Trailblazing peacekeeper awarded Honorary Doctorate

Press Clip Source: Aberystwyth University
Link to Source: Here

Peacekeeper Rosemary Kabaki has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Aberystwyth University.

She is the Head of Mission at Nonviolent Peaceforce in South Sudan. She previously worked with Nonviolent Peaceforce in Myanmar as Head of Mission, in the South Caucasus as a Human Rights and Civilian Protection Expert, and in the Philippines as an International Civilian Peacekeeper.

She has experience working in Kenya in both the nongovernmental organisation and civil service sectors.

Rosemary Kabaki was presented with an Honorary Doctorate by Professor Berit Bliesemann de Guevara on 15 July.

The full conferral presentation is available below, in the language in which it was delivered.

Presentation of Rosemary Kabaki by Professor Berit Bliesemann de Guevara

Ddirprwy Ganghellor, Ddirprwy Is-Ganghellor, graddedigion, gyfeillion. Pleser o’r mwyaf yw cyflwyno Rosemary Kabaki i dderbyn gradd Doethur er Anrhydedd, Prifysgol Aberystwyth.

Pro Chancellor, Pro Vice-Chancellor, graduates and supporters. It is an honour and a privilege to present Rosemary Kabaki with an Honorary Doctorate of Aberystwyth University.

The research conducted at Aberystwyth University explicitly aims to “change lives for the better”, and I couldn’t think of anyone embodying this vision better than Rosemary Kabaki, who has made an outstanding contribution to the nonviolent protection of tens of thousands of civilians living in the middle of armed conflict in East Africa, Southeast Asia, and Europe.

Rosemary is the Head of Mission in South Sudan and former Head of Mission in Myanmar of Nonviolent Peaceforce, an international nongovernmental organisation whose mission is “to protect civilians in violent conflicts through unarmed strategies and build peace side-by-side with local communities.” Previously, she worked as a Human Rights and Civilian Protection Expert in the South Caucasus, with NGOs and the civil service in her native Kenya, and as a Psychology lecturer at Kenya Medical Training College.

Most importantly, in these roles Rosemary Kabaki has embraced research as a strategy to grow knowledge of unarmed civilian protection and to engage in a continuous learning process about nonviolent conflict resolution with conflict-affected communities. She has done so by collaborating with researchers from different universities around the world, including Aberystwyth University, where she collaborated in the International Politics department’s “Creating Safer Space Research Network”, and by integrating Participatory Action Research into unarmed civilian protection work. I just had the pleasure to help train members of the community of practice of unarmed civilian protection in South Sudan in such community-based research strategies, and we are also waiting for results of a joint research application to set up the very first comprehensive database to quantitatively measure the effectiveness of unarmed civilian protection, starting with data from South Sudan.

This honorary doctorate is a unique opportunity to honour an individual who has made a real difference to protecting people from harm and death in contexts of conflict around the world and changing tens of thousands of lives for the better.

Ddirprwy Ganghellor mae’n bleser gen i gyflwyno Rosemary Kabaki i dderbyn gradd Doethur er Anrhydedd, Prifysgol Aberystwyth.

Pro Chancellor, it is my absolute pleasure to present Rosemary Kabaki with an Honorary Doctorate of Aberystwyth University.

Aberystwyth University Honours 2026

Each year, Aberystwyth University confers Honorary Awards on a small number of distinguished individuals in recognition of their outstanding achievements and contribution to their fields. More information about Aberystwyth University Honours 2026.