Details of our directors, staff, trustees, interns and researchers are given below.

Directors

Dawit Mesfin 

Dawit is the principal director of Justice Africa–UK. He is managing its operation in the UK from London. Originally from Eritrea, Dawit is a peace, human rights and democracy activist who has worked for numerous organisations in Diaspora for over a decade. He instituted a number of civil society organisations in Europe, set up and managed Voice of Liberty, a radio station whose primary focus was on people’s rights. Since the mid-seventies he has journeyed through numerous European cultures (Italian, German and British) – journeys that played significant roles in the development of his character.  Moreover, he is a researcher, writer and commentator on Eritrean affairs.  Currently he is working on a book about an African nationalist politician. Dawit has wide ranging interests in African history, justice, peace, people’s rights and democracy.

Dr Alex de Waal
Alex is a well-known and respected writer and activist on Africa. His books include Famine that Kills: Darfur, Sudan, Famine Crimes: Politics and the Disaster Relief Industry in Africa and a number of booksfor Justice Africa – see our publications section. Alex served as Associate Director of Africa Watch before resigning in 1992 in protest over the U.S. military intervention in Somalia. He was a founder and director of African Rights, Chairman of Mines Advisory Group 1993-8 (co-laureate of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize), and director of programmes for the International African Institute. After successfully lobbying the United Nations to establish a Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa (CHGA), Alex acted as this body’s founding Programme Director, and contributed to the direction and purpose of the body 2003-2004. Alex established and continues to coordinate the African Civil Society Governance and AIDS Initiative (GAIN), largely as a civil society complement to the CHGA process; and Justice Africa remains a centre for the production and commissioning of some of the newest and most relevant research on the social, political and governance effects of HIV/AIDS in Africa. Since September 2004, Alex has combined his director role with being Programme Director of the Social Science Research Council (US) Programme on HIV/AIDS and Social Transformations, and a Fellow at the Global Equity Initiative, Harvard University.  After working as senior advisor to the African Union High Level Panel on Sudan for three years, he is now the Executive Director of World Peace Foundation.

Paulos Tesfigiorgis
Paulos Tesfagiorgis is an Eritrean Human Rights Activist. He established the only People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) licensed Regional Centre for Human Rights and Development in Eritrea and was a co-founder and subsequently head of the Eritrean Relief Association during the Eritrean independence war. He has a masters degree in law from McGill University, Canada and has been a lecturer in law at the University of Asmara, Eritrea. He was awarded the Rafto Prize in 2003 for his work.

 

Michela Wrong
Michela Wrong, a Cambridge graduate, worked for Reuters news agency in the early 1980s and was posted as a foreign correspondent to Italy, France and Ivory Coast. Michela became a freelance journalist in 1994, when she moved to then-Zaire and found herself covering both the genocide in neighbouring Rwanda and the final days of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko for the BBC and Reuters. She later moved to Kenya, where she spent four years covering east, west and central Africa for the Financial Times newspaper. Michaela is a published author of the worldwide celebrated books: “In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz” for which she won the PEN prize award for non-fiction; “I didn’t do it for you” ; and “It’s our turn to eat” which was named as one of the Economist’s “best books of 2009″ and was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. She has also published opinion pieces and book reviews in the Observer, Guardian, Financial Times, New Statesman, Spectator and Standpoint magazines and was awarded the 2010 James Cameron prize for journalism “that combined moral vision and professional integrity”.

Andre Zaaiman

In the 1980s, during the struggle against Apartheid, Andre Zaaiman was an underground activist of the African National Congress (ANC).  In the 1990’s Andre was the Director of the Goree Institute in Senegal where he worked on political-economic analysis, scenario development, strategy and organizational effectiveness issues across Africa and the Middle East. During his time at the Goree Institution, Andre co-authored the book “Managing towards Self-Reliance: Organizational Effectiveness in Africa” which explores different organisational approaches in order to function efficiently in the complex African environment.  Andre is also a former senior official of the Presidential Support Unit (PSU) in  South Africa which provided the then President Thabo Mbeki with advice on strategic intelligence for complex conflicts. In 2008, Andre left his governmental position to pursue his academic and civic interests and is currently doing research in intelligence and complexity at the University of Stellenbosch. Andre is the founding director of “MindSight”, a private company that does training in complex analytics and develops early warning systems for organisations in the public, civic and private sectors as well as for the United Nations.

Trustees

Richard Dowden, Royal African Society
Richard is Director of the Royal African Society, and a long-standing and noted commentator on the politics of Africa. Richard first worked in Africa as a volunteer teacher at a bush school in Uganda in the early 1970s. After joining The Times foreign desk in 1980, he reported from the Middle East and Africa, before being appointed Africa Editor at The Independent when it was founded in 1986. During the next nine years he visited almost every country in Sub Saharan Africa and in 1995 he joined The Economist as Africa Editor. In addition to writing extensively about Africa, he has made three full length documentaries on Africa as well as several shorter films. Richard also sits on the board of the African Arguments series of books published by Zed Books, which is jointly produced by Justice Africa.

Christine Tominke Olaniyan, PADEAP
Christine is Programme Director of the Pan-African Development Education and Advocacy Programme (PADEAP). A development economist by training, Christine worked with Justice Africa’s Peace and Security Programme between 1999 and 2001. Since 2002, Christine has been working in PADEAP country offices in Kampala (Uganda), Funtua in Katsina State (Northern Nigeria) and Tottenham (North London) developing the growing programmes in each country. Christine is a committed advocate for women and grassroots community engagement and education to tackle global injustice and the continued degrading poverty that besets the lives of the majority of Africans.

Dr Suleiman Rahhal, Nuba Survival
Suleiman is Director of Nuba Survival, a Sudanese advocacy group, and Editor-in-Chief of the Nuba Vision newsletter. An epidemiologist by training, Suleiman has been devoted in the last decades to promoting the cause of these marginalised people, and campaigning for greater human rights in Sudan.

 

 

 

Staff Members

London Office

Roxanna Rawson - Project Coordinator

Roxanna has been Project Coordinator in London since April 2009. She has been a committed and active member of Justice Africa for many years, volunteering and conducting research for us since 2005.  She has previous experience working in the voluntary sector in fundraising, events organisation and research for a variety of NGOs including Afford, Never Again and SOS Children. Roxanna has wide ranging interests in African history, Pan-Africanism, economic development, systems and particularly in the power of civil society’s role to bring about social and democratic change.

Nina M. Dehghan – Associate Project Coordinator

Nina has been a member of Justice Africa since April 2011. She holds a BA in International Relations & Politics as well as a MA in Conflict, Security & Development with particular focus on African conflicts from King’s College London. Her background includes experience working with human rights and development. She has lived and worked in many countries and is multilingual, speaking four different languages.

Heather Lewis – Associate Project Coordinator

Heather has volunteered and interned at Justice Africa since September 2010. Her education includes African Studies and Development with Swahili. She has previous experience in volunteering with refugees and asylum seekers in the UK, which included visits to detainees and advocacy work. Heather has travelled to East Africa several times and is particularly interested in issues concerning gender and women’s rights and the environment.

 

Juba Office

Kahssay Gebreyesus Biru - Country Director

Kahssay has been based in the Republic of South Sudan Country Office since September 2010. He previously worked as Program Manager for InterAfrica Group, a regional organisation and working partner of Justice Africa. He holds a BA in Economics and an MA in Federal Studies, Diversity and Conflict Resolution. He has ten years experience in management of programs with a specialisation in finance and logistics management, and long time experience in consultancy. He has conducted widespread research on Sudan on the relevance of Federalism and the Community Security status in South Sudan. He has been coordinating different projects including the Southern Sudanese Citizens Dialogue Program on self-determination, Nation Building and Multicultural Democracy. He is also a member of the Ethiopian Economics Association. Kahssay is currently managing all Justice Africa projects in the Juba Country Office.

Hannah Logan - Programme Coordinator

Hannah has been an active member of Justice Africa since November 2009 and began working in Juba in May 2011. Her background is in anthropology and development and she has previous experience working in human rights, fundraising, and advocacy. She has been working with Sudanese organisations for the past three years. Hannah is particularly interested in supporting and promoting civil society in South Sudan to ensure their presence as a collective, visible sector who legitimately voice citizen’s concerns, participate in political processes and articulate a South Sudanese way forward after independence.

 

Neha Erasmus – Programme Advisor

Neha is a Political Officer, African Union High Level Implementation Panel for Sudan.  She has extensive working knowledge of Sudan and the region. She has spent several years working in Southern Sudan with several NGOs, including the Institute for the Promotion of Civil Society and GTZ’s repatriation programme. She grew up in Kenya and has also lived in India, the United Kingdom and Canada.

 

Stephen Pande - Programme Coordinator

Stephen has worked with Justice Africa as Programme Coordinator since 2009. He has extensive experience working with civil society organisations in Kenya and has worked in Sudan for 7 years with churches and several faith based organisations in peace and reconciliation programmes. He initiated the founding of the South Sudan Action Network on Small Arms and the Sudan Democracy and Election Monitoring Program. He facilitated the dialogue program ascertaining the citizen’s views of the refererendum on self determination for people of South Sudan. He has also been engaged with democracy, Governance, and peace and security projects. Stephen holds a Masters of Arts in Religious Studies.

Benjamin Ocheingh  – Coordinator, Civil Society Support Project

Ben has been based at the Juba office since October 2010. He previously worked with Save the Children, Sweden and at the LRA peace talks in Northern Uganda before coming to Sudan. He has spent six years working in Southern Sudan on several projects in the areas of education, health, water and sanitation for former child soldiers; as a Program Coordinator as well as supporting DDR activities. During this time, he played a key role in the drafting of the South Sudan Child Act. Before joining Justice Africa, he worked with the largest Youth Organization in Sudan as Programs Officer. Benjamin holds a BSC Degree majoring in Natural Resource Management and Anthropology, with further studies and training in Project management and Planning.

David Browning – Constitutional Development Project Officer

David moved to South Sudan to intern at Justice Africa and undertake research for his master’s dissertation. His area of interest is the role that civil society can play in peacebuilding in South Sudan. For Justice Africa he has been working on the civil society coalition building project and was a resource person at the first National Civil Society Convention. He has also been facilitating consultations with civil society for the design of new projects. He is currently a project officer on the constitution reform education programme. David has travelled extensively, living in eight different countries.

Woja James Amule - Operations/Logistics Coordinator

A native of Yei County, Amule has been with Justice Africa since June 2010. He has travelled almost all the ten states of South Sudan, and thus has extensive working knowledge of the country. He spent several years working with ZOA Refugee Care and also with GTZ in partnership with the UNHCR Repatriation Programme and UNICEF in Warehouse Management. He grew up in the Central Equatoria State of South Sudan and has also lived in Uganda.

Martin Onjerinwa- Administrative & Human Resources Coordinator

Martin has been a member of the Justice Africa Sudan Office since 2010. Originally from South Sudan, he has worked for a wide variety of Sudanese branch organisations such as Save the Children, UNHCR and Relief International. His academic background includes a BA in Business Administration and Management, and a Masters degree in the same field. He is a board member of both JASCO and MASS.

Peter Mangezire – Finance Officer

Peter hails from the city of Yambio in the Western Equatoria State of South Sudan and has been working at the Juba office since February 2011. Before that, he worked for many Sudanese organisations, including ACDI/VOCA and South Sudan De-mining Commission. His academic background is business related and he is currently studying for a Bachelor in Business Administration. He has also completed a wide range of courses that include HIV/AIDS awareness and a Life Skills Programme by UNICEF. Peter speaks English, Arabic and French, as well as some local languages.

Current Research and Fundraising Interns

Louise Hogan

Zainnab Makele

Paul Sixpence

Researchers & Associates

 Jacob Bor HIV/AIDS and Democracy in South Africa

 Ephraim Kimotho HIV/AIDS and Parliamentarians in Kenya

 Kintu Nyago HIV/AIDS Activists in Uganda

 Roxanna Rawson HIV/AIDS and Systems

 Charles Wendo HIV/AIDS and the Press in Uganda

Project on HIV/AIDS in the Police and Other Uniformed Services

 Fatima Elsheikh (Sudan)

Darcel Gabriel-Nelson (Benin)

Themba Masuku (South Africa)

Alison Thompson (Sierra Leone)

The Civil Project

Alex Crutcher Forming Sudanese Identity: Religion, Ethnicity and Nationalism

Odinakoanye Lagi Opportunities in Southern Sudan for Integrating Poverty Alleviation and Civil Society Capacity Building for More Stable Communities

Alasdair Mckay Justice, Peace and Reconciliation in Darfur