Mombasa activist Shamsa Abubakar Fadhil also known as ‘Mama Shamsa’ is the recipient of the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity 2023, jointly with the Community of Sant'Egidio.

A community mobilizer and peacebuilder in Kenya, Mama Shamsa is being recognized for nurturing youth and saving young people from lives of violence, crime, and extremism by providing them with counseling, care, and training.

Mama Shamsa who is the Chairperson of the Mombasa Women of Faith Network has led major campaigns in Kenya and greater Africa to draw awareness to violence against women as well as women's and youth empowerment.

In 2022 Mama Shamsa was recognised and featured by the UN Women Africa for her efforts in peace building.

The Zayed Award for Human Fraternity honors and celebrates her drive to promote unity, integration, and acceptance of diversity among women, regardless of tribe, religion, status, or political affiliation.

In a statement judging committee member Dr. Ouided Bouchamaoui, 2015 Nobel Peace Laureate and entrepreneur, said: “From over 200 nominees of outstanding individuals and entities, we chose the Community of Sant’Egidio and Mama Shamsa as the honorees of the award, which is named after the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, founder of the United Arab Emirates,  who was a champion of all humanity – young, old, rich, poor, male and female.”

The official ceremony celebrating her work will be held on 4th February 2023 in Abu Dhabi.

"Thank you ZAHF this indeed an honour for Women of Kenya" said Shamsa in a tweet.

The Zayed Award for Human Fraternity has been awarded annually for the last four years in recognition of winners’ “contributions to building a more peaceful and compassionate world through advancing the values of human fraternity and setting an inspiring example of promoting peaceful coexistence.” It comes with one million dollars in prize-money.

The award was launched in 2019 to mark the historic meeting in Abu Dhabi between His Holiness Pope Francis and His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Professor Ahmed Al-Tayeb, during which they co-signed the Document on Human Fraternity.

The award is named in honor of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, founder of the United Arab Emirates, renowned for his humanitarianism and dedication to helping people no matter their background.