Wendy Isaack

Experience

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  Equality Project

  Aug 2000 - Apr 2005

  Coordinator: Legal Advice Centre

  Provided legal advice and support to sexual minorities experiencing violence and discriminationDeveloped training materials for rights education workshops on the law and sexual orientation Published legal articles and conducted media interviews to raise public awareness of LGBTI rights Member of the legal team in strategic litigation: constitutional challenge for same-sex marriage Represented the organization at sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. Show less

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  People Opposing Women Abuse

  Nov 2006 - Sept 2010

  Manager: Legal Services & Advocacy Programme

  Contributed to the establishment of the programme and provided overall strategic managementDeveloped and implemented the organization’s advocacy agenda for national, regional (African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights) and international (United Nations) policy work on violence against women and access to justiceResponsible for fundraising and overall financial management of the programRepresented the organization in regional (African Commission) and international fora, including UN Commission on the Status of Women annual sessions Engaged in parliamentary law and policy reform, in particular, submitting comments on draft policy and legislation and appearing before relevant parliamentary committeesConducted legal research and collaborated with other legal professionals for public interest litigationManaged and supervised legal staff and court support volunteers Developed and implemented human rights education and training workshops on violence against women for public sector officials and civil society partnersProduced regular articles for publication, engaged with national media and presented at various regional and international fora on violence against women Led the conceptualization and implementation of legal interventions for the Oneinnine Campaign to end sexual violence against women and 070707 Campaign to end hate crimes against lesbian, bisexual and transgender people (national campaigns)Led and coordinated the process for preparation and submission of the civil society shadow report to the CEDAW Committee in response to the South African government’s 2010 periodic report Show less

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  Legal Resources Centre

  Jan 2009 - Dec 2009

  Candidate Attorney

  Provided legal advice and support to sexual minorities experiencing violence and discriminationDeveloped training materials for rights education workshops on the law and sexual orientation Published legal articles and conducted media interviews to raise public awareness of LGBTI rights Member of the legal team in strategic litigation: constitutional challenge for same-sex marriage Represented the organization at sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. Show less

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  UN Women

  Oct 2010 - Jun 2013

  Human Rights Specialist

  Primary source of technical support to the CEDAW Committee for: elaboration of general recommendation No. 30 on “women’s human rights in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict contexts” and preparation of a draft general recommendation on “women and access to justice”Provided on-demand technical guidance to, including developing a preliminary guidance note for UN Women country offices regarding CEDAW reporting processes Contributed to the development of a strategy aimed at capacity-building and support to governments and civil society partners reporting under CEDAW in the area of women’s human rights and HIV and AIDSConducted a training workshop for representatives of the Jamaican Government and civil society and preparing relevant training material to address the gender equality dimensions of HIVConducted a study of specialized training for judges, lawyers and prosecutors on women’s human rights and gender equality programs supported by the United Nations system to identify promising practices Show less

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  Centre for Applied Legal Studies

  Sept 2013 - Jun 2014

  Senior Attorney: Business and Human Rights

  Conduct public interest litigation in the arena of business and human rightsLead development and implementation of advocacy strategies for engaging the African Commission on Human & Peoples’ Rights and relevant thematic Special Procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council Build strategic partnerships with regional and international organizations working in this sector with a view to contributing to national and regional policy formulation Provide legal advice with a specific focus on women and communities adversely affected by activities of corporations in the extractive industryEngage in fundraising initiatives and identifying new donors for the programSupervise candidate attorneys and ensuring their professional development Show less

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  Human Rights Watch

  Sept 2015 - Dec 2015

  Research Consultant

  Conducting research in Nigeria

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  UN Women

  Dec 2015 - Mar 2016

  Consultant

  International law consultant

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  City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law

  Jan 2016 - Apr 2016

  Adjunct Professor
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  Human Rights Watch

  Mar 2016 - now

  • Researcher

    Jan 2020 - now

  • Researcher

    Sept 2016 - Jul 2022

  • Researcher

    Mar 2016 - Oct 2018
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  Office of UN SRSG on Sexual Violence in Conflict

  Oct 2018 - Jan 2020

  Programme Officer
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  Https://justassociates.org/power-up/

  May 2023 - now

  Senior Advocacy Coordinator