{"id":123654,"date":"2025-10-25T08:06:36","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T08:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/10\/25\/prof-michael-ndurumo-named-un-kenya-person-of-the-year-2025-for-championing-disability-inclusion\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T08:06:36","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T08:06:36","slug":"prof-michael-ndurumo-named-un-kenya-person-of-the-year-2025-for-championing-disability-inclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/prof-michael-ndurumo-named-un-kenya-person-of-the-year-2025-for-championing-disability-inclusion\/","title":{"rendered":"Prof. Michael Ndurumo named UN Kenya Person of the Year 2025 for championing disability inclusion"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 25 \u2014 The United Nations in Kenya has named Professor Michael Ndurumo, the first deaf professor in East Africa and founder of the Africa Institute of Deaf Studies and Research, as the 2025 United Nations in Kenya Person of the Year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The announcement came during celebrations to mark United Nations Day, commemorating 80 years since the adoption of the UN Charter on October 24, 1945\u2014eight decades of global cooperation for peace, sustainable development, and human rights.<\/p>\n

The UN honoured Professor Ndurumo for his extraordinary contributions to disability rights and inclusive education, and for a lifetime of work that has transformed the landscape of communication, education, and equality in Kenya and across the region.<\/p>\n

Deaf since the age of eight, Prof. Ndurumo\u2019s journey is a story of resilience, intellect, and innovation. <\/p>\n

Unable to hear or speak, he learned to communicate with his father through writing, filling notebooks with conversations that bridged their silent world. At the time, Kenya had no established sign language.<\/p>\n

After pursuing higher education in the United States, he returned to Kenya with a mission \u2014 to create a language for the deaf community. <\/p>\n

What began as a dream became a national transformation: he developed Kenyan Sign Language (KSL), now recognized as Kenya\u2019s official sign language and widely adopted in South Sudan and across East Africa.<\/p>\n

Often referred to as the \u201cFather of Sign Language in Kenya,\u201d Prof. Ndurumo also drafted the law requiring all television stations to include sign language interpretation during news bulletins, ensuring millions of Kenyans with hearing impairments can access information on equal footing.<\/p>\n

His leadership helped shape the Persons with Disabilities Act (2003) \u2014 later amended in 2025 \u2014 and he was instrumental in the inclusion of Kenyan Sign Language in the 2010 Constitution. <\/p>\n

Over the years, he has trained more than 500 teachers, mentored countless students, and founded institutions that continue to advance education, inclusion, and opportunity for persons with disabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cProfessor Ndurumo\u2019s story is one of courage and conviction \u2014 of a man who turned silence into a language, and isolation into inclusion,\u201d said Zainab Hawa Bangura, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON).<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has given voice to millions of Kenyans who were once unheard. As we celebrate the UN\u2019s 80th anniversary \u2014 and reflect on the ideals of equality and inclusion that unite us \u2014 we honour a man who has embodied those ideals with grace, brilliance, and humility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Stephen Jackson, the UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya, said Ndurumo\u2019s legacy is a living embodiment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).<\/p>\n

\u201cProfessor Ndurumo\u2019s life reminds us that inclusion is not charity \u2014 it is justice,\u201d he said. \u201cHe took the silence that life imposed on him and transformed it into a language that has given millions the power to learn, to work, and to belong.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the ceremony, the Hifadhi Farmers\u2019 Cooperative Society Group was recognized as the runner-up, commended for its innovative beekeeping and forest conservation initiatives in Kenya\u2019s Eburu Forest. <\/p>\n

The group\u2019s use of traditional log hives has helped restore ecosystems while supporting sustainable livelihoods.<\/p>\n

Each year, the UN in Kenya Person of the Year Award recognizes an individual or organization whose achievements advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and embody the spirit and ideals of the United Nations \u2014 inspiring others to build a more inclusive, just, and sustainable future.<\/p>\n

Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing\u2019oei congratulated Prof. Ndurumo, calling him an \u201cinspiration to generations of Kenyans\u201d and a symbol of what resilience and vision can achieve in advancing equality.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 25 \u2014 The United Nations in Kenya has named Professor Michael Ndurumo, the first deaf professor in East Africa and founder of the Africa Institute of Deaf Studies and Research, as the 2025 United Nations in Kenya Person of the Year. The announcement came during celebrations to mark United Nations Day, commemorating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123654\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}