Irene Ovonji-Odida

Since 2012 Ovonji-Odida has been vice-chairperson of Slum Aid International Uganda and since 2013 has been vice-chairperson of the council of Makerere University. She has been chair of the Center for Basic Research Trustees since 2013 and is currently chief executive of the Uganda Association of Women Lawyers. Irene Ovonji-Odida lectures and carries out research into women's land rights, the Ugandan constitution and East African political integration.

Ovonji-Odida campaigns for social justice, gender equality and human rights including the Black Monday anti-corruption campaign. She was elected as a member of the East African Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2006, where she led programmes to improve transparency and accountability, to reduce regional conflicts, and to provide oversight for trade negotiations. She served as an election monitor for the 2005 Ugandan multi-party referendum and in the same year served on the committee of ActionAid Uganda. Ovonji-Odida sat on ActionAid's international board from 2007 and was chair between 2009 and 2015. She served as a Commonwealth of Nations observer for the 2010 Tanzanian general election.

Ovonji-Odida participated in the 1997–98 campaign to revise the draft East African Community (EAC) to widen its scope from a purely trade-based organisation to include international development responsibilities. She has worked for several national and international task forces including one for the EAC focussing on political federation and joint African Union-United Nations Economic Commission for Africa one on the illegal movement of capital.

She has volunteered for various non-governmental organisations since 1989, with a particular focus on those related to human rights and development. Ovonji-Odida has served as director of legal for the Ugandan government's Directorate of Ethics and Integrity. She became a member of the Uganda Law Reform Commission in 1994. She was also a legal officer in the Law Reform Commission and a researcher in the Constituent Assembly Commission, two of the organisations responsible for managing the writing of the 1995 constitution.

Irene Ovonji was born in Uganda to Valerian Ovonji, who served as a permanent secretary and government minister under Idi Amin. Her mother worked as a tailor. In 1972, however, her father was removed from his ministerial post for openly disagreeing with government policies, and in 1977 he fled to Kenya when he found out Amin's militia was targeting him to be killed. The following year his family joined him as refugees. Though they were able to return to Uganda in 1979 after Amin had been overthrown, Irene remained in Kenya for another five years to complete her secondary education. She stayed with relatives who had also sought refuge in Kenya.

Irene Ovonji-Odida (born 1964) is a Ugandan lawyer, politician, and women's rights activist. A member of the Uganda Law Reform Commission, she contributed to the writing of the 1995 Ugandan Constitution and helped to shape the East African Community. She has worked for various charities including ActionAid and carried out election monitoring in Uganda and Tanzania. She was an elected member of the East African Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2006.