Emma Kaliya
Emma Kaliya is a Gender/Women rights activist, passionate governance, access to justice, legal, social justice and human rights advocate and trainer. Ms. Kaliya has been instrumental in championing governance, public service delivery, access to justice and human rights based approaches for children and women’s rights in particular through formulation of public service charters and demand for social accountability by building capacity of NGOs and state Institutions such as; the Malawi Police, Malawi Defense Force among others. She has a very solid and extensive understanding of the UN and African and SADC Human Rights Frameworks as well as the Malawi legal and policy frameworks.
Ms. Kaliya is Executive Director for the Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre (MHRRC) and Currently Commissioner for Malawi Peace and Unity Commission. She holds a Master’s in Project Management. Over the years, she has also served in different positions at National, Regional and International levels i.e. Chairperson of the African Women’s Development and Communications Network (FEMNET), NGO Gender Coordination Network, SADC Gender Protocol Alliance, Chairperson of ALWN, Malawi Electoral Support Network, Commissioner for the Review of Electoral Laws in Malawi among others. Ms. Kaliya has immensely contributed to the Gender Movement in Malawi, SADC, Africa Region and beyond which has earned her awards such as the 2009 Drivers of Change Award by the Southern Africa Trust /Mail& Guardian for her contribution to the Governance theme of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development.
OVERALL PROFESSIONAL GOAL:
To ensure that the vulnerable groups, especially women and children achieve full realization of their human rights and are able to claim and defend them all the time.