Growing up in Nairobi, where her father studied the waves of today’s legal and political professions, Binaifer Nowrojee, the first woman from the Global South to lead Open Society Foundations, took memories to last a lifetime.
He recalls riding bicycles and playing with other children in Woodley, near Adams Arcade, Nairobi. He recalls his time with other children at Hospital Hill Primary School, and later at Loreto Convent, Msongari. He also remembers the books he used to read at home with his two brothers, because his parents love books.
“I grew up in a house full of books, where books of all kinds (were filled). We were encouraged to read,” he said.
“It’s a great place to grow up, and I think it’s prepared me when I go out into the world. And it’s not just me; When I see other Kenyans who are successful elsewhere in the world, you see that Kenya produces leaders who can go beyond the boundaries to go out into the world and take a stand,” he said. Lifestyle.
But apart from the good memories, he remembers how he didn’t get the chance to enter a Kenyan university because his name was Nowrojee. Binaifer is one of the three children of renowned lawyer Pheroze Nowrojee.
Today, living in the US and just taking the helm of a multibillion-dollar global civil society organization, he believes his education has prepared him for the future.
“I can benefit in many ways from everything Kenya has to offer: the diversity, the sense of entrepreneurship,” he said.
There was no answer
He left Kenya for the US for higher education under difficult circumstances. He was denied the opportunity to attend university in Kenya because his father, Pheroze, was considered anti-government.
At that time, Pheroze tried to stop the excesses of the Daniel Arap Moi administration that came out to suppress dissent.
“In one case, they can represent it Nairobi Law Monthly magazine when it was banned and got the ban. This is an important victory, and his work can change,” he said. “I was not accepted to a university in Kenya because of my father’s work. Eventually, I went to the US where I studied and became a lawyer myself. I studied at Columbia University and Harvard Law School.
The refusal to admit, he said, was not told openly, only that he did not receive a reply.
“There was no answer, but later the vice chancellor apologized to my father and thanked him for not being able to take me at that time. He had received instructions,” said Binaifer Lifestylee.
“It was an experience, not just me, but many (Kenyans) at that time. In Nyayo House, people were tortured, some were detained without trial. Any dissent, any discussion was dealt with harshly, so it was a very dark moment in the history of Kenya and I’m glad I got through it,” he said.
Failure to get a university education in Kenya may have been a blessing in disguise as Binaifer ended up studying at an Ivy League institution.
“These problems of setbacks can conquer you or they can challenge you to respond,” he said, noting that he was inspired by lawyers like Gitobu Imanyara, John Khaminwa and Willy Mutunga to keep moving forward.
“(He) put his neck down and suffered. That’s the role model I grew up with,” he said.
He even taught law at Harvard University.
“I stayed at Harvard beyond being a student. I taught at the law school, and I studied human rights advocacy courses at the law school for several years before it became too busy for me,” Binaifer said.
“At Harvard, although not a full professor, I was the only Kenyan and the only Kenyan woman teaching at the law school,” she said.
From academia, he entered civil society, and Human Rights Watch was his station from 1993 to 2004 when he joined OSF.
Having been at OSF for 20 years, he has held various roles. He was executive director for the organization’s Open Society Initiative for East Africa for 10 years, regional director for Asia, for seven years, vice president for organizational transition, for two years; vice president for programs (2023 until appointed president). With that experience, he feels he is well equipped to lead the organization to the next stage.
Binaifer Nowrojee (center) from the Open Society Foundations meeting with women leadership funders at the Open Society Foundations office in New York, USA on March 14, 2023.
Photo credit: pond
“In March, the Open Society Foundations board unanimously named me the new president,” Binaifer said.
OSF is a grant-making network that supports initiatives that promote justice, education, public health and free speech.
The organization spends about $1.5 billion (Sh196.5 billion) annually to fund various initiatives across the globe. In Kenya, it supported the negotiations led by Kofi Annan that ended the 2008 post-election violence, financed the program that led to the 2010 constitution, and supported the push for Nubia in Kibera to obtain a title deed, among others.
This is the first time in the history of OSF that a woman is the president of the organization. It is also the first time that someone from the Global South (the so-called “Third World”) has held the position.
“This is the first time that a woman has been appointed in 45 years to lead the Open Society Foundations,” says Binaifer. “I am proud and excited to be the first female president and the first from the Global South.”
OSF founder George Soros, a dollar billionaire, only tweeted once this year. The only tweet after a hiatus of nine months was sent on March 11 and about the appointment of Binaifer, in which he expressed his confidence that he would improve the organization as a truly global body.
Soros, a Jew who escaped the Holocaust while living in Hungary, founded the organization out of empathy for those facing persecution. Soros is in the 431st position Forbes ranking of the richest people in the world on Thursday. They have been working to fund initiatives that support open society since 1979.
“Soros’ philanthropy has been shaped by the belief that public values ​​underpin economic prosperity and political stability and a strong defense against autocracy,” said Binaifer.
Rape survivors
Asked to name some of the highest achievements of his career, Binaifer said one of his proudest moments was the role he played in the prosecution of Jean-Paul Akayesu, the former Rwandan leader who was convicted of genocide under international law and the conviction set a precedent. the main winner for women.
The victory was that through his work at Human Rights Watch, Binaifer was able to integrate sexual violence into the prosecution of the crime of genocide.
“I worked with rape survivors in Rwanda after the (1994) genocide to advocate for the prosecution of sexual violence as an international crime. When the International Criminal Court for Rwanda was established, there was no legal recognition that rape could be a crime identified through the courts, so I work with many victims of sexual violence by forcing the courts to help reform and improve crimes that affect women,” explained Binaifer.
“We successfully brought one of the main cases called Akayesu which recognized that sexual violence can be a crime of genocide, and this legal precedent is still in international law, helping survivors of sexual violence to obtain international justice.”
He participated in the Rwandan trials as an expert witness.
Binaifer Nowrojee (second right) with social leaders in Buenaventura, Colombia, on February 16, 2023.
Photo credit: pond
“Based on the documentation work that Human Rights Watch has done, I was asked by the court to be an expert witness. This was to look at patterns to determine whether sexual violence was widespread and systematic during the genocide. I appeared in court as an expert witness testifying against some of the 15 officials the military and the government charged with genocide,” Binaifer said.
Her leadership of OSF is a victory for women, and she encourages women to believe in themselves.
“You have to be confident. I have to thank my parents for instilling faith in me. Also, growing up in Kenya, I was able to get a good foundation in terms of education and in terms of being able to navigate the world,” he said.
Looking for a voice
For women who find their voice in a male-dominated leadership field, Binaifer advises: “Over time, with work experience, you begin to find your feet. You begin to understand your purpose and find it. Also remember, even if you are the only one who looks like you in room, your voice still matters.
On the family side, Binaifer is married to an Ethiopian-Eritrean, and because of her lineage, she considers herself a “very global citizen”.
His lineage has chosen to practice law for three generations now. It starts with Pheroze’s father, Achroo Ram Kapila. Then Pheroze followed. Later, two of Pheroze’s three children, including Binaifer, became lawyers.
The family came from India to East Africa to work on the Kenya-Uganda railway and eventually created a legal dynasty.
Pheroze’s grandfather was a train driver between Nairobi and Voi. His son, Pheroze’s father, chose law.
In a 2020 interview with a local publication, Pheroze said that one of the cases his father took on was defending victims of British colonial oppression. Pheroze attended a court session with his father in 1953 and was convinced that defending people was the duty he was given.
Pheroze is also an avid reader, writer and amateur painter. He has written a book titled Kenya trip which chronicles his larger family’s story of key moments in Kenyan history.
“I haven’t finished yet,” said Binaifer, “but I still have time to do it. I hope I’ll have time to write the way I have.
His father, he said, mentored him well.
“I have learned from watching my father as a practicing lawyer that the law can be used to achieve the goal of justice and by using the courts and the law, you can draw attention to things that are wrong and even through the courts. , bring real change,” he said.
When he decided to pursue law, Binaifer said, his interests lay in public, international law and human rights.
“My thesis (at Harvard) looked at peacekeeping forces; the interaction of regional peacekeeping and the UN in the civil war in Liberia,” he noted.
“I am a lawyer because I believe in justice, and I want to use this title to work to help and support people who are fighting for human rights, and I have been able to do this throughout my career,” he added. be proud
