It is with immense grief and shock that we share the tragic news that our dear sister, friend and colleague, Sureya Roble Hersi passed away on Friday October 25, 2024, in Mombasa, Kenya. Sureya was the Executive Director of Advocacy for Women in Peace and Security Africa (AWAPSA). She was among the earliest members of the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL), as well as a board member of the Coast Education Centre (COEC).
We met and supported her as she was establishing police cafes as an initiative to foster trust between the police in her community and the families and individuals who were affected by radicalization and recruitment into violent extremism. Sureya created a pathway for trust and peacebuilding, anchored in deep compassion and a holistic approach to crime and violence prevention and deradicalization.
Sureya so generously hosted members of the ICAN team and WASL network in Kenya multiple times. She was a champion for regional and inter-regional collaboration, including pursuing an inclusive vision for Africa alongside women peacebuilders from North Africa and across the continent.
Sureya was a force of nature—the very best of nature—with an immense heart and capacity for compassion, for those most vulnerable in her community. She was also an extraordinary strategic and imaginative thinker and courageous doer.
As the staff of ICAN and the global Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership, we extend our heartfelt condolences and love to Sureya’s family. Her light shines on in all of us, and we will honor her work and achievements by sharing her story, strategy and inspiration everywhere. In her honor we will strive to make Sureya’s police cafés a global phenomenon.
“Whatever decisions and policies are being put forth, women must be at the forefront.” -Sureya Roble Hersi
Sureya Roble was a public policy, governance and development practitioner with over 30 years of professional experience. She worked with government, private sector and non-state actors, development partners, and communities on development issues including public policy, devolution, governance, gender and human rights, health, food security, social security, and the rights of marginalized groups. Sureya also had expertise in conflict resolution and mitigation, mediation, peacebuilding, political analysis, and policy reviews. She was passionate about empowering communities and believed that only through understanding public policy and access to credible information could change be achieved. Sureya was a certified mediator, holding a PhD in Development Studies with an MBA in Political Science and Public Administration. She was a fellow of Cardinal Onayeikan Foundation for peace on interfaith conflict resolution, mediation, and dialogue and the recipient of the Justice Champion Award by African Women Summit and the REX peace award by COFP foundation.
