,[21] Ministry of Women, Human Rights and Development Conference[22][23] and many others.[24] He featured in a documentary called Return to Somalia - documenting a trip back to Somalia along with Abdifatah Faisal.[25][26] In addition to this, he was featured in the South Acton Heritage film (2014).[27] He has published reviews for media houses such as African Arguments.[28] Matan was also an anti-corruption panellist at the 3rd National Somali Economic Policy Forum 2019.[29][30]
Matan was featured in the Queen's New Year's Honours List 2019 for 'services to the Somali community in the U.K and wider- UK-Somalia relations'.[31][32][33][34] and presented with the OBE medal at an investiture overseen by the HRH Prince William, Duke of Cambridge on 28 March 2019. He is the first British-Somali to be honoured with an OBE award.
He was winner of the Community Champion Award at Pride of Our People 2014.[35]