By Our Reporter
Victoria Ohaeri, the executive director of Spaces for Change (www.spacesforchange.org) is one of the 24 candidates selected for the 2016 Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellowship Programme.
Out of 305 top-quality nominations from 32 countries who competed for a slot in this prestigious programme, Victoria Ohaeri was selected as one of ”Africa’s highest-calibre
emerging leaders who have the potential to lead the continent to a bright future, and who are already doing amazing things.”
The 24 candidates are from 13 different countries, including less-represented countries like Somaliland, South Sudan and Guinea Bissau. They also represent a wide spectrum of sectors, from government, business, civil society, entrepreneurs, education, etc – which provides a platform for rich dialogue and learning. You can view the full list here.
Victoria Ohaeri, an SXSW 2013 honoree, and Harvard University alumni, is the founder and executive director of Spaces for Change – a non-profit that leverages on digital technology to crowdsource policy research data, facilitate public dialogues and mobilize the participation of
the often-unheard segments of the population – youth, women and local communities –in the development of social and economic policies in Nigeria.
In her decade-long legal career and involvement in social and economic rights research and advocacy, she has traversed four continents: Africa, Europe, North America and South America, leading research investigations, documenting and exposing human rights violations, formulating and analyzing social and economic policy at national, regional and international levels. She has participated in major studies and fact-finding missions commissioned by
UNHABITAT, COHRE, MSI Integrity, Ford Foundation, CORDAID, IISD among others.
With over 10 years research work and advocacy experience across continents, she is the currently the country team lead in the ongoing international energy sector research program
focusing on Nigeria, Bangladesh and India. The 4-year multidisciplinary research seeks to investigate the stark gender inequalities in access to energy resources and build the evidencebase for developing policy reforms that can overcome these disparities in Nigeria. Victoria also
leads S4C’s frontline advocacy and litigation campaign to address the recurrent threats of urban violence and forced displacement in Lagos slum communities.
Victoria Ohaeri is a regular commentator on national and international television and radio programmes in Nigeria and beyond. Her fields of scholarly work criss-cross energy, gender, urban governance, oil sector transparency, human rights and environmental sustainability. Her articles and analytical commentaries on the above thematic areas feature regularly on a variety of Nigerian and international news media.
“My work on human rights, policy advocacy, and community engagement gives me a strong sense of fulfillment, especially knowing how my work impacts the lives of the less-privileged in the society. This prestigious recognition simply provides additional motivation to do more”, Victoria Ohaeri said.
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