Kenya: Nobel Peace Laureates to Visit Kenya for Wangari Maathai Day, Champion Climate Justice

22 February 2026
Capital FM (Nairobi)

Nairobi — Nobel Peace Prize laureates are set to visit Kenya in March to mark Wangari Maathai Day, also recognised as Africa Environment Day, while engaging young women activists on climate justice, peace and human rights.

The visit, under the Rooted and Rising programme, will honour the legacy of the late Nobel Laureate Prof. Wangari Maathai and spotlight the role of women in environmental protection and peacebuilding.

The initiative is convened by the Nobel Women's Initiative in collaboration with the Institute on Gender, Law and Transformative Peace at CUNY School of Law, alongside partners including the Wangari Maathai Foundation and the Green Belt Movement.

Organisers say the programme comes at a time of rising global conflict, increased threats to environmental defenders and sustained pressure on women's rights, aiming to reaffirm women's leadership while empowering a new generation of activists.

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Activities will begin on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, with Wangari Maathai Day celebrations at Karura Forest in Nairobi from 9am to noon. The following day, a Rooted and Rising Conference will be held at Serena Hotel, bringing together Nobel laureates and emerging women leaders.

Among the laureates expected are Jody Williams (United States), awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for her role in banning landmines; Shirin Ebadi (Iran), the 2003 laureate recognised for her work on human rights; Oleksandra Matviichuk (Ukraine), representing the 2022 Nobel-winning Center for Civil Liberties; and Leymah Gbowee (Liberia), honoured in 2011 for her leadership in ending Liberia's civil war.

The Nobel Women's Initiative, founded in 2006 by Williams, Maathai and Ebadi, brings together women Nobel Peace laureates to support peacebuilders and human rights defenders worldwide.

Read the original article on Capital FM.

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