Foni Joyce Vuni
Refugee Rights Advocate | Youth & Women’s Leadership
Foni Joyce Vuni is a passionate advocate for refugee rights, youth leadership, and women’s empowerment. Originally from South Sudan, her lived experience as a refugee in Kenya has shaped her commitment to shifting the global refugee narrative—from viewing refugees as beneficiaries to recognizing them as active partners in humanitarian action and policy.
She is the Programme Coordinator for the Global Refugee Youth Network (GRYN), a refugee-led network that equips young refugees with the capacity to support one another, lead initiatives that address their communities’ needs, and advocate for meaningful policy changes.
Previously, Foni was a Research Lead at the Refugee-Led Research Hub (RLRH) in Nairobi, where she provided research guidance on refugee inclusion as well as knowledge production that is led by refugees. She led studies on refugees’ access to work permits and business licenses in Kenya, and supported other studies within the hub.
Beyond research, Foni has extensive experience in stakeholder engagement and policy advocacy, having organized and participated in regional and global policy discussions. In 2018, she was involved in the South Sudan peace talks, later contributing to the constitution-making process in June 2021.
