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My Work as a Peace Ambassador
Peace-building is one of the most important causes to work on. It is fundamental. It consists of creating an environment of security and conditions of well-being through access to things such as health care, education, and water. Therefore, it is without a doubt, very important.
I made major contributions to peace and international development when I joined United Nations Peace Ambassador through WOLMI and became a participant of the International Consulting Cabinet (I.C.C.); Women’s Leadership & Affairs Department of WOLMI Organization between 2019 and 2020. I conducted a series of intensive training in Protocol & Diplomacy and Humanitarian Diplomacy from the prestigious WOLMI Academy in Association with CICA International University & Seminary of Toronto, Canada. As a WOLMI peace ambassador, I played a major role in promoting positive influence on women in varying areas of industry. I used my position to inspire leadership potential within women to develop beneficial self-actualization and self-determination. I also used this noble opportunity to promote education in areas of health, entrepreneurship, leadership, and social awareness. My goal is to create and facilitate various methods which will engage and bring tangible impact, locally and abroad, in collaboration with UN SDG’s 5-gender equality and empowerment of women and girls.
I have also volunteered for several NGOs that focus on providing non-combative solutions to complex international crises while strictly advocating non-violence. I love this work because, as a peace ambassador, I get to promote peace and development hence helping to build a better world.
In August 2019, African Diaspora Network invited me to their second annual convening in Washington D.C. It partnered with Symantec, USA for International Organization for Migration (IOM), USAID, Wilson Center, and PYXERA Global. This event was inspired by the success of the August 2018 ADN convening, “Harnessing the Knowledge and Resources of Africans in the Diaspora for Positive Impact,” that garnered the attendance of over 165 participants. The main agenda of the meeting was to address issues imperative to the D.C. community, addressing U.S. policies toward Africa on investment, innovation, entrepreneurship, trade, and the role of Africans in the Diaspora within these areas.
I was privileged to be a part of this in-depth conversation among entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and other public and private partners with the goal of contributing my expertise to empower communities in Africa and support relevant stakeholders towards a common vision of achieving self-reliance and prosperity for all.
It was a very selective, cohort-based program of peacemakers based all over the world from various disciplines and sectors. I used this forum to share my personal, professional, and academic experiences to peace.
I am committed to promoting gender equality and female economic empowerment, and it is usually peaceful countries that defend and respect gender equality the most. What I have learned thanks to being a Peace Ambassador has certainly had a direct positive impact on my professional development towards being a peace leader and a women’s rights advocate.
An Act of Kindness: Reaching out to widows and orphans
I strongly agree with the comments made by the Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon that, “No woman should lose her status, livelihood or property when her husband dies, yet millions of widows in our world face persistence abuse, discrimination, disinheritance and destitution. Many widows are subjected to harmful practices such as Widow burning and “widow cleansing” – an abhorrent ritual which often amounts to rape, increases the widows’ risk of HIV infection. The impacts are also felt by widows’ children and their dependents.”
Across Africa, the impact of marital death, aftermath of civil wars and divorce falls more heavily on women and children. The women get excluded socially and lose their home and property after a marriage ends as a result of natural death or civil wars. As a result of divorce or widowhood, women always struggle with serious economic hardship.
Having been raised as an orphan after tragic death of my father, I saw my mother struggling to provide for our needs. She went through hardships with meagre income and barely no property at her disposal. Despite my tender age, I dreamt of founding an Organisation that would focus on widows, orphans and survivors of Gender Based Violence and civil wars. I inspired to support and champion for the advancement of the orphans’ and widows’ rights, social and economic empowerment in recognition that widows and orphans’ rights are human rights. My passion has always been to make sure that the society treats widows, orphans and other vulnerable groups with dignity.
In 2016, I started a program to support and empower widows by initiating a fund meant to support 5 widows to start small businesses after three months of training. The program was designed to improve their socioeconomic capacity by helping them gain the necessary set of skills to develop a reliable income source that will help them to live with dignity, attain financial freedom, and other sustainable and long-term solutions to improve their living conditions. The program also gives them opportunities to learn through various programs and provides them with key equipment such as sewing machines, foods, and clothes. My vision is to break the cycle of poverty through self-sustainability, and microfinance by empowering, and supporting women, particularly widows, from Sudan, South Sudan, and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa. I strongly believe that women, particularly widows, have the power to transform their lives, but when they are undervalued, underfunded and uneducated, they lose this power. Through this excellent program, widows rebuild their confidence and dignity.
I started this initiative in 2016 with 5 widows, today there are more than 30 beneficiaries who have now become empowered and self-sufficient individuals in their communities. Their businesses have brought tremendous changes, not only in their lives, but also the lives of people around them.
My desire is to reach out to as many women as possible, particularly widows and struggling single mothers across South Sudan and sub-Saharan Africa to equip them with the much-needed entrepreneurial skills and provide them with the necessary financial support to jump-start their business ventures and become self-reliant.
Here are some of the women who have benefited form this initiative. It is my sincere hope that I will get more access to resources so that I can reach out to as many widows as possible.
