Dr Joan Nyanyuki

Executive Director, ACPF

Dr Joan Nyanyuki joins ACPF from Amnesty International where she served as Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and Great Lakes region. Prior to joining Amnesty, Dr Nyanyuki was the Executive Director of Coalition on Violence against Women, an organisation that worked to promote gender justice and equality.  In this role, she led advocacy campaigns and movement-building, supported local community organisations, and persuaded law and policy makers to uphold women’s rights and gender equality.

Dr Nyanyuki was instrumental in documenting sexual violence and killings in Kenya’s post-election violence of 2007/8 and advocating for international justice for these and related crimes.  Early in her career Dr Nyanyuki served as a General Physician providing clinical care to patients in various public and private health institutions in Kenya. She earned her medical degree from Moi University and undertook advanced graduate work in human rights at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Dr Nyanyuki has built a reputation as a human rights and gender equality champion, having carried out research and published on sexual violence and human rights violations. She has also written several op-eds in national and international media advocating for victims of human rights abuses, in particular for justice for sexual violence survivors, women and girls.