Daniel Juma Omondi
Africa Regional Representative, Global Peace Foundation | KENYA
Short Bio: Mr. Daniel Juma Omondi is the Africa Regional Representative of the Global Peace Foundation with over 13 years of peacebuilding and youth development experience. He also serves as GPF Kenya’s Country Director, where he has curated and led initiatives that promote social cohesion, ethical leadership, and transforming education reform across Kenya. Under his leadership, programs such as the Great Places to School Awards, the Character and Creativity Initiative, and the President’s Fellowship have nurtured and empowered emerging African leaders. Before joining GPF, Mr. Omondi served as a Trade and Investment Promotion Officer at KOTRA, expanding Korea’s economic ties in East Africa. He was recently recognized as one of Kenya’s Top 50 Most Influential CEOs. An alumnus of the Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities, Mr. Daniel Juma Omondi holds a B.A. in Political Science and Korean Studies from the University of Nairobi and a Diploma in International Studies from IDIS.
Event: SDGs Conference 2025
Date: September 24, 2025
SPEECH: Our shared commitment to collaborative peacebuilding makes this platform not just a speaking opportunity but a testament to the power of partnership itself. Our founder, Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon, defines youth not by a number on a birth certificate, but by the state of one’s heart and mind, it is, fundamentally, the ability to dream. To look at the world not just as it is, but as it ought to be. And across the globe, we are witnessing a seismic shift, an awakening driven by a generation of dreamers who refuse to accept the status quo. We have seen the raw power of this dream on the streets of Nairobi, Dhaka, and Kathmandu. The Gen Z uprising is not a mere protest; it is the necessary pang of birth. It is the sound of a new civilization struggling to be born, one that rejects the old diseases of corruption and discrimination and demands a world built on integrity, justice, and the radical idea that all humanity is One Family Under God. But a dream, no matter how powerful, requires a blueprint for action. It requires us to equip these dreamers not just with passion, but with the tools for transformational leadership.
This is the mission of the Global Peace Foundation. Through initiatives like our President’s Fellowship, we are intentionally nurturing the next generation of African leaders. We move beyond skills to build character, instilling a values-based leadership of service above self and unity over division. We are preparing these young minds to lead a global renaissance because by 2050, Africa will be home to a quarter of the world’s dreamers.
And our work is a direct contribution to the blueprint you have all gathered here to discuss: the Sustainable Development Goals.
- In pursuit of SDG 4 on Quality Education, our initiatives have transformed over 5,000 educators, believing that to transform education, we must first transform people holistically.
- For SDG 8 on Economic Growth, our LEAP Hubs have empowered over 3,000 young entrepreneurs to innovate and create opportunities.
- For SDG 15 on Life on Land, our Chandaria nurseries have grown over 3 million trees, restoring ecosystems and fostering environmental stewardship.
- And at the heart of it all, SDG 16 on Peace and Strong Institutions is advanced through our global campaigns for dialogue and unity, from the One Korea campaign to programs preventing violent extremism here in Africa.
This is how we build peace, through concrete action aligned with global goals and powered by SDG 17: Partnerships. Yet, as the great Genghis Khan said, “If one person has a dream, it is just a dream. But if many share that dream, it becomes achievable.”
Today, from this global stage, I call on you to share in the dreams of those who are silenced. Let us share in the “Korean Dream” of our founder, Dr. Moon. We cannot speak of empowerment while the youth of North Korea remain isolated from civilization itself. We urge this global community to prioritize dialogue for a peacefully reunited Korean Peninsula. Let us share in the dreams of Afghan girls who dream only of classrooms, not confinement. We call for the immediate reversal of the ban on education for women and girls. To deny education is to murder a dream.
And in my continent, Africa, we must share the dream of a peaceful future. It is time to “Silence the Guns” in the Sahel, the Eastern DRC, and Sudan. The sound of gunfire is the sound of stolen futures. But peace is not just the absence of war; it is the presence of opportunity. For an African Renaissance to flourish, we must break down the walls between us. I call upon African leaders to eliminate visas and allow for the free movement of people across this great continent! Let our dreamers, innovators, and traders move as freely as our data.
To our partners in the West: we extend a challenge. Share in this dream. Dismantle the restrictive visa practices that target African youth. These barriers are not just policies; they are a statement of mistrust that undermines our shared future. Let us build bridges, not walls. The energy is here. The dreamers are emerging. The question before us is whether we will be the architects of their future or the guardians of a broken past. Let us choose to be architects. Let us choose a world of peace, of opportunity, and a world where every single person is valued as an essential member of our One Family Under God.