Kenya's Kennedy Odede Awarded the 2025 Nelson Mandela Prize

New York, 18 July 2025 — The United Nations has awarded the 2025 Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize to Dr Kennedy Odede of Kenya, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO), in recognition of his transformational, community-led development work across urban informal settlements in Kenya.

Dr Odede becomes the first Kenyan man to receive the honour, joining Brenda Reynolds of Canada as the 2025 recipients of the Prize. The Nelson Mandela Prize is presented once every five years to one woman and one man whose work upholds the legacy of Nelson Mandela through contributions to social justice, reconciliation, dignity and community empowerment.

The award ceremony took place at the United Nations General Assembly Hall in New York, marking the annual commemoration of Nelson Mandela International Day. The day’s theme, "It’s still in our hands to combat poverty and inequality," resonated deeply with Dr Odede’s lifelong work in slum communities, advocating for a new paradigm of development driven by local leadership.

Celebrating a Legacy of Courage and Community-Led Change

UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who presented the award alongside the President of the 79th Session of the General Assembly, H.E. Philémon Yang, commended Dr Odede as a visionary grassroots leader.

“The organisation he founded now reaches over 2.4 million people each year with essential services, from education to clean water,” said the Secretary-General. “As the United Nations marks its 80th anniversary, we are reminded that the spirit of transformation, so deeply embodied by Mandela, lives on in those like Kennedy Odede who are expanding opportunity from the ground up.”

In his acceptance remarks to the General Assembly, Dr Odede said the honour was not only a personal milestone, but also a symbol of validation for communities often overlooked by traditional development models.

“This award is not about me, it is about the power of communities and the trust placed in local leadership,” said Odede. “Nelson Mandela taught us that dignity and justice begin from the ground up. At SHOFCO, we are proving that transformative leadership emerges from the places the world too often ignores — not just to walk through gates, but to widen them for others.”

From Kibera to the World: SHOFCO’s Story of Impact

SHOFCO began in 2004 as a youth movement in Kibera, Nairobi’s largest informal settlement. Dr Odede, then a factory worker and former street child, bought a soccer ball with his daily wages to bring his community together. Today, SHOFCO is one of Kenya’s most influential grassroots organisations, delivering essential services while empowering slum residents to shift power and voice.

Operating in more than 90 locations across 35 counties in Kenya, SHOFCO delivers a range of services including:

• Clean water systems serving over 40,000 households;
• Girls’ education supporting over 10,000 learners;
• Primary healthcare and GBV support reaching thousands annually;
• Leadership training for 1.3 million youth;
• SHOFCO Urban Network (SUN) with over 2 million registered members;
• SHOFCO Sacco, which has disbursed over KES 1.2 billion in microloans;
• Programmes facilitating over 180,000 job linkages.

Dr Odede emphasised sustainability as SHOFCO’s next frontier, noting the organisation’s growing portfolio of income-generating activities. "We are the largest provider of clean water in many slums in Kenya and we are building local systems that will outlast donor cycles,” he noted.

Global Recognition and Advocacy for Local Solutions

Dr Odede’s work has been recognised globally. In 2024, he was named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. He is a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum and has served on high-level bodies such as the UN International Commission on Financing Global Education, the USAID Advisory Committee and the Obama Foundation’s Africa Leadership programme.

He is also a co-author of the New York Times bestseller Find Me Unafraid: Love, Loss and Hope in an African Slum and a recipient of the UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour (2021), the Echoing Green Fellowship (2010), Forbes 30 Under 30 (2014) and the Schwab Foundation Social Innovator Award (2022).

Ambassador Ekitela Lokaale, Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the UN, applauded the award, calling it “a celebration of the resilience, innovation and hope that thrives in Kenya’s informal settlements.” He added, “This recognition affirms that Kenya’s solutions to inequality and poverty are not found in the boardrooms of the privileged, but in the everyday struggles and triumphs of community leaders like Kennedy Odede.”

About the Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize

Established by the UN General Assembly in 2014 through Resolution 68/275, the Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize honours two individuals — one woman and one man — whose service to humanity reflects Mandela’s legacy of justice, equality, peace and human dignity. Laureates must not be selected from the same geographic region. The 2025 selection committee received 331 nominations from 66 UN Member States.

Past laureates include Helena Ndume of Namibia, Jorge Fernando Branco Sampaio of Portugal, Marianna Vardinoyannis of Greece and Dr Morissanda Kouyaté of Guinea.

The Prize includes an honorary glass trophy engraved with the words: “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others.”

UN Kenya joins the wider United Nations family in congratulating Dr Kennedy Odede on this prestigious award and in reaffirming its support to community-driven development, local leadership and the pursuit of dignity for all.

For more information about the 2025 Nelson Mandela Prize and its laureates, visit: https://www.un.org/ru/unis-nairobi/press-release-united-nations-selects-indigenous-social-worker-canada-kenyan-social