Making Eritrea’s debut at Miss World, Snit Habteab has pulled well ahead of her rivals in the fan voting category, potentially putting her on course for a special place in the top 6 at tonight’s final, September 5, in Nha Trang.
As of 11 am on September 5, Vietnam time, data from the official Miss World 2026 voting platform showed Eritrea’s Snit Habteab Tewoldemedhin continuing to lead with 13,854,887 votes.
Nigeria’s Soye Karibi-George ranked second with 8,020,209 votes, followed by Ethiopia’s Ruth Yirgalem Weldesilasie with 3,237,500.
The continental first round has concluded, with voting now moving to the overall global ranking. Under the competition rules, the two contestants receiving the highest number of votes will advance directly to the top 12 and continue competing in the final, while the eventual winner of the category will earn a direct place in the top 6.
Among those closest to Habteab at the top of the ranking is Nigeria’s Tamunosoye Karibi-George, who has already secured a place in the top 40 after winning the African regional Top Model competition. Ethiopia’s representative is close behind.
According to the organizers, Habteab is 27 and was born and raised in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. She graduated with a degree in neuroscience from George Mason University in Virginia, the United States.
She currently works as a preschool teacher and is the founder and director of the nonprofit organization Designing for Diversity, which focuses on creating inclusive learning opportunities for children of all abilities.
The initiative is also the Beauty With a Purpose project she has brought to the 73rd Miss World competition.
“Every child deserves the opportunity to learn, grow and be accepted,” she has said.
The motivation behind Habteab’s community work is deeply personal.
Her younger sister has Down syndrome, and the experience of helping care for her inspired Habteab to pursue inclusive education for children with disabilities. After losing her mother to breast cancer, she also became an ambassador for raising awareness of the disease.
Beyond her work in education, Habteab has spoken at a United Nations human rights conference and at several universities about inclusive education for children with disabilities.
Before surging to the top of the fan vote, Habteab had already recorded two notable achievements at the 73rd Miss World competition, reaching the top 20 in the Head-to-Head Challenge and the top 23 in the Talent competition.
Standing 1.78 meters tall, she speaks five languages - Tigrinya, Italian, English, Amharic and French - and enjoys tennis, basketball, kickboxing and salsa dancing.
Her personal philosophy is to leave every person she meets and every place she visits better than she found them.
