Fireside Peace Chats with Wangechi Grace Kahuria
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Mon 8 Jun ’2617:30 - 19:30Tribunetrap (stairs ground floor)
In this edition of the Fireside Peace Chats (FPC) series, we welcome Wangechi Grace Kahuria, a Kenyan civil rights activist and the Executive Director of IMLU, a Health, Governance and Human Rights Organisation involved in forensic documentation, litigation, medical and psychosocial rehabilitation of survivors of torture, and monitoring the government's adherence to its human rights commitments. Wangechi is currently participating in the Shelter City initiative, a global movement for the protection of human rights defenders initiated by Justice & Peace.
In 2024, young people were at the forefront of a wave of massive demonstrations against rising tax bills in Kenya. Kenyan authorities reacted with a brutal clampdown and have since continued to intimidate, harass, abduct and torture peaceful protestors, members of human rights organisations and other government critics. Drawing from her work at IMLU and her attendance at several UN sessions in Geneva, Wangechi will reflect on her experience with supporting youth activists in Kenya, the challenges she faces in her field, and pathways to justice for victims of severe human rights abuses.
Come ready to listen, reflect, and exchange insights on accountability, justice, and the protection of youth political participation in the face of democratic decline.
What are the Fireside Peace Chats?
The Fireside Peace Chats aim to create a space where practice, research, and policy in the field of peacebuilding come together in an informal way through the experiences of people on the ground. By sharing personal stories from peacebuilders and other figures with extensive experience in conflict areas, we want to contribute to a locally informed paradigm shift in liberal peacebuilding.
The Fireside Peace Chats originally emerged as a joint initiative of Leiden University College (LUC), the Knowledge Platform Security and Rule of Law (KPSRL), and The Hague Humanity Hub (THHH). Read more about previous editions here.