Jestina Mukoko

Jestina Mukoko is a human rights champion and peace practitioner, as well as the Founder and President of the Jestina Mukoko Foundation (JMF), an organisation dedicated to providing victims of human rights abuse with a platform for healing and restoration. Inspired by her own life experiences, Jestina founded the JMF. She also served as the National Director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), which monitors and documents human rights violations and works to promote sustainable peace in Zimbabwe.

Having worked with statistics for most of her career, Jestina transitioned her focus to give victims a face and help them tell their stories. This approach not only aids victims but also facilitated Jestina's own journey of healing and restoration, as documented in her book, "The Abduction and Trial of Jestina Mukoko: The Fight for Human Rights in Zimbabwe," published in April 2016.

During her fellowship, Jestina will focus on memorialising the reality of human rights defenders in Zimbabwe through digital storytelling. She will be working on a project aimed at mapping victims of human rights abuses, facilitating their efforts to share their stories of pain. The primary goal is to empower these individuals to embark on a path of healing, reclaiming their dignity by assuming control over their personal narratives.