User:Vanessazishy/sandbox/Michael Opondo

= Michael Opondo = Michael Bruno Oduor Opondo (Born 1 February 1993) is a Kenyan social activist.

Early Life and Education
Michael was born in Sega, Siaya county of Kenya on 1 February 1993. He grew up in Busia, the Kenyan-Uganda border town, attending St. Mary’s Burumba primary school where he earned his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education in 2006. Oduor later proceeded to St. Paul’s Ndenga High School and later to Kenyatta University in 2012 to pursue his Bachelor of Laws; LL.B degree.

''“Law to me is a memory that records the long-running conversation of arguing with conscience while faced with an uncooperative reality. The reality that the same law meant to serve and protect was used against the low and middle-class.”''

Legal advocacy
Michael began his social activism career in 2012 while he was a first Law student at Kenyatta University based in Nairobi, Kenya. He founded the Kenyan Legal Group which sought to promote public interest legal aid and awareness through its subsidiaries: Kenyan Students’ Legal Aid and Awareness Program, Kenya Journal of Law and Justice, Kenyan Legal magazine and the Kenyan Legal Inspiration program-later known as Legal Mercy Group. Having gained a considerable amount of reach and leverage across the Kenyan law students, the Kenyan Legal group would later gain the support of practicing professionals who volunteered their time to mentor law students under the defunct Reviewer Feedback Program under the Kenyan Legal Group, chaired by Prof. Morris K. Mbondeyi, the then Dean, school of law-Africa Nazarene University.

Oduor also worked closely with the Office of the Chief Justice under the tenure of Dr. Willy Mutunga, and the Kenyatta University Legal Aid Clinic from Mid-2014 to March of 2015 to deliver legal aid to the Kenyan prisons and the distribution of free copies of the Kenyan constitution to the general public. His collective work of promoting legal awareness under the Kenyan Legal Group and those of other students promoting legal awareness were acknowledged at the close of the year’s event, “Reviewing Judicial Progress in Kenya,” by Prof. Yash Pal Ghai, International Court of Justice (ICJ-Kenya), December 11th 2014.

Kenyan Legal Group is also credited with having introduced the first Kenyan law journal run by students, both in publication and contribution with the introduction of the Kenyan Journal of Law and Justice. The journal however received criticisms from practicing professionals in Kenya for lacking a clear peer review mechanism and claims of content redundancy.

In October 2014, Michael Oduor founded the Africa Law times, an expansion of the public interest legal aid and awareness to a wider reach. Despite having a wider reach and much larger readership, Africa Law times achieved lesser success in raising legal awareness and promoting academic discourse compared to the Kenyan Legal Group.

Volunteerism
For a period of two years, 2012 to 2014, Oduor also served at voluntary positions for the United Nations Volunteers program working closely with the United Nations Office at Nairob i public information office, and as a Rights journey participant for the Amnesty International working closely with figures such as Prof. Willy Fautre  of Human Rights Without Frontiers and Lord David Alton of Liverpool on the Religious persecution of Christians in Pakistan.

Additionally in the same year of 2014, Michael began serving as a Research and Innovation Expert for the European Commission assisting in the preparation, implementation or evaluation of programs and design of policies, including the Horizon 2020 Advisory Groups. His profile was assigned Horizon 2020 (including Euratom programme), Education, Audio-Visual and Culture Executive Agency programs, COSME (Competitiveness for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) programme, CEF (Connecting Europe Facility), RFCS (Research Fund for Coal and Steel) and Third Health Programme (managed by Chafea).

Terrorism and violent extremism
In the aftermath of the Garissa University College terror attack in early 2015, Oduor founded the International Youth Action Against Terrorism aimed at bringing the issue of university/college students’ action in countering violent extremism among the masses. Through this organization, Michael has prioritized his actions to increasing efforts of youth’s inclusion in the counter-terrorism processes in the East and Horn of African region with most of his works being centered in the capital of Kenya, Nairobi.