United Nations, New York (2 June 2025) – The Permanent Mission of St. Kitts and Nevis to the United Nations, representing the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States, was among a group of five distinguished UN Member States that worked to select the laureates of the 2025 United Nations Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize. The Selection Committee comprised Philemon Yang, the President of the UN General Assembly and Permanent Representatives from Bahrein, Poland, Finland, Egypt, South Africa and St. Kitts and Nevis. The group was aided by an Eminent Persons Group whose guidance, experience and expertise helped ensure the highest caliber of laureates.

The United Nations Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize aims to recognize the achievements of those who dedicated their lives to the service of humanity as guided by the purposes and principles of the UN, while honouring and paying homage to Mandela’s extraordinary life and legacy of reconciliation, political transition and social transformation. It is awarded every five years and was first awarded in 2015.

The laureates of the 2025 United Nations Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize are Brenda Reynolds, a social worker of Saulteaux heritage supporting the health and well-being of Indigenous communities in Canada, and Kennedy Odede, founder and CEO of Shining Hope for Communities, a Kenyan grassroots organization providing services to urban slums.

Secretary-General António Guterres will award the honorary prizes, alongside the President of the seventy-ninth session of the General Assembly, Philemon Yang, as part of the annual commemoration marking Nelson Mandela International Day on 18 July under the theme of “It’s still in our hands to combat poverty and in equality”.

H.E. Dr. Mutryce Williams, Permanent Representative to the United Nations expressed her honour in serving by stating, “we now inhabit a world at war and with widening inequality. Nelson Mandela’s legacy is one of peace, reconciliation, inclusion and dialogue and it is fitting that St. Kitts and Nevis was asked to honour that legacy, particularly as the Federation, though still a young independence nation has long been at the vanguard of fight for justice and human rights.”

Her Excellency Marcella Liburd in commenting on the invitation to serve the United Nations underlined that, “St. Kitts and Nevis’ own national anthem calls for us to be stalwarts of peace and justice and our role in this selection is congruent with the work that Ambassador Williams and hear team at the United Nations are doing to ensure St. Kitts and Nevis makes it mark as a consistent champion of dialogue, diplomacy and peace. Nelson Mandela’s story is one that transcends geography and time and his vision for a better world – a just world – is needed now more than ever.”

The winners were selected from 331 nominations received for candidates in 66 Member States. The Selection Committee was aided by the Office of the President of the General Assembly, the UN’s Global Communications Team and as well as by Deputies of respective UN missions, including Eustace T. Wallace, Minister Counselor for St. Kitts and Nevis’ Permanent Mission to the UN.

Selection Committee

In accordance with Article 4 (1) of the Statute, the Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize recipients are selected by a selection committee. In 2025, the Committee was comprised of:

• Chair of the Committee – Philemon Yang, President of United Nations General Assembly’s seventy-ninth session;
• African Group – Osama Mahmoud Abdelkhalek Mahmoud, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations;
• Asia-Pacific – Group Jamal Fares Alrowaiei, Permanent Representative of Bahrain to the United Nations;
• Eastern European Group Krzysztof Maria Szczerski, Permanent Representative of Poland to the United Nations;
• Latin American and Caribbean Group – Mutryce Agatha Williams, Permanent Representative of Saint Kitts and Nevis to the United Nations;
• Western European Group and other States – Elina Kalkku, Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations; and
• Ex-officio member of the Committee – Mathu Joyini, Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations.

In accordance with Article 4 (2) of the Statute, the following four Eminent Individuals were selected to serve as honorary members of the Committee in an advisory capacity:

• Marcella A. Liburd, Governor General of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis;
• Tarja Halonen, former President of Finland;
• Mohamed Mostafa ElBaradei, Nobel Laureate, former Vice President of Egypt and Director-General of the
• International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); and
• Elżbieta Mikos-Skuza, senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Warsaw Poland