Sam Brakarsh
Africa Regional Representative for Artists at Risk Connection
Sam Brakarsh is the Africa Regional Representative for Artists at Risk Connection (ARC), coordinator of the AMANI: Africa Creative Defense Network, and co-chair of the upcoming PANAF Summit on Artistic Freedom. He is from Zimbabwe where he cofounded the Chikukwa Research Trust and Culture Centre, focusing on sustainable governance, political theatre, and environmental justice.
Deprose Muchena
Senior Director and Member of the Senior Leadership Team of Amnesty International
Deprose is the former Deputy Director of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA). Deprose has been a Senior Democracy and Governance Advisor at USAID, a programme manager for economic justice at the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, a founder member of the broad-based movement that campaigned for a new constitution in Zimbabwe, and a founder member of the Southern Africa Economic Justice Network. He is also editor of the book Tearing Us Apart: Inequalities in Southern Africa.
Abigail Noko
Regional Representative of the Regional Office of OHCHR in Southern Africa
Abigail has worked at OHCHR for more than 20 years in various capacities. Before her current posting, she oversaw OHCHR’s work from headquarters in east and southern Africa and the African Union and undertook special assignments in Sierra Leone and Nigeria.
Mary Lawlor
UN Special Rappourtuer on Human Rights Defenders
Mary has worked extensively with and on the situation of human rights defenders.In 2001 she founded Front Line Defenders - the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders to concentrate on human rights defenders at risk. As Executive Director from 2001-2016, Ms. Lawlor represented Front Line Defenders and had a key role in its development.
Prof Adriano Nuvunga
Chairperson (SouthernDefenders)
Prof. Adriano Alfredo Nuvunga, Ph.D. is a scholar and leading civil society activist in Mozambique. He is the director of CDD – Centre for Democracy and Development, a civil society organization working on youth, leadership, democracy and development policy towards the nurturing of transformational leadership for developmental change in Mozambique.
