Stella Mukasa

Stella Mukasa is director of gender, violence and rights at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). In this role, Mukasa oversees ICRW’s research, policy analyses and programmatic work to develop solutions that address the underlying causes that lead to violence against women.

Mukasa is a lawyer with 20 years of experience in gender and human rights, spanning government, international development and academia. She began her law career in 1993 at the Ministry of Gender and Community Development in Uganda. As a legal officer, she advised political heads, conducted action research and engaged with policy makers for law reform including work on the 1995 constitution, which established some of the most progressive reforms for women in the region. During her time with the ministry, she also provided legal aid to women and participated in preparing Uganda’s Joint first and second country status report on the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women.

In 1997, she joined Nordic Consulting Group (NCG) Uganda Ltd., affiliated with an international network of NCG companies in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, a private sector international development consulting firm. During her 10-year tenure, she advised governments, national and international nongovernmental organizations and development agencies on gender-responsive policy development, including Rwanda’s Constitution and Uganda’s Domestic Violence Act. Mukasa conducted program reviews and evaluations for governments, bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors including DFID, Danida, NORAD, SIDA and the United Nations. She also was a part-time lecturer on gender, law and human rights at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.

She has served as chair and vice chair on the boards of Akina Mama wa Afrika and ActionAid International Uganda, respectively.