Nomzamo Mbatha
Text and media 7
About Nomzamo
Since supporting the LuQuLuQu campaign in 2017, she has visited refugee camps with UNHCR in Malawi, Kenya, and South Sudan.
Nomzamo said, “For so long the image of the refugee has been that of despair and destitution, but when you come to the camps, you see the spirit of resilience, you see the spirit of rebuilding.” Nomzamo visited settlements for displaced people in Juba and the remotely located Maban refugee camp in South Sudan. There she learnt about UNHCR’s work alongside implementing partners in the provision of healthcare and education for refugees and IDPs.
In 2024, Nomzamo returned to host the Nansen Refugee Award with her characteristic poise and warmth, celebrating five trailblazing women – a nun, an activist, a social entrepreneur, a volunteer aid worker, and an advocate for ending statelessness.
In June 2018, Nomzamo was a speaker at the first-ever TEDx event to be hosted in a refugee camp TEDxKakumaCamp. Later that year, she hosted the Nansen Refugee Award, to honour the South Sudanese award winner she had met during her visit to South Sudan, Dr. Evan Atar.
Nomzamo played a strong role in supporting UNHCR’s LuQuLuQu COVID-19 emergency response campaigns which included fundraising, public engagement and awareness initiatives in an effort to help protect forcibly displaced families against the spread of the coronavirus in the refugee camps.
