Kenyan Professor Miriam Were nominated for 2022 Nobel Peace Prize

Renowned public health Professor Miriam Were has put Kenya on the map after being nominated for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.

Professor Miriam Were was nominated by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and Quaker Peace and Social Witness (QPSW).

“It is an honor to have the opportunity to nominate Dr Miriam Were for the Nobel Peace Prize,” said Joyce Ajlouny, General Secretary of AFSC.

Ajlouny added: “Over the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the critical importance of public health policy and global health equity.

"Dr Were’s work on community-based health initiatives around the world is powerful and essential for building a just and peaceful future,” the statement concluded.

Professor Were has served in the health sector for close to 50 years. Pulse Live Kenya

Ajlouny said the nomination was in recognition of Were’s tireless work since the 1970s in promoting trust between governments, health authorities, and the citizens through culturally sensitive programs.

Were’s focus has been on community health approaches, the efforts which they argue facilitate the uptake of health initiatives among the vulnerable people, including the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

Professor Were has the opportunity to become the second Kenyan to win the Nobel Peace Prize after the late Professor Wangari Maathai.

Wangari Maathai Freedom corner at Uhuru Park. (Twitter) Pulse Live Kenya

Prof. Miriam Were's achievements

Some of her most notable professional positions include directing the Community-Based Health Care (CBHC) Project in Kakamega, serving as Chief of Health and Nutrition in UNICEF Ethiopia and working as WHO Representative and Chief of Mission in Ethiopia.

She also directed the UN Population Fund Country Support Team (UNFPA/CST) for East and Central Africa and Anglophone West Africa. Were is also the founder of the UZIMA Foundation, an NGO for youth-empowerment.

She currently serves as Chairperson of the National AIDS Control Council (NACC) Kenya coordinating the national HIV/AIDS response in Kenya. She is also on the Lancet COVID-19 Commission.