Kwemoi Charles K

📣 We @UNAIDS welcome expanded rollout of HIV prevention medicine and call for urgent action to ensure equitable and affordable global access. This expanded commitment is an important step forward, and we applaud the @GlobalFund and the 🇺🇸 United States for accelerating access to lenacapavir. However, to #endAIDS as a public health threat, we must urgently go further—by enabling large-scale generic manufacturing, especially on the African continent, lowering prices through transparent, equitable pricing frameworks that enable widespread uptake in low- and middle-income countries. Communities have waited too long for prevention options that meet their needs. #Lenacapavir can be transformative—but only if it is accessible, affordable and available everywhere. We call on all partners to work together to break down barriers, speed up generic production, and invest in manufacturing, particularly in Africa which remains the epicentre of the epidemic, so that no one is left behind.

Education is a human right, not a privilege. See how @UNESCO works around the world to ensure everyone, everywhere can access quality education. unesco.org/en/education

Received the UN Kenya Annual Report 2025 from the United Nations Country Team, led by Resident Coordinator Dr. Stephen Jackson, highlighting the impact of 28 UN agencies delivering programmes across the country. Anchored on the Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (2022–2027), the report outlines strong support to Kenya’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) across key pillars of people and peace, planet and prosperity, alongside critical enablers driving economic progress. The report also highlights UN support in peacebuilding, conflict prevention, social cohesion and electoral preparedness as Kenya looks ahead to the 2027 elections. In 2025 alone, the UN Country Team delivered programmes worth approximately USD 460 million, reflecting a strong and impactful partnership with Kenya in advancing sustainable development and inclusive growth.

Building Beyond Dependency In the last few years, I have been sitting with this call for NGOs to rise above donor dependency. I find myself holding two truths at once. We must move beyond dependency. Not just because it is strategic, but because it is necessary for dignity, resilience, and long-term agency. And yet… I think about the nonprofit leaders I know. The ones staring at balance sheets that no longer balance. At math that no longer maths. The ones writing emails they never imagined they would have to write, letting staff go, closing programs, stepping away from communities that still need them. Leaders carrying not just budgets, but people, relationships, and years of trust. And I wonder: What does it actually mean to “rise above dependency” from where they stand? Because for many this does not feel like a strategic pivot. It feels like being asked to jump from a fast-moving train. In your head, you understand why the jump is necessary. But it is still terrifying. And the train does not slow down to let you land gently. So yes, we must move beyond donor dependency. And we need to be honest about what that requires. Building local giving is not a slogan. It requires trust. Disposable income. Infrastructure. Culture. Transforming institutions is not an instruction. It takes time, investment, and a rethinking of the systems we operate within. And transitions like this are never neat. They come with real costs, and real people at the center. This moment is not only a story about NGOs needing to change. It is a story about systems under strain. And perhaps the real question is not only whether we move beyond dependency, but how we build what comes next, while people are still inside the fall. I assure you that leaders are not standing still. They are experimenting. Adapting. Trying. Some things will work. Some will break. And in that process, we will learn. Moving beyond dependency means being serious about building what comes next. With honesty. With humility. And together. #AfricanPhilanthropy #BeyondDependency #SystemsChange

But history shows we can build new institutions that shift global priorities — from the Geneva Conventions, to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to the IPCC. None were easy. All required courage. We have now begun writing the next chapter: a streamlined, networked, global panel to deliver rigorous evidence and analysis on inequality.

In recognition to the role that Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) play in ensuring corporate accountability and keeping communities safe, Defenders Coalition and UN OHCHR conducted business and human rights training for 20 Human Rights Defenders (HRDs). The training aimed at strengthening HRDs’s grasp on Business and Human Rights (BHR) frameworks, particularly UN Guiding Principles (UNGPs) and the Kenya National Action Plan on BHR to effectively do their human rights work.

ogopa hao vijana wapole, 😂 kwa nini anafyeka maindi zetu...

I take this opportunity to congratulate Monica Juma on her appointment as the Executive Director of UNODC and Director General of UN Office in Vienna. Her stellar performance in the appointments bestowed upon her, with the most recent one being as my National Security Advisor and Secretary to the National Security Council, have been recognised beyond our borders.   Dr Juma has served our country with utmost professionalism and patriotism, given the best to all assignments tasked to her, which in return has earned her a place on the international stage.   I thank Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres for appointing not just a Kenyan but a woman leader and for doing this especially in this month when we celebrate women’s achievements.   Kenya is committed to multilateralism, and we look forward to our continued collaboration with the United Nations.   Hongera Monica for this appointment, and Happy Women’s Day!

"She saved a stranger’s child with $15. Decades later, she discovered why he had been searching for her. In 1982, a Kenyan boy named Chris Mburu stood on the brink of losing everything. He was the brightest student in his rural district, studying by lamplight inside an earthen house without electricity. But his family could not afford his school fees. Without help, his education would end — along with any chance of escaping a life spent picking coffee in the fields. Meanwhile, across the world in Sweden, an 80-year-old kindergarten teacher named Hilde Back came across a notice for a child sponsorship program. She chose a name from a list: Chris Mburu, Kenya. She began sending $15 every school term. There was no recognition, no expectation of gratitude — just a quiet decision to help a child she believed she would never meet. That small amount changed everything. Chris stayed in school. Over time, he and Hilde exchanged letters. She asked about his teachers, his studies, and his dreams. Through her words, he realized she wasn’t just part of an organization. She was a real person who believed in him. And he never forgot her. Chris eventually graduated at the top of his law class at the University of Nairobi. He later earned a Fulbright scholarship to Harvard. He went on to become a United Nations human rights lawyer, helping prosecute genocide and crimes against humanity around the world. Yet one thing always weighed on his heart. He had never properly thanked the woman who made his journey possible. In truth, he barely knew who she was. In 2001, Chris founded a scholarship program for children like himself — talented students from poor families whose potential might otherwise be lost. He asked the Swedish Ambassador in Kenya to help him locate his mysterious sponsor so he could name the foundation after her. They found her. Hilde Back. Still alive. Still living quietly in Sweden. Chris traveled to meet her for the first time. He expected to meet a wealthy philanthropist. Instead, he found a humble, warm woman living simply — genuinely surprised that anyone considered her actions remarkable. Then filmmaker Jennifer Arnold began documenting their reunion. During her research, she uncovered something Hilde had never told Chris. Hilde Back had not been born in Sweden. She was born in Nazi Germany in 1922 to a Jewish family. At sixteen, when Hitler’s Nuremberg Laws banned Jewish children from attending school, strangers helped smuggle her to Sweden. Her parents stayed behind because Sweden’s refugee policies did not allow older Jews to enter. Both were later sent to concentration camps. Her father died there. Her mother disappeared, never to be heard from again. Hilde survived the Holocaust because strangers helped her escape. She lost her own education because of who she was. Fifty years later, she quietly paid for the education of a child across the world — a child who would grow up to fight the same hatred that destroyed her family. When Chris learned her story, he wept. Hilde, meanwhile, had no idea that the boy she sponsored had devoted his life to prosecuting genocide. In 2003, Hilde traveled to Kenya for the inauguration of the Hilde Back Education Fund. The entire village welcomed her as an honorary elder. In 2012, she returned again to celebrate her 90th birthday, surrounded by hundreds of children whose futures had been transformed through her generosity. Hilde Back passed away on January 13, 2021, at the age of 98. Today, the Hilde Back Education Fund has supported nearly 1,000 Kenyan children in continuing their education. Many have graduated from universities around the world. Many now give back — mentoring younger students and contributing monthly donations to support the next generation. One woman. Fifteen dollars. One child. That child created a foundation. That foundation changed hundreds of lives. And those lives continue to change others.

There will never be another Johana Ngeno Ngong. A man who hardly lived a day for himself but for others. Ru nemie nyiganenyon!

@OHCHRKENYA Country Representative, @kwemoik was pleased to be hosted by PS @SingoeiAKorir of Foreign Affairs. Charles reaffirmed OHCHR’s commitment to supporting Kenya in promoting & protecting #HumanRights, strengthening institutions & advancing engagement with UN HR mechanisms

On 24th September 2025, while addressing the 80th UN General Assembly, H.E. President @WilliamsRuto articulated the Common African Position on UN Security Council reform which, among other things, calls for Africa’s equitable representation in the Council with allocation of not less than two permanent seats with all the privileges and prerogatives including the veto, and two additional non-permanent seats. Ten days ago, in Addis Ababa, the 39th AU Assembly adopted the African Model on UN Security Council reform and mandated African missions to the UN in New York to negotiate on the basis of the Model. Last week, during the Second Plenary Meeting of the Inter-Governmental Negotiations convened by the Co-Chairs, Kenya reiterated the Common African Position, expressed support for the AU Model and reiterated the urgency of correcting the injustices against Africa. Kenya is a Member of the African Union’s Committee of Ten (C-10) on UN Security Council reform. #UNSCReform

Thank you, PS Dr.Korir, for our fruitful engagement this afternoon. I look forward to working with the GoK, its institutions and other partners to advance dignity, justice, and inclusive development for all in Kenya.

Well done SC @MarthaKarua! ⭕️ @kizzabesigye1 is a strong man. Consistent. Unbowed. He does not kneel before dictators. He has sacrificed deeply. ⭕️ But let’s be honest. Even Jesus on the cross said the spirit is willing — but the body was weak. Dr. Besigye’s health is fragile. ⭕️ This is bigger than Uganda. The region must rise. Now. ⭕️ My respect to @Winnie_Byanyima. Real strength of a woman against adversity. Grace. Courage under fire. Keep it up ⭕️ Fellow Kenyans — injustice has no borders. Injustice against Kizza is injustice against all of us. Stand up. Not for him. But for ourselves

As the country prays for Dr. Kizza Besigye, who continues to be incarcerated, I can't help but feel nostalgic about what an impactful leader he was as I grew up from being a small girl to the woman I am today. He was a fierce man who spearheaded the masses in undertaking their responsibility of demanding what the state ought to do right. His leadership in the 2010 walk-to-work demonstrations is most unforgettable in my memory. Indeed, he was the man, and yet we failed him. 😔 I pray that God continues to keep him alive with good health, and all political prisoners. We should also pray that, as a country, we soon get back on the right track. For God and my country.

AIDS is not over in Africa and continued African leadership is essential. Now is the moment to raise ambition, safeguard our gains and ensure Africa drives the global agenda for a sustainable and sovereign health future. #AUSummit #39thAUSummit Read more🔗 unaids.org/en/resources/p…

Lenacapavir costs $28,000 per person per year in the rich North. In Africa, that price puts it completely out of reach. Yet last year @UNITAID helped broker deals that cut the price to $40 per person per year. Roll out of Lenacapavir in Africa has now started. @UNITAID was created by just a handful of governments. This shows that we don’t need global consensus to act. I believe we can do the same with the IPI — and start dismantling this extreme inequality. Let's go! #FightInequality #AUSummit

Inequality is a major driver for why we cannot finance our development needs. Inequality is wired in the global rules of the economy. Until we unrig a rigged global economy, we will not reach the health, education targets in Africa's ambitious #Agenda2063.

I have never agreed with Morara on many issues, but on this one I 100% agree with him: most of us have no problem with corruption itself, we have a problem with the fact that the corrupt leaders are not from our community and we're not benefiting from it. Tribalism is the elephant in the room.

🚨UPDATE: On 07/03/2006, the High Court of Uganda, presided over by Justice John Bosco Katutsi, acquitted Dr. Kizza Besigye of the rape charges against him. The judge dismissed the case, ruling that the prosecution had failed to prove its case and describing the evidence presented as "inadequate, impotent, scandalous, monstrous". ▪︎Verdict: Not guilty; Dr. Besigye was acquitted and set free forthwith. Judge's Comments: Justice Katutsi delivered a scathing assessment of the prosecution's case, stating that the investigation had been "crude and amateurish" and "betray[ed] the intentions behind this case". •Prosecution Witness Credibility: The judge ruled that the complainant, Joanita Kyakuwa, told lies in court, noting inconsistencies in her testimony, including being unable to remember the date and month of the alleged incidents. •Political Context: The court heard that the alleged victim and a key prosecution witness had been housed and provided for by the state, leading to claims by the defense that the charges were politically motivated to hinder Besigye's presidential campaign. •Aftermath The State, through the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), filed a notice of appeal against the acquittal, but the appeal was later withdrawn and formally dismissed by the Court of Appeal in July 2020, 14 years after the initial judgment. Dr. Besigye, who was the main opposition candidate in the February 2006 general elections, maintained that all charges against him were politically engineered by the government. He later announced his intention to sue the government for malicious prosecution, pledging to donate any compensation to women's organizations fighting the abuse of women. On record government has never won any case against Dr.Kizza Besigye.