Professional Experience:
My legal and academic career has focused on improving linkages between traditional and state-based governance systems, governance and human rights promotion, protection, and sustainable development issues within stable and conflict-challenged contexts, including Afghanistan, Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Kosovo, Liberia, Libya, Rwanda, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan. I possess a solid understanding of such complexities in designing and implementing effective capacity building and staff development programs that have promoted peace and strengthened the legal professional capacity of government and civil society alike, including university and professional law development institutes in some of the most complex and challenging transitional post-war environments in the world.
I have recently served in Country Director and Deputy Country Director roles managing multi-million dollar USAID-supported governance programs in complex contexts (South Sudan, Egypt, and Libya over the last year). Previous to this, I served UNDP as a senior staff member/Chief Technical Advisor on key rule of law programs in Liberia, South Sudan, and Sudan. I have also served as a Consultant for UNDP (Afghanistan and Somalia) and WYG, a DFID Contractor in Libya. In Afghanistan, I developed UNDP's country office Gender Equality Strategy. In Somalia, I served as a Legal Education and Training Specialist for assisting the Governments of Somalia and Somaliland to train and deploy judicial staff who have a solid understanding of international human rights standards and mainstreaming of capacity building and staff professional development approaches in their policy and delivery frameworks. In Liberia, I was a full-time staff Chief Technical Advisor for Rule of Law for UNDP (2009-2011), Head of the Rule of Law Programme for UNDP-South Sudan (2006-2009), and UNDP-Sudan Senior Rule of Law and Gender Advisor (2005-2006). Prior to that, I was a Democracy Governance Foreign Service Officer for USAID (working in East Africa), Elections Advisor for USAID-Kenya, Fulbright Scholar (Ethiopia-Kenya-Botswana), Country Representative for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) in Ethiopia for program on Civil Society, Constitutional Rights, and Women's Political Participation. I have designed undergraduate and graduate courses in International Law, Human Rights and Development, Refugee and Asylum Issues, Social Justice, and International Humanitarian Law for US as well as international university students, including support for internships for a number of my students.
As Legal Education Advisor for UNDP-Somalia, I supported justice institutions and law faculties in providing training on adult learning methodologies, pedagogy, and experiential learning opportunities for students by strengthening internships in justice-related institutions. I am also conversant in French as well as a number of African languages including Setswana, Amharic, and Kiswahili