Miria Matembe

Miria MATEMBE (Co-Chair) is a co-founder of Action for Development (ACFODE) in Kampala, and a former member of parliament representing the Mbabara district of Uganda until 1989. She also represented her country as a member of the Pan-African Parliament, where she served as chairperson of its Committee on Rules. As former Minister of Ethics and Integrity, from 1998 to 2003, she formulated the government's policy on corruption, and helped set standards of ethics for professionals in public office. A former commissioner of the Uganda Constitutional Commission, she later served as delegate to the Constituent Assembly that promulgated the new national constitution in 1995. In 2002 she published a book entitled Gender, Politics and Constitution Making in Uganda, where she documents her experience in bringing gender issues to the forefront of national politics. A lawyer who has focused on human rights law, constitutional law and business law, Ms. Matembe has presented numerous papers at conferences in Africa and the United States. She recently completed a fellowship at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, DC. Ms. Matembe received her LL.B. from Makerere University, Uganda, and her LL.M. from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom.