Hon. Wangari Maathai blazed the trail for African and Kenyan women in regard to international recognition for peace activism. Betty Kaari Murungi has now followed in those footsteps. On November 11th 2005, in New York, Betty received the annual International Advocate for Peace Award which honours individuals who embody passion through their work in international conflict resolution. This award was founded by the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution which draws its name from former U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Benjamin N. Cardozo, who was renowned for his integrity and social consciousness.

Betty Murungi accepted this award, whose past recipients include Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former US President Bill Clinton, on behalf of all the women of the Continent and particularly those whose lives have been permanently scarred by conflict – where through sexual violence, abduction and sexual slavery their bodies became the battleground over which the conflicts were fought. They are the unsung peace activists who often put aside their own suffering as they work for peace and justice. Her award celebrates the indefatigable, creative and innovative efforts by women on how to achieve and maintain peace – from the Women in Black movement founded by Israeli women and quickly and spontaneously duplicated around the world as a forum to say no to war and injustice - to the Sixth Clan initiative by Somali Women, to ensure their inclusion in peace negotiations to end the conflict in their country.

Ms. Murungi’s award is in recognition of her work in international conflict resolution and particularly in regard to justice for women in post-conflict justice mechanisms such as the Special Tribunal for Sierra Leone and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. It also recognises her work as part of the Women’s Caucus for Gender Justice, in advocating for the inclusion of a gender perspective in the International Criminal Court (ICC) – leading to an explicit inclusion of rape and other crimes of sexual and gender violence as war crimes and crimes against humanity, and measures to ensure participation and appropriate protection of victims and witnesses in the Court’s processes. As the ICC now undertakes investigations in DRC, Northern Uganda and Darfur in Sudan, all areas in which there have been rampant, vicious and insidious acts of sexual violence against women, a gendered approach by the Court should translate into huge gains for the women in so far as redress and justice for the crimes against them.

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