Waris Dirie is a Somali model, author, actress and human rights activist in the fight against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

At 18, Dirie began her career as a model, in 1987 she graced the cover of the Pirelli Calendar and appeared in the James Bond film The Living Daylights. She became one of the first African Supermodels to receive an exclusive agreement with Revlon and featured on the cover of leading fashion magazines such as Elle, Glamour, and Vogue.

Dirie used her platform to speak out about FGM. From 1997 to 2003, she served as a UN special ambassador against female genital cutting. In 2002 she founded her own organization in Vienna (Austria), the Desert Flower Foundation.