Rebecca Kabugho

Overview

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Rebecca Kabugho born Goma, North Kivu, DR Congo September 4, 1994. Human rights activist. Founded nonviolent movement LUCHA (Struggle for Change), 2012. Arrested for insurrection, 2016; imprisoned six months; arrested again, 2016. Received International Women of Conscience Award, 2017.

Quotations

I hope that all the women who are here will fight to change their countries. We can change the Congo. We can change the world. Without us, it will not be done. Hand in hand, we will make the world a better place.” (May 22, 2017; Women of Courage Award; photo ibtimes.co.uk)

Mariatu Kamara

Overview

Mariatu Kamara born Magboru, Sierra Leone May 26, 1986. UNICEF Special Envoy for Children in Armed Conflict; both hands cut off with machete by boy civil war rebels when she was 12.

Quotations

On the boy soldiers who cut off her hands: "I just think it's time to let go. . . Forgive them. They are also our brothers. They suffered, too." (Toronto Star, Sep. 2, 2008; photo glogster)

Marjon V. Kamara

Overview

Marjon V. Kamara born Monrovia, Liberia August 13, 1949. Director of UN High Commission for Refugees in Africa 2005-09; ambassador to UN 2009; UN commission on postwar capacities 2010.

Quotations

"[C]ountries emerging from conflict often face a critical shortage of the capacities needed to secure sustainable peace. . . Nor is the international community doing enough to nurture national capacities." (March 11, 2011; photo frontpageafrica)

Martha Karua

Overview

Martha Karua (née Wangari) born Kirinyaga, Kenya September 22, 1957. "Iron Lady of Africa." Human rights advocate and lawyer; first woman elected to Kenyan Parliament, 1992. Kenyan Justice Minister, 2005-09; resigned due to inability to freely pursue her reform efforts. Presidential candidate, 2012.

Quotations

"There can’t be peace without women—we are giving true meaning to democracy by focusing on peace." (Ceasefire Magazine, Jan. 3, 2012)

Specioza Wandira Kazibwe

Overview

Specioza Wandira Kazibwe born Iganda, Uganda July 1, 1955. Ugandan surgeon; politician. As vice-president of Uganda, first woman to hold that position of an African nation, 1994-2003. Founded African Women Committee on Peace and Development (AWCPD) to increase women's involvement in African peacemaking processes, 1998. Led African Union team in observation of Liberian elections, 2011. Appointed UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, 2013.

Quotations

Africa would be the continent of the twenty-first century, just as Europe had been the continent of the nineteenth century and America of the twentieth century. . . In a world where the rich got richer and the poor got poorer, how could Africa share the same vision of prosperity? The competitive marketplace where only the fittest survived must be humanized. The heartless pursuit of profits at the expense of everything else would achieve the opposite of what globalization had intended. . . The globalization agenda imposed the responsibility to create one world from the two worlds of rich and poor. That could only be achieved if the profit motive of capitalism was moderated by concern for the welfare of all humanity.” (DPI/NGO Conference, Sept. 17, 1999; photo ghananewsagency.org)

Liya Kebede

Overview

Liya Kebede born Addis Ababa, Ethiopia January 3, 1978. Supermodel; actress; World Health Organization Goodwill Ambassador, 2005.

Quotations

"This is a global crisis and it affects us all.  Every mother and child that dies needlessly plunges another family into poverty, condemns another generation of children to poverty and struggle or even untimely death and destabilizes another community." (June 16, 2009, at UN; photo Wikipedia)

Sisi Khampepe

Overview

Sisi Khampepe born Soweto, Transvaal January 9, 1957. Commissioner of South Africa Truth & Reconciliation Commission, 1995; Justice of South Africa Constitutional Court, 2009.

Quotations

"[W]omen bring their own perspective in the adjudication of issues. They don't only bring knowledge, but they bring in their own reasoning with it. There are issues that men would not take seriously as women would." (IOL News, Sept. 21, 2005; photo iol.co.za)

Angelique Kidjo

Overview

Angélique Kidjo born Cotonou, Benin July 14, 1960. Grammy Award-winning singer; first African woman named UN Ambassador for Peace, 2002; African Union Peace Ambassador for Year of Peace and Security, 2010. Supported Darfur peace, women's rights, climate change action; sang at Nobel Peace Prize Concert, 1996, 2002, 2011.

Quotations

"Use music as the weapon of peace." (Berklee School, Boston, August 5, 2010; photo UNICEF)