Legendary athletic Tegla Chepkite Loroupe has been named 2016 United Nations Person of the year in Kenya
Tegla was recognized for her role in helping refugees participate in Rio Olympics for the first time in history and her efforts in taking peace to conflict zones in Africa. The long distance star organized the first peace race in Kakuma Refugee camp for World Refugee Day and to promote peace in the region.
Loroupe, with her consistent advocacy in 2015, had succeeded in lobbying the International Olympic Committee to give a chance to refugees with athletics talent to participate in the Olympics. As a result, 10 refugees (five from Kakuma) were selected for Rio Olympics according to the UN
“History was made in 2016 when the first ever Refugee Olympic Team was constituted. The team comprised of 10 refugees from Syria, Congo, Ethiopia and South Sudan. Five out of the 10 refugees came from Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp. These five athletes were selected from among 20 others from the Tegla Loroupe training facility. The participation of refugees in the Olympics was a symbol of hope to over 65M displaced human population globally.” UN said
