An Associate Professor of International Human Rights Law, Usang Maria Assim undertakes research, teaching, and learning responsibilities at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the Dullah Omar Institute for Constitutional Law, Governance and Human Rights at the Faculty of Law of the University of the Western Cape. As a children’s rights expert, she works in close collaboration with the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the Committee’s partners, and other civil society organisations involved with children’s rights in Africa and globally, contributing towards the fulfilment of the Committee’s mandate. In this regard, she coordinates – on behalf of DOI – the African Children’s Charter Project (ACCP).
Among others, she is a member of the Advisory Council of the Independent Expert for the United Nations Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty, and, is a council member of the Global Campus of Human Rights – a network of over 100-member universities playing a leading role in human rights and democratisation education, research, and advocacy. Her research and publication record include ‘The Social, Economic and Cultural Rights of Children in Africa: Challenges and Reflections from the Perspective of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child’ (edited with Elvis Fokala and Nkatha Murungi), and ‘Conflict and Poverty in Africa: A Research Companion’ (edited with Ebenezer Durojaye, Gladys Mirugi-Mukundi, and John-Mark Iyi).