Two Kenyan Women Appointed to High-Level UN Positions

Two Kenyan women have been appointed to high-level positions in the United Nations.

Nanjala Nyabola was named to a UN high-level advisory board on effective multilateralism while Dr. Jemimah Njuki will lead their work on Women’s Economic Empowerment around the world.

Nyabola, an author and researcher, is one of the two East Africans on the newly formed board that will be co-chaired by former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and former Swedish prime minister Stefan Löfven.

The mission of the board is to expand on the ideas in the Secretary-General’s report Our Common Agenda, which was released in September 2021.

Dr. Njuki, who was recently named one of the 100 most influential people in gender and policy, will be part of a team dedicated to ending systemic gender inequality. As the new Chief, Economic Empowerment at UN Women, Dr. Njuki will be based at the UN’s offices in New York. 

“This month, I am extremely excited to start a new assignment as Chief, Economic Empowerment at UN Women,” Dr. Njuki, a global leader in gender equality and women’s empowerment, wrote of her posting on LinkedIn. 

“I am excited to be part of the change! And where else more appropriate to drive this change from than UN Women?” she added.