ABOUT Nicholas Okapu Etyang

Nicholas is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a member of the Law Society of Kenya, with over 15 years of experience in various critical sectors. His expertise spans democracy and governance, environmental governance, climate change, health systems, WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene), food systems and nutrition, human rights, gender, and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) programming across the East and Southern Africa Region, as well as at the African Union (AU) level.

Currently serving as the Policy Engagement Manager for APHRC’s Health and Wellbeing Programs, Nicholas strategically focuses on enhancing policy impact. His responsibilities include developing and executing strategic policy engagement actions, managing stakeholder relations, cultivating policy-oriented partnerships, conducting policy landscaping and mapping, addressing broad policy-relevant research questions, delivering capacity strengthening in policy engagement, and facilitating internal and external learning and knowledge sharing.

A seasoned professional in policy and advocacy, he has cultivated high-level relationships with key regional bodies, including the East African Community (EAC) and the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), as well as national governments, UN agencies, and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) across the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) region. His work focuses on advancing the right to food and healthy diets, the right to a healthy and sustainable environment, addressing access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). 

During his tenure at CAFOD (2013-2020), he managed a wide array of advocacy and policy initiatives. These projects spanned critical areas including human rights, women’s rights, gender-based violence, access to justice, budget advocacy, social accountability and public participation, democratic elections and civic education, parliamentary legislative liaison, climate change, Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) governance, and peace building and conflict transformation.