Sharon Pamela Leni is an advocate of the High Court of Uganda, public interest lawyer and an activist for Pan-Africanism. She is an LL.M. candidate at Makerere University with a research focus on Uganda’s reservation under Article 14 of the Maputo Protocol. Sharon is also affiliated with professional networks including the Uganda Law Society, the Network of Public Interest Lawyers- Uganda, East Africa Law Society, African Court Coalition, and the Africa Reproductive Justice Litigation Alliance. Her expertise integrates legal empowerment, advocacy and strategic program coordination and implementation.
She currently leads regional engagement at Afya na Haki Institute. Her work is anchored in a Pan-African practice of coalition-building and strategy, positioning regional and sub-regional spaces as sites for norm-setting, learning, and accountability. Sharon’s work draws on public international law, global health law and policy, digital rights, and SRHR, with a consistent commitment to widening access to justice for marginalised communities, particularly women and girls.
Within this broad regional mandate, Sharon holds multiple, linked leadership roles which are geared toward advancing reproductive justice (RJ) in Africa, under the Africa Reproductive Justice Litigation Fund. The Fund strengthens litigation ecosystems by connecting legal practice, the RJ movement priorities, regional and international human rights standards, and evidence-informed accountability.
Under the Fund, she supports implementation of the Litigating Reproductive Justice in Africa (LIRA) Programme by coordinating Ahaki’s collaboration with the Pamoja consortium, and supporting in-country implementing partners to translate evidence and comparative learning into stronger litigation pathways. Her role ensures regional and international human rights standards inform case framing, procedural decisions, and remedy options, while consolidating cross-jurisdiction learning on what sustains judicial and quasi judicial outcomes beyond judgment.
As part of Ahaki’s regional convening agenda, Sharon leads the convening of the Annual Reproductive Justice Litigation Baraza, a platform that curates jurisprudential trends, by bringing together legal, clinical, advocacy, and research expertise to translate regional standards into practical strategies. Through the Baraza, she supports cross-jurisdiction learning, strengthens communities of practice, and advances shared tools and approaches for accountability helping ensure that reproductive justice litigation is harmonized, effective, and sustained.
With extensive experience of over five years in legal aid and community-based legal education, Leni has developed curricular and delivered trainings on health law, criminal procedure, and access to justice, contributing significantly to professional development within the legal and health sectors, as well as community empowerment. Sharon’s work leverages regional engagement to build stronger coalitions, deepen practice, and secure sustainable rights-based outcomes across Africa.
