Effective representation of women in justice benefits all of the society. This HagueTalks event gives platform and space for African women pursuing national or international legal career and contributes to empowering women and girls worldwide. Women judges will share their  personal stories about the obstacles they have faced and opportunities they’ve had to become justice champions.

What was their journey to becoming a judge? What were the main obstacles in becoming a judge and how did they overcome them? What can be done, nationally and internationally, to remove these barriers and pave the way for more women in justice?

Three esteemed women jurists will talk about the challenges and best practices for empowering women to lead in justice processes.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

• Judge Elisa Samuel Boerekamp, High Court Judge and General Director of the Centre for Judicial and Legal Training, Mozambique. Judge Elisa Samuel Boerekamp is one of the judges who participated in the research for the report on Women in Justice in Africa. She is a powerful advocate for equal rights and opportunities, and a mentor for women judges in Mozambique. Judge Boerekamp will speak about becoming a judge in Mozambique and her journey.
• Judge Amina Augie, Justice of the Supreme Court, Nigeria. Justice Amina Augie is visiting The Hague as part of a delegation of African Chief Justices. She is the only woman in this delegation. During the event she will speak about her personal experience in becoming Supreme Court Justice in Nigeria.
• Judge Solomy Balungi Bossa, a judge of the International Criminal Court (The Hague), Uganda. She will share her journey and experience in working at national as well as international courts, and the difference she has encountered.

Event moderators are Revai Aalbaek, Human rights lawyer working for sustainable development (UNDP) and Hodan Addou, UN Women Country Representative of Tanzania who champions the work on gender justice and equality.

UNDP and UN Women will present the Women in Justice in Africa Initiative.
Ms. Agi Veres, Director, UNDP Representation Office in Geneva, will speak about lessons learned from the knowledge collaboration between UNDP and UN Women on women in justice in Africa. The presentation and the discussion will uncover main challenges for women pursuing meaningful representation in the justice sector in Africa, spotlight good practices and recommendations identified through comprehensive research. Please see the web-story Justice for all: Why having more women judges benefits all of society launched by UNDP for International Day of Women’s Judges in 2023.

Event co-organisers are UNDP and UN Women.

Join us! This will be a hybrid event, with both online and in-person participation possible.