Press Release: National Peace Corps Association Announces Winner of the 2013 Harris Wofford Global Citizen Award

Washington, DC — February 21st, 2013 — The National Peace Corps Association (NPCA), the nation’s leading nonprofit organization supporting Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) and the Peace Corps community, today announced the winner of the 2013 Harris Wofford Global Citizen Award: Dr. Mohamud Sheikh Nurein Said of Kenya.

The annual Harris Wofford Global Citizen Award honors an outstanding global leader who grew up in a country where Peace Corps Volunteers served, whose life was influenced by the Peace Corps, and whose career contributed significantly to their nation and the world in ways that reflect shared values in human dignity and economic, social, and political development.  It is the highest honor bestowed upon a global leader by the National Peace Corps Association.

In addition to practicing medicine in Kenya, Dr. Said has served a much wider community.

  • He rose through the ranks of the Kenya Red Cross Society, with over 70,000 volunteers, to be its Governor (President).
  • He has devoted himself to assisting displaced persons and has been responsible for overseeing the largest refugee camp in the world with over 600,000 persons from the Somali crisis.
  • A life-long member of the Kenya Medical Association, he founded and chaired the Human Rights Committee.
  • He represented Africa on the Board of The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), headquartered in Denmark.  He was later elected President, the first African to hold this position.  The IRCT treats over 100,000 torture victims in its 150 centers in 75 countries in all the regions of the world.
  • Over the last seven years, as the Coordinator of the Pedro Cavadas Foundation, headquartered in Valencia, Spain, Dr. Said’s team performed reconstructive surgery to poor children and adults from eight East African countries.

Robert A. Pastor (Malaysia 1970-72 and winner of the 1995 Sargent Shriver Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Service) chaired the Global Citizen Award Advisory Council, which reviewed many deserving nominations.  “We were impressed by the extent that Dr. Said credited Dr. Russell Morgan and other Peace Corps Volunteers for motivating him to continue his education and model his career on volunteerism,” said Dr. Pastor.  “Dr. Said’s work in caring for refugees, rehabilitating the disabled, and defending the rights of all made us all proud to have been Volunteers, and it reminded us of the enduring legacy of the Peace Corps, one of our nation’s finest foreign policy initiatives.”

The winner of the Harris Wofford Global Citizen Award will meet with elected officials and the media in Washington, DC in late June before traveling to Boston to present the Global Leaders Lecture and receive the award at NPCA’s Peace Corps Connect annual gathering, this year in Boston on June 28-29.

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About the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA)

Founded in 1979 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) is the nation’s leading 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization connecting and championing Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and the Peace Corps community. It provides service and education opportunities that build on the Peace Corps experience, and is also the longest-standing advocate for an independent and robust Peace Corps. To learn more, visit: www.peacecorpsconnect.org

Media contact:
Erica Burman
Director of Communications
Phone: 202-293-7728

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