International Humanitarian Award: Lucy Wairimu Mukuria.

Abstract

For her educational innovation, commitment to care, and activism affecting the lives of thousands both now and generationally, the American Psychological Association's Committee on International Relations in Psychology is honored to present the 2022 International Humanitarian Award to Major (Rtd.) Lucy Wairimu Mukuria. As a pioneering psychologist, Major (Rtd.) Lucy Wairimu Mukuria established the Kenya Defense Forces' first Department of Psychology, working to normalize mental health care and provide psychoeducational services to soldiers and their families. Major (Rtd.) Mukuria specializes in clinical work with veterans and educates the general public on mental health. She has designed trauma-informed programs for armed security services, with an emphasis on productive, pharmaceutical-free living, as well as Psychological First Aid programs. Other innovative, veteran-organized service models include mental health support networks and a rabbit jerky company that generates income and supports trauma recovery. Major (Rtd.) Mukuria's legislative activism has led to the inclusion of mental health and well-being and military sexual assault within the military regulations' injury assessment protocols, the recognition of military veterans as a vulnerable population in the Kenyan Mental Health Action Plan 2022- 2025, the establishment of a military veterans' law, and official recognition for children of single parents who are soldiers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).