Faith in Action:
Reflections Series
Migration and Refugee Movements, Human Trafficking, and Modern Slavery
Winnie Mutevu
Winnie Mutevu is an award winning human rights defender and a development manager with over 14 years of experience in the counter-trafficking sector. She currently leads advocacy and partnership development at Awareness Against Human Trafficking (HAART), supporting Kenya’s review of international and national anti-trafficking frameworks. She received the 1st Pauline Jaricot Award in recognition of her contributions to human rights. Winnie is a member of different national technical working groups addressing counter trafficking frameworks and policies, developing training curricula, and advancing Kenya’s participation in the 8.7 Alliance. She has trained over 100,000 individuals and coordinated support for over 500 trafficking survivors. Winnie led the dissemination of HAART’s research on climate change and trafficking, implementing targeted programs for displaced communities. She has presented at the UN General Assembly, the Vatican, Commonwealth forums, G20 Interfaith forums, and participated in the 2024 U.S. International Visitor Leadership Program. Under her leadership, HAART produced a legal handbook, community and survivor empowerment manuals influencing anti-trafficking programmes.
Raksha Singh Semnarayan
She holds an LLM in Regulatory and Corporate Law from the University of the Witwatersrand, and an Executive MBA from the University of South Africa. She is passionate about enhancing the legal and regulatory landscape of the financial sector. Raksha is a Managing Partner at RSS Law, and currently serves as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa.
As a seasoned legal and regulatory expert with over 20 years of experience, she has a proven track record of providing strategic advice on commercial matters, drafting contracts in plain language that meet business requirements, drafting and implementing legislation, and managing high-value litigation. She has worked with leading organizations in the financial and telecommunications sectors, including SARB, Bankserv Africa, Standard, Absa Banks, and Telkom SA Ltd.
She was passionate about human rights since her youth and made submissions to the Constitutional Assembly which was tasked with drafting the first democratic Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. Raksha’s submissions were on behalf of various religious and social justice organizations and advocated for the Constitution to uphold religious freedom and other human rights; to not create one religion superior to others; to create Statutory Bodies that protected religious and human rights and freedom and other similar issues. She has contributed to various initiatives aims at promoting financial innovation and compliance.
Michael Swain
Michael Swain was raised in England, graduating from the University of Bristol with an Honours degree in Law before immigrating to South Africa in 1983. He is a co-founder and former vice president of the Every Nation (formerly His People) movement of churches and ministries. He has spent over 30 years in Christian ministry in South Africa, Europe, and the USA.
Michael has also enjoyed success as a businessman, having founded and run companies in diverse areas, including software development, events management, marketing, and communications.
Michael currently serves as the Executive Director and primary spokesperson for FOR SA. He is an allied lawyer with the Global Advocacy Alliance.
“In an increasingly secular world, where views and values based upon faith are often marginalised, ignored or even viewed as regressive, there is a growing realisation of the importance of the right of religious freedom. This right is shared equally by all faiths and increasingly creates opportunities for diverse faith communities to collaborate and work together where they find common cause.
I am looking forward to sharing some practical examples of where this unity has been successful and created harmony and understanding between faiths who would otherwise have little in common.”
Mu-Aalima Fakude
She is a National Interfaith Leader, premised on pious living towards PEACE in the world led by human beings of conscious obedient leadership towards civil efficiency based on competent civic interpretation of the Constitution. She propagates effective exercise of Human Rights and defence thereof. As a Researcher and Scholar she works in collaboration with civic and community leaders. She is hands-on in civil society, identifying and addressing socio – economic political shortfalls as well as all ills impeding equal access to opportunities, thereby the realisation of Human Rights protection in a Constitutional Democracy – South Africa.
Among many mechanisms to achieve the recognition and realisation of Human Rights for all, she provides Intergenerational Workshops and Facilitations on capacity building through Leadership Development. She organises as well as operates strongly in activities directed at fostering spaces for change especially by developing the capacities of communities such that their collective issues are addressed by themselves with a view to act on them in consensus which is built on shared values deriving from the Bill of Rights. She leads campaigns on food security, energy efficiency for prevention and protection against energy poverty and conducts interventions against the impact of climate change.
Her Community Conversations and Dialogues extend to include expressing initiatives on platforms and spaces of various leadership congresses and conventions. She believes only shared values will bring about a common identity that builds one South Africa – one Nation. She fully appreciates that as strenuously as it is to strive for this goal, it is only with the Divine Grace and Will of The Almighty that it will be achieved in South Africa and finally the world through. She serves as Chairperson for the National Interfaith Council of South Africa (NICSA) and a Peace Ambassador for Heavenly Culture World Peace Restoration of Light (HWPL) all in the quest to *Enhancing Understanding and Harmony* globally.
