Grace Lolim is a Kenyan human rights and peace activist, the chair of the Isiolo Peace Committee, and the founder and executive director of Isiolo Gender Watch.
Early life
Lolim is from
Isiolo
Isiolo is a town in Isiolo County, of which it is the capital. It is located in the upper eastern region of Kenya and geographically considered the centre of the country Kenya. It lies 285 kilometres north of the capital Nairobi. The town grew ar ...
,
and was brought up in the
Turkana community.
Career and activism
Lolim started advocating for peace in 2000 when
Somalis
The Somalis ( so, Soomaalida ππππππππ, ar, Ψ΅ΩΩ
Ψ§ΩΩΩΩ) are an ethnic group native to the Horn of Africa who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The Lowland East Cushitic Somali language is the shared ...
and
Boranas were fighting in
Nakuru
Nakuru is a city in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya, Rift Valley region of Kenya. It is the capital of Nakuru County, and was formerly the capital of Rift Valley Province. As of 2019, Nakuru had an urban and rural population of 570,674 inhabitant ...
.
Although she had successfully fled the conflict with her husband and children, she returned there to help her parents and the siblings she left behind. She discovered her family members hiding with other villagers along the riverbank, exposed to attacks by crocodiles.
Despite persuasion from her husband, Lolim refused to leave her relatives in distress. She embarked on a journey of dialogue to end the conflict by joining the village peace committee. She was appointed by other women to speak during a conflict mitigation meeting at the locational level, a position that saw her interact with committee members from other tribes.
She was the only woman to be nominated to speak for the village.
In 2002, the
United Nations Development Programme
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le dΓ©veloppement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...
nominated Lolim to take part in an exchange program with Rwandan women to learn about the impact of armed conflict. According to one account, she preached peace using teachings she found in both the Bible and Koran, which was helpful in reaching her diverse audiences and was a great milestone for the peace committee.
In 2013, Lolim founded Isiolo Gender Watch, an organization that advocates for human rights and gender equality,
where (as of 2022) she works as the executive director.
Lolim is the chair of the Isiolo Peace Committee
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lolim lead efforts to share health messaging to her local community.
In 2020, she advocated for more women to be included in peacebuilding efforts. In 2022, she spoke about the prevalence of sexual and gender based violence, and the need for justice in response to the murder of peace activist Elizabeth Ibrahim.
See also
*
List of peace activists
This list of peace activists includes people who have proactively advocated diplomatic, philosophical, and non-military resolution of major territorial or ideological disputes through nonviolent means and methods. Peace activists usually work ...
References
External links
Isiolo Gender Watch, official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lolim, Grace
Living people
People from Isiolo County
Kenyan anti-war activists
Kenyan human rights activists
African pacifists
Women founders
Kenyan women activists
Year of birth missing (living people)