Alice Wairimu Nderitu
Alice Wairimu Nderitu of Kenya is Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide. Ms Nderitu is a recognized voice in the field of peacebuilding and atrocity crimes prevention. As mediator of armed conflicts, she served as a member of the African Unions Network of African Women in Conflict Prevention and Mediation (Fem-Wise), the Women Waging Peace Network and Global Alliance of Women Mediators. She contributed to defining the role of women mediators, as one of the few women who are signatories to peace agreements as a mediator.
She notably, led several processes as mediator, including as the only woman in a 16-month peace process involving 100 elders and 3 mediators, resulting in the Nakuru County Peace Accord signed by 10 ethnic communities in Nakuru, Kenya. Ms. Nderitu then became the lead mediator in a peace process in Kaduna State, Nigeria leading to the Kafanchan Peace Declaration, signed by 29 ethnic communities. She was also the lead mediator in a process in Plateau State in Nigeria, leading to the Southern Plateau Inter-Communal Peace Declaration signed by 56 ethnic communities. She also led the founding of Community Voices for Peace and Pluralism, a network of African women professionals preventing, transforming, violent, ethnic, racial, and religious conflicts worldwide.
She previously served as Commissioner of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) in Kenya, established to respond to the 2008 post-election crisis, mediate religious, ethnic and race related conflicts, counter and address hate speech and promote peaceful and harmonious coexistence. In this role, she also co-founded and was the first Co-Chair of the Uwiano Platform for Peace, pioneering, in 2010, the use of mobile technology in reporting indicators of violence, including hate speech, therefore linking early warning to early response. She previously also supported several countries globally in setting up mechanisms linking early warnings to early response at all levels, including at the community and national levels.
She also served as Director, Education for Social Justice at Fahamu, headed the human rights education department of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and was a Commonwealth Exchange Fellow at the South African Human Rights Commission. She was also a member of the Concerned Citizens for Peace, a group of Elders facilitating peace confidentially between African leaders at the highest levels.
She is an Aspen Leadership scholarship recipient, a Transitional Justice Fellow, Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, South Africa, and Global Raphael Lemkin course alumni. She also served as Summer Course faculty at SIT Graduate School, Vermont, Brattleboro, USA and lecturer for the Socio-Economic Rights course at Pretoria University’s Centre for Human Rights, South Africa. She was a facilitator of the Senior Mission Leaders Course at the International Peace Support Training Center, Kenya and the Rwanda Military Academy, Rwanda.
Widely published, Ms. Nderitu is also the recipient of several global awards recognizing her commitment to peaceful conflict transformation and her innovative approach to mediation. Ms. Nderitu holds an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Keene State College, a Master’s Degree in Armed Conflict and Peace Studies and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Literature and Philosophy from the University of Nairobi.
Previous Special Advisers
- Adama Dieng (2012-2020)
- Francis Deng (2007-2012)
- Juan Méndez (2004-2007)
