Kenyan Public Health Expert Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and the Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW) have nominated Dr Miriam Were of Kenya for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize. The groups said in a statement that the nomination aimed to draw attention to Dr Were's tireless work since the 1970s in promoting trust between governments, health authorities, and the citizenry through culturally sensitive programmes.

Dr Were graduated from the University of Nairobi with a medical degree in 1973. This was followed by master's and doctorate degrees in public health from Johns Hopkins University in 1976 and 1981, respectively. Dr Were's decades-long career in the health sector has seen her direct the Community-Based Health Care Project in Kakamega, Western Kenya. She has served as Chief of Health and Nutrition in UNICEF Ethiopia and worked as WHO Representative and Chief of Mission in Ethiopia. She is chairperson of the National AIDS Control Council Kenya coordinating the national HIV/AIDS response in the country. She is on the Lancet COVID-19 Commission.

In 1947, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Friends Service Council (the precursor to QPSW) and AFSC on behalf of Quakers worldwide for their work during and after the two world wars to feed starving children and help Europe rebuild itself. As a Nobel laureate, AFSC can nominate a candidate for the peace prize to the Oslo Committee each year.