Viviane Kalumire Furaha is a HIV positive young woman, pharmacist, scholar, leadership coach and trainer, social entrepreneur and Women Rights and Health for all Advocate from Democratic Republic of Congo. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy at the National University of Rwanda (NUR) in 2008 and her Master in Social Sciences, Gender and Development at the Kigali Institute of Education in 2012. Most importantly, Viviane is a proud mother of a girl since November 2012.
In 2006, she co- founded with other HIV-positive women a local non-governmental organization, Rwandan Women living with HIV/AIDS and fighting against it (FRSL+/RW) and had been its Deputy Legal Representative from 2008 to 2011 than served as Legal representative from July 2011 to March 2013. She has also been a member of the International Community of Women living with HIV/AIDS (ICW) since 2007. In 2008, she was elected Board secretary of ICW East Africa Regional Advisory Committee (RAC) where she served till March 2013. Viviane is also board member of the HIV Treatment World Community Advisory Board (WCAB) since February 2011.
Viviane worked as Tutorial assistant at the National University of Rwanda, Faculty of Medicine/ Pharmacy department from March 2009 to December 2012.
In 2011, Viviane with other activists founded an African Community Advisory board (AFROCAB) that is a community advocacy and participation hub to promote greater access to antiretroviral therapy through meaningful involvement of African people living with HIV.
Since 2012, Viviane serves at the Interagency Task Team (IATT) on the prevention and treatment of HIV infection in Pregnant Women, mothers and Children Working group as one of ICW delegate.
In 2013, Viviane co- founded a nongovernmental organization IMARA- Women Empowerment Foundation (IWEF) to advocate for the rights of women and girls in D.R.Congo. Her country where she was born in 1982 and raised up before fled to Rwanda in 2001 after experience different trauma related to war.
From September 2013 to June 2014 Viviane contribute as a Blog Writer for the International Press Agency to the Countdown to Zero stories on the global plan to eliminate new HIV infections and keep their mothers living with HIV alive. http://www.ips.org/blog/ips/?s=Viviane+Furaha
Currently, Viviane is establishing IMARA SOCIAL ENTERPRISE (ISE), an innovative social enterprise and African fashion brand promoting African traditional skills and techniques in the production of trade authentic African fabrics and clothing aim to support women in Sub Sahara Africa to break through inter generation cycle of poverty by providing women with the tools and support to reclaim their own future and flourish as independent entrepreneur and drive development in their communities
Viviane speaks fluent French, English, Swahili and Kinyarwanda.