Mai Aman

Mai Aman is a Sudanese human rights lawyer and researcher with over nine years of experience in legal research, advocacy, and project management. She holds an LLB from the University of Khartoum and an LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa from the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, where she is currently pursuing her LLD in human rights with a specialised focus on children’s rights.

Mai’s expertise spans women’s and children’s rights, and access to justice for vulnerable groups. As well as democracy, transitional justice, and legal and policy reform. She has developed particular specialisation in children’s rights frameworks at both global and regional levels, including juvenile justice, harmful practices, and the implementation of regional child rights instruments. She has an in-depth understanding of international law and the African human rights system, including the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

Her professional experience includes work with several human rights organisations such as Mutawinat Benevolent Company, the People’s Legal Aid Office (PLACE), the Human Rights Centre at the University of Khartoum, and the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria. She has led and contributed to numerous research and advocacy initiatives addressing child protection, women’s rights, and broader human rights issues in Africa.

Currently, Mai serves as a Collaborations Officer at the Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA), where she focuses on strengthening African accountability mechanisms, Strategic Partnerships, and Strengthening Civil Society, she also contributes to feminist research and advocacy. 

Her current LLD research seeks to understand how the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), as an international human rights compliance mechanism, contributes to the protection and advancement of children's rights, by using the right to education in Sudan as a case study.  The research intends to evaluate the influence of recommendations from the UPR at the national level in Sudan and their contribution to improving children’s right to education. Furthermore, the research seeks to analyse the complementarity of international human rights monitoring mechanisms through an assessment of the dynamics and interactions between the UPR and the United Nations and African Union specialised mechanisms for monitoring children’s rights, specifically the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC Committee) and the African Committee of Experts on the rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC).