Prof. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo OON, (SAN)

Professor Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Life Bencher, and Officer of the Order of Niger (OON), is a distinguished Law Professor, the Emeritus Dean of Law at the University of Nigeria and the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children (2008-2014). The United Nations Human Rights Council appointed Prof. Ezeilo in December 2023 as one of the three Expert Members of the International Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan, and she continues to serve in that capacity. Prof. Ezeilo holds a PhD (Nig.), LLM (London), LL.B. (Nig.), BL, and Diploma in Peace & Conflict Resolution (Uppsala). She is a versatile legal scholar recognised as a leading authority in international law and development, criminal law, comparative constitutions, governance, gender, and human rights, especially on the rights of women and children in Africa. She founded Women Aid Collective (WACOL) and Tamar SARC as well as pioneered the teaching of women, children and the law in 1997, including developing a curriculum for the teaching of human rights, health law and reproductive rights in Nigerian Universities and sexual harassment and safeguarding policies for educational institutions and workplaces. Prof. Ezeilo is the 2019 winner of the National Human Rights Award and was also honoured on 5 March 2022 with the Civil Society Award of Excellence by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/ UN Women in collaboration with the Embassies of the United States of America, Germany, France, EU Delegation and the British High Commission to mark the International Women’s Day Awards Gala 2022 held at the United States Consul General’s Residence. On December 6, 2022, she was announced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as one of 100 women of impact in the world. Recently, she was honoured by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) with the Women’s Rights Defender Award to mark International Women’s Day (IWD) 2025. Professor Joy Ezeilo is a recipient of the prestigious British Chevening scholarship (1995) and a grantee of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Funds for Leadership Development (1998). She has also received several national and international awards, including being recognized by Newsweek/Daily Beast New York, USA in 2013 as one of the 125 women of impact worldwide for her work to end human trafficking. She was conferred with a Nigerian Government national honour of Officer of the Order of Niger (OON) in 2006 by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo (GCFR) in recognition of her outstanding contributions in the area of nation-building, legal scholarship, advocacy, civil society movement and community service. She is also a recipient of the Hon. Justice Taslim Elias Award (2019). This is a long teaching service award for law teachers who are professors and have served over 25 years in law teaching at Nigerian universities. She was elevated to Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in 2022, the pinnacle of the legal profession in Nigeria. Recently, she was appointed by the NBA President to serve as a Chairperson on the Justice Sector Reforms in Nigeria. This Committee leads the NBA drive for judicial reforms, including continuing legal education programmes for judges, lawyers and court staff. She has served as a Member of the United Nations Civil Society Advisory Board on Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (Feb 2019 to Feb 2021). She was appointed in December 2013 by the UN Secretary-General as a member of the 5-person Board of Trustees UN Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking managed by the UNODC Vienna, Austria. Further, she is the Chairperson of the Sexual Assault Referral Network (SARC) in Nigeria. She mentors undergraduate students through her leadership foundation called Ngozi Joy Ezeilo Leadership Institute (NJELI). She is currently the Deputy Chairperson of the African Women’s Leadership Network (AWLN) Nigerian chapter and served as a Member of the Enugu State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Police Brutality and Extra-Judicial Killings. Professor Joy Ezeilo was a former Commissioner for Gender and Social Development, Enugu State, a federal delegate to the National Political Reform Conference, and also served as a member of the Governing Council, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) between 2012 to 2015 and also Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) 2018- 2021. She was appointed in March 2022 as a Member of the Governing Council of the recently reconstituted NBA Human Rights Institute (NBA-HRI). She served in the Governing Council of the NBA Women’s Forum (NBAWF) from 2019 to 2022. In August 2024, I was appointed by the NBA President to serve as a Chairperson on the Justice Sector Reforms in Nigeria. This Committee leads the NBA drive for judicial reforms, including continuing legal education programmes for judges, lawyers and court staff. Prof. Ezeilo has worked in over 120 countries across all regions of the world. In the last two decades, she has organised and facilitated workshops and training on human rights, gender, human trafficking, the rule of law/access to justice, administration of criminal justice, governance, peace & conflict management in the following countries: Thailand, Nigeria, Senegal, Slovakia, Austria, United States of America, Chile, Columbia, Kuwait, Qatar, United Kingdom, Jordan, Ethiopia, South Korea, Switzerland, Moldova, Germany, Sweden, Belgrade, France, Niger, Mali, Brazil, South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, Namibia, Uganda, Gambia, Cameroun, Congo Brazzaville, Rwanda, etc. She has carried out independent contractual work as a legal and development consultant to various UN agencies including UNDP, UN Women, UNICEF, UNFPA, ILO, UNODC, British Council, DFID/UKAid, European Union, Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (RoLAC) Other organisations consulted for are USAID, MacArthur Foundation, Ministry of Justice- Liberia and Nigeria, International IDEA, Stockholm, National Assembly Constitution Review Committees, Nigeria, Federal Ministries of Justice, Health and Women Affairs and Social Development, Law Reform Commission, National Judicial Institute (NJI), Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Addis Ababa, GiZ, Heinrich Boelle Foundation amongst others. Professor Ezeilo’s burning desire to protect and uphold human rights and end trafficking in persons, especially women and children, propelled her through the Women Aid Collective (WACOL) to partner with the Enugu State Government and the Police, to establish the Tamar Sexual Assault Referral Centre, Enugu. She is the chairperson of the Sexual Assault Referral Centres Network formed under the Justice for All Programme of the DfID, UK, now supported by funding from the European Union, British Council and the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (RoLAC) Programme towards replicating and sustaining the SARC initiative across the country. As the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, she did full missions (full country visits) to 16 (sixteen) countries. She presented reports on each to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and the United Nations General Assembly in New York. These countries include Seychelles, Belize, Bahamas, Morocco, Philippines, United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Argentina, Uruguay, Gabon, Italy, Egypt, Japan, Belarus, Poland and Australia. She has travelled almost to every part of the world. She has visited in the course of her global work (not holidays) both academic and humanitarian to over one hundred countries covering: Africa Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Senegal, Cameroun, Comoros, Benin Republic, Gabon, South Africa, Zambia, Namibia, Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Seychelles, Morocco, Western Sahara, Egypt, Rwanda, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Tanzania, Niger, Mali, Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Chad etc. Americas/Latin America and Caribbean United States of America, Canada, Belize, Bahamas, Haiti, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay, Dominican Republic, Mexico etc. Asia India, China, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Australia, Japan, Sri Lanka, Philippines, South Korea, Australia, etc. Europe Austria, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Serbia, Belarus, Poland, France, Italy, Moldova, Slovakia, Ireland, Switzerland, Vatican City, etc. Middle East United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Turkey, etc. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo is a visiting professor at several universities, especially in North America, including a fellow–in–residence at the University of California, Irvine (1999) and a regent Professor at the University of California, Riverside (2001). She has delivered public lectures worldwide on human rights, human trafficking, gender, peace, democracy and good governance. She has published extensively in similar areas of law, with over 100 academic publications and more than 300 conference papers -published and unpublished. Professor Ezeilo’s work spans the globe, and she has brought global recognition to Nigeria as a nation. Her humanitarian work has impacted thousands of lives, especially providing free legal aid and pro bono services to over 80,000 women, children and the poor in the last 25 years (1997- 2022). Under her leadership, WACOL started running the first safe house in 1998 and, through her personal efforts and dedication, built in 2002, the first ultra-modern private shelter for abused women and girls’ victims/survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. A project she is still very proud of as her first building experience in life. In 2014, she started the Tamar Sexual Assault and Referral Centre (Tamar SARC), a one-stop-shop registered subsidiary initiative of WACOL. WACOL Tamar SARC focuses on providing rapid response and integrated services (Medical, Legal, Counselling, Shelter, Financial and Psycho-social support) for victims and survivors of sexual violence in Nigeria. WACOL/Tamar SARC is the number one legal aid service provider for women and girls in Nigeria, assisting about 2,000 annually and receiving over 4,000 drop-ins. Joy Ezeilo is regularly featured in local and international media and has been interviewed by CNN, BBC, Sky News, Aljazeera, etc. Prof. Ezeilo has an enviable public service record and has served and continues to serve on the boards of several national and international organisations. She is a high Chief in Igboland and is fondly called ‘triple Chief’: Ochendo, Ada ejiejemba Ndi Igbo, and Nzebuna chi. She was married to the late Dr. Augustine Ezenta Ezeilo, and they have adult children and grandchildren.