Speaker details

Biography

Name and Title: Prof. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo (SAN, OON, Life Bencher) Bio sketch- one paragraph Joy Ngozi Ezeilo is a distinguished Law Professor and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) with over 30 years of professional experience and expertise in international law, human rights, criminal law, comparative constitutional law, gender, and sexual and reproductive health rights. She is a former Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus. Prof. Ezeilo holds a PhD (Nig.), LLM (London), LL.B. (Nig.), BL, and Diplomas in Gender Studies, Peace & Conflict Resolution (Uppsala). Between 2008 and 2014, she served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children. She also served from 2019 to 2021 on the UN Secretary-General Advisory Board on Sexual Abuse and Exploitation and was a Board Member of the UN Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking (2013-2016). She has received numerous national and international accolades, including the Nigerian Government's Officer of the Order of Niger (OON) in 2006. In 2022, the BBC listed Prof. Joy Ezeilo as one of 100 women of impact in the world. Prof. Ezeilo is the 2019 winner of the National Human Rights Award and the 2022 Civil Society Award of Excellence, jointly awarded by the UNDP, United Nations Women, in collaboration with the Embassies of the United States of America, Germany, France, EU Delegation and the British High Commission. The United Nations Human Rights Council appointed Prof. Ezeilo in December 2023 as one of the three Expert Members of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan. She is still serving in that capacity. Furthermore, Prof. Ezeilo, SAN, pioneered the teaching of women, children, and the law in 1997 and has authored over 100 academic articles and books. She is the founder of Women's Aid Collective (WACOL) and Tamar SARC, which collectively have provided, in the last 27 years, over 62,000 free legal aid to women and children in difficult circumstances, including victims/survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. In March 2025, she was bestowed with the Women’s Rights Defender Award by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in commemoration of International Women’s Day.