Speakers' Profile
Mr Jeffrey Labovitz. IOM Regional Director, East and Horn of Africa He joined Regional Office Nairobi from IOM Thailand, where he served as the Chief of Mission since 2011.Mr. Labovitz has also served as Regional Representative for Central and South Central Europe, Chief of Mission for Ukraine and Sub-regional Coordinator for the Western Newly Independent States, Senior Emergency Response Officer in IOM Geneva, Head of Electoral Programme in IOM Geneva, Regional Syria Crisis Coordinator, Coordinator for the Southern Sudan Referendum on Independence and as the Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa.
Dr Michela Martini, Regional Migration Health Specialist for Horn, East and Southern Africa - IOM-Regional office Horn and East Africa, Nairobi.
Beatrice Mumbi Gikonyo is a Law graduate from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. She is currently pursuing a Masters of Arts degree in Public Policy and Administration. Beatrice has been for the last three years the Regional Advocacy Officer for Jesuit Refugee Service in Eastern Africa, providing leadership in refugee protection and advocacy work in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and South Sudan.
Judith Nadine Gahungu, a refugee from Congo (DRC) works in my Organization – Jesuit Refugee Service as a volunteer Peer Counselor supporting other refugees to cope with trauma and difficult experiences.
Emeka Xris Obiezu, OSA was the UN Representative of the Augustinians International and currently serves as the organization’s African Regional Representative. He is a contributor in the global civil society network on Migration and Development with focus on Global governance of migration. He is the convener of national collaboration on Migration and Development in Nigeria, a forum for interactive sharing by all stakeholders— government, international agencies, civil society and the private sector—in migration dynamics in Nigeria.
Robert Dueweke, OSA the permanent representative for Augustinians International at the New York office, has worked with migrant and refugee issues in Latin America and the United States for almost 40 years. He lived for several years on the Mexico/USA border and has extensive experience with the tensions related to immigration and detention centers. Dueweke is currently a member of a subcommittee at the UN that raises awareness about forced migration due to climate change patterns.
Eusebio Manangbao, SVD is from the Philippines and has lived in Kenya for 23 years. He was the former SVD Provincial Superior of Kenya-Tanzania and former Chair of the Board of Trustees of Tangaza University College. He is currently the VIVAT Kenya Executive Team Chair and lives in Eldoret, Western Kenya.
Joan F. Burke, SNDdeNamur, (D.Phil., Oxon.) is Senior Lecturer in the post-graduate Maryknoll Institute of African Studies and the Centre for Leadership and Management at Tangaza University College, Kenya. She was the first SND de Namur NGO Representative to the United Nations. Sister Joan brings with her a wealth of missionary experience and academic work with Catholic women religious in both East and West Africa.
Radoslaw Malinowski is a founder and director of Awareness Against Human Trafficking (HAART) – a Kenyan organization working on eradication of human trafficking in Kenya. In addition, he also lectures at Tangaza University College in Nairobi. He is the author of several publications on human trafficking, migration, conflict transformation and peace-building, labor related issues and slavery.
Winnie N. Mutevu is a young human rights defender experienced in working with victims of trafficking in person. She currently works with Awareness Against Human Trafficking (HAART) as the assistant program, youth and volunteers’ coordinator. In this portfolio she oversees the trafficked victims programs, coordinating social workers and volunteers who identify victims of trafficking, rescue, and assist the victims according to their needs after an assessment. She is also involved in the youth program which works with youth from the informal settlements with the aim of reducing their vulnerability to trafficking.
Victor Nyamori is Refugee Officer with Amnesty International East, Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes Regional Office in Nairobi. He focuses on advocacy work on refugees’ issues and forced migration both nationally and regionally. Before joining Amnesty International, Nyamori engaged in refugee protection work with Save the Children, HIAS and UNHCR. Originally trained as lawyer and advocate of the High Court of Kenya, Nyamori is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in Human Rights. He is also an alumnus of University of Oxford Summer School on Forced Migration.
Ms. Milka Isinta is a registered nurse, trade unionist and migrant rights activist based in Nairobi, Kenya. She is a founding member and current chair of the Pan African Network in Defense of Migrants Rights (PANIDMR), seeking the inclusion of Africa in global migrant platforms and advocacy on human rights, gender equity and racial justice in solidarity with global allies. Ms. Isinta is also a steering committee member of the Women in Migration Network. She was a member of the technical working group of the ILO special action program on health worker migration in Kenya (2006 to 2012). She was also the national coordinator (KENYA) of Public Services International program on Migration in the health and social care sectors 2005 to 2012.
Anne Ndungu is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya with fifteen years practical experience in legal, governance, human rights and humanitarian work. Within her thirteen years of working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kenya, Tajikistan, South Sudan, Sudan, Zambia, Tanzania and Ghana, she has gained refugee protection experience ranging from contingency planning, reception and registration, protection in the countries of asylum and pursuing durable solutions for asylum seekers, to refugees and returnees. She has also helped build the protection capacity of Governments and NGOs.
Magaret Masibo is a long time development worker with an MBA from Kenyatta University. She has served as a development coordinator of archdiocese of Mombasa. She is currently the National Coordinator – Commission for Refugee, Migrants and Sea farers. She has done a lot in the area of formation and training of Pastoral agents on care for Itinerant people in Kenya.
Bishop Joseph Alessandro, a native of Paola Malta and a member of Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is the bishop of Garissa is the Chairman Commission for Refugee, Migrants and Sea Farers since 2015. The commission has been working to sensitize people on the pastoral care for all people of the way.-Itinerant People, the majority of whom are migrants, exiles and refugees, seafarers, air-travelers, gypsies, and others of this kind.
Justine Gitanjali Senapati, CSJ is a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph of Annecy, India. She was the Justice Coordinator for Bhubaneswar Province of CSJ’s from 2008 to 2010 and served as Secretary to the Women Commission for the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar from 2009 to 2011. Since 2014, she has been serving at the United Nations as the representative for the Congregations of St. Joseph, which includes 30 global independent congregations at New York. She is an active participant in the global civil society network on migration and the current secretary of the NGO Committee on Migration at the UN. She had been actively involved in serving 60,000 Internally Displaced People (IDPs) and the young girls who were trafficked.
Bihama Vedaste, a graduate of biochemistry from Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU), Belmont California, was a refugee from Rwanda and now a naturalized American. He is a marathon runner sponsored by Sketchers. He is on the board of Friends and Children of Haiti Organization and speaker on genocide and refugee experiences and effective ways of responding to them. Bihama is involved in community development projects in refugee camps through sport and education. He is also committed to the helping the homeless and volunteers at Sister Dorothy Stang Center for social justice and community engagement at NDNU.
Julia Hill-Mlati is the IOM’s Regional Program Specialist on Migration Sensitive Health Services.
Major-General (rtd) Gordon Kihalangwa (CBS), a PhD holder in International Studies and Diplomacy is the Director of Immigration Services, Kenya. He is described as a dedicated and disciplined officer "whose loyalty, integrity and competence are beyond reproach." Kihalangwa had a long and distinguished career in the Kenya Defense Forces. He served as Head of the Military Police before he was elevated to Assistant Chief of Defense Forces responsible for personnel and logistics at Defense Headquarters.
Dr Dan Opon is the Assistant Director of Immigration, in Charge of National Coordination Mechanism on Migration, Kenya. He is an immigration expert of over 23 years experience with diplomatic experience as Immigration Attache at the Kenyan High Commission, Ottawa. He is a researcher and author and has participated in and facilitated numerous professional international, regional and local symposia, seminars, workshops in Canada, Ethiopia, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Malawi and Kenya.