Background: Barney Afako is a Ugandan lawyer with vast experience in conflict mediation. Previously, he worked in the fields of human rights, refugee law, criminal justice and transition issues in several countries. Also, he served as a part-time tribunal judge in the United Kingdom. He is a member of the United Nations Mediation Support Unit Standby Team. Between 2006 and 2008, Afako was the Chief Legal Advisor to the Southern Sudanese mediation in the Juba Peace Talks between the Government of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army. In that capacity, he developed and drafted the Final Peace Agreement, with particular responsibility for the Agreement on Reconciliation and Accountability. In 2009, he advised the African Union Panel on Darfur (AUPD) and was responsible for drafting the justice recommendations of the AUPD’s report. Since 2010, he has been an adviser to the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel on Sudan and South Sudan. Afako has provided advice to other peace processes on addressing the past. In Uganda, he has advised the Government and particularly the Amnesty Commission on issues of peacebuilding and reconciliation. He is the author of several publications on justice and peace issues. He is a regular commentator in the international media – including print, radio and television – on political and international justice developments in Africa.
Expertise: Uganda; human rights; refugee law; criminal justice; transitional justice; peacebuilding; conflict mediation
