Milanoi is a human rights lawyer with over nine years’ experience in women’s rights, children’s rights, and disability rights. She is currently a Protection, Gender, and Inclusion Coordinator at International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC Africa) where her role entails technical support to Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies in Africa to ensure all emergency operations and long-term programmes ensure communities dignity, access, participation and safety.
She is also a Co-founder of the Center for Women`s rights Advocacy (CWRA), which seeks to promote gender equality by challenging harmful traditional practices and institutional norms. CWRA conducts intergenerational dialogues, mentorships for young women and girls including teenage mothers, and strengthening capacity of grassroot organisations.
Milanoi has worked with non-profit organisations, advocating for the rights of women and children to live a life free from violence. She has made presentations calling on ending violence against women and girls with disabilities at the United Nations Commission on Status of Women and United Nations Conference of State Parties on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She has worked as a consultant for Disability Rights International, the Kenya Association for the Intellectually Handicapped, Handicap International, Acacia UK, Women Challenged to Challenge, Lesotho National Federation for the Disabled and CREA.
She has also worked with the Federation of Women Lawyers-Kenya (FIDA-K), Coalition on Violence Against Women-Kenya (COVAW), and Women Enabled International (WEI) in Washington, D.C. She is a member of the Gender Based Violence prevention working group that includes individuals and organisations in sub-Saharan Africa and African Women in Law and Development (AWID).
Milanoi received her LL.M., with a focus on Human Rights and Comparative Disability Law and Policy from Syracuse University in 2016. She received her LLB from Moi University in 2008.
I come from the Maasai community in Kenya where female genital mutilation and early marriages are still practiced. Women and girls are meant to be shy, timid and not outgoing and outspoken as I am. I saw this growing up and it always felt wrong for me. What worries me more is the fact that the inequities and social injustices like female genital mutilation, early marriage, violence against women are engrained in young children from an early age because of what we see and are taught growing up. I want to give back to my community through mentoring young girls and boys and other community members to know and demand their rights. This is how we can change an entire generation through ensuring they get the right information, mentors and outlook in life from an early age.Milanoi Koiyiet