Allan Ngari

Allan is Africa Advocacy Director at Human Rights Watch. 

He has extensive experience and expertise on Africa’s human rights landscape and the advocacy opportunities and challenges now and in coming years.

Previously at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, where as the Advocacy Programme Manager since June 2022, he facilitated a knowledge agenda on transitional justice and human rights, and provided strategic leadership to secure multi-stakeholder cooperation, partnerships, and funding for the Center’s work with the African Union, regional economic communities and mechanisms, as well as with African Union member states, civil society organizations, victim groups and associations, and women and youth groups. Prior to that Allan was the Dakar, Senegal-based West Africa Regional Coordinator for the ENACT Project at the Institute for Security Studies where he implemented a multi-Euro EU and German Foreign Office funded project with ECOWAS Commission and ECOWAS Member States on knowledge management and response to organized crime in West Africa.

Through his work, over eight years, with the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa, Allan researched issues and coordinated projects to advance the fight against impunity for serious crimes and human rights violations in Africa. Among many other roles at the ISS, he coordinated the workplans of the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum’s East Africa and West Africa Working Groups, which involved policy research, advocacy and technical assistance to Central, East, Horn and West African countries to develop and implement processes relating to radicalization, violence and violent extremism. Before the ISS, Allan worked at the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, Cape Town South Africa, running projects on the Great Lakes (Burundi, DR Congo, Rwanda and Uganda) and Greater Horn, and then led the Kenya and International Justice desks on transitional justice and reconciliation, gender justice, electoral reform and civic education, as well as reparations for victims of human rights abuse, and the impact of mass trauma.

A prolific writer and public analyst, Allan has published in English and French, dozens of reports, policy briefs, working papers, media articles and opinions. He holds a law degree from the University of Nairobi and a master of law degree from Stellenbosch University, and speaks Kikuyu, Swahili, English, French and basic Portuguese.