Esther Mwaura-Muiru – ILC, Women Land Rights Manager
A Gender and Development Expert with over 20 years experince
Esther Mwaura-Muiru has just (May 2020) joined the International Land Coalition (ILC) as the Global leader for the Women land Rights Portfolio. Esther is passionate about the empowerment of women living in poverty and margins of development to exercise and claim their human rights. To her, Secure Land Tenure and control of valuable assets including natural resources is an important gateway for development world to achieve gender and economic justice, end violence against women and girls, lay important building blocks to achieve sustainable development including towards halting negative impacts of climate change & recurrent disasters and, give women voice and agency.
Esther is a Founder and immediate former National Coordinator of GROOTS Kenya (Grassroots Organizations Operating Together in Sisterhood), a grassroots women movement of more than 3000 self-help groups from rural and urban communities living in poverty across Kenya. Over the years, Esther’s has demonstrated great expert in development and management of community led models that influence good governance in sectors like health, land, water, climate change and agriculture.
Thanks to her leadership, grassroots women in the GROOTS Kenya network have built a solid growing network of champions for transformative development and they continue to offer leadership roles in their own communities. Esther’s is known for a deep respect and belief in the role local communities play in development and has consistently ensured that hundreds of grassroots women leaders represent themselves effectively in local, national, regional and international decision-making forums.
Besides, Esther Mwaura Muiru is also leading the establishment of Leadership Centre for Transformative Development (Uongozi Centre Africa), a training institute focusing on developing, systemizing and enhancing global capacities on transformative sustainable development in Africa.
