Mary Harper is a journalist and author, specialising on Africa, especially Somalia and the wider Horn. She is the BBC’s Africa Editor and has reported on events on the continent since the early 1990s. She is the author of “Everything You Have Told Me is True: The Many Faces of Al Shabaab” (Hurst) and “Getting Somalia Wrong? Faith, War and Hope in a Shattered State” (Zed Books). She has contributed chapters to other books, and writes for academic journals and the media including The Guardian, The Economist and The Washington Post. She has done research for The United Nations, The European Union and others on issues including Somalia, Islamist extremism, the media, sea piracy and migration. She is an expert witness in Somali-related legal cases and serves on the boards of several organisations related to Africa and beyond.