Region: Nigeria, Africa

Main Areas Of Interest: human rights, women's rights

Fellowship Period: April -June 2006

Keywords: prisoner's rights, institutional and legal reform

Biographical Profile:
Frances Ogwo holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Linguistics, a Master of International Law & Diplomacy degree in Nigeria. She has worked in media, several financial institutions and non-governmental organizations. She has also participated in national and international training programs and was instrumental in obtaining Observer Status for HURILAWS with the African Commission on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR) in 2002.

Frances successfully co-coordinated the execution of Project 100 and Enugu Prisons Project, which released almost six hundred (600) awaiting trial prisoners from Enugu prisons. She also executed Project 1000, the release of 1,000 awaiting trial prisoners from prisons across Nigeria.

Between 2001 and 2002, I implemented another Project 1000, the release of 1000 Awaiting Trial Persons from the South-East and South-West regions of Nigeria. She has written articles on human rights, women's rights, prisoner's rights and institutional and regulatory reforms in several Nigerian newspapers. Currently, she serves as the Executive Director of the Human Rights Law Service (HURILAWS) in Lagos, Nigeria.