Who received the 2021 Vera Chirwa Award?

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The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria selected Zimbabwean human rights champion Roselyn Hanzi to receive the 2021 Vera Chirwa Award. Ms Hanzi is the Executive Director of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), a non-governmental organisation that has for long been working for human rights protection in Zimbabwe. The Award was in recognition of her work in championing human rights protection in Zimbabwe and the ZHLR where she leads the organisation’s work in human rights litigation, education and awareness despite unfavourable conditions.


Vera Mlangazua Chirwa is a Malawian born lawyer and human and civil rights activist. She was Malawi’s first female lawyer and a founding member of the Malawi Congress Party and the Nyasaland African Women’s League. The Vera Chirwa Human Rights award is awarded by the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria in South Africa to an individual “who best epitomises the true African human rights lawyer” and has “made an outstanding contribution to the protection and promotion of human rights in Africa”.

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