Elizabeth Onyango is the Chief Operating Officer of the International Law Institute -African Centre for Legal Excellence (ILI-ACLE) and has over 18 years experience in the field of human rights, advocacy, governance, access to justice and project management at national and regional levels, in addition to overseeing and monitoring technical assistance projects. With a legal training background specializing in international human rights law, she has worked in Lesotho, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya and the UK on numerous projects supporting institutional strengthening. Her experience includes the application of rights-based approaches, legal and judicial reform, conducting institutional needs assessments, studies, and evaluations, and developing practical and situation-centred guides including the development of manuals on: the work of local council courts in Uganda; human rights-based approaches for CSOs and CBOs; and access to justice institutions in Zambia. She has conducted training on human rights, access to justice, gender and women’s rights. Elizabeth was head of the Rwanda office of the human rights organization, African Rights from 2002 – 2005 where she was involved in documenting incidences and consequences of the 1994 Genocide with the aim of giving voice to the most vulnerable and sharing the testimonies. This included conducting studies on sexual and gender-based violence, and the spread of HIV/AIDS. Since 2005 she has held numerous managerial positions at ILI-ACLE, where she has been involved in capacity building and legal and judicial reform on the African continent.
She holds a Master of Laws (LLM) in International Human Rights Law (with Distinction) from the University of Essex and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the London School of Economics and Political Science.