United Nations member states haveelected​ Griffith University alumnus and Zambian Law Professor Cephas Lumina as a member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child from 2017 to 2020.The Committee is made up of independent experts and supervises the key UN treaty on children’s rights, which binds almost every country in the world.
Professor Lumina holds a Bachelor of Laws (with merit) from the University of Zambia, a Master of Laws in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex and a PhD in International Human Rights Law from Griffith University.
His doctoral thesis at Griffith Law School was entitled ‘Political Conditionality and its Implications for Human Rights: the Case of Zambia’.
“Griffith law graduates can be found in prestigious positions across the globe. It is wonderful to see an alumnus elected to this important UN body. We wish Professor Lumina the very best in his new role,” said Griffith Law School Dean Professor Pene Mathew.
Professor Lumina was one of nine members elected at the meeting of state parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The other successful candidates were Renate Winter (Austria), Amal Salman Aldoseri (Bahrain), Veline Todorova (Bulgaria), Olga A. Khazova (Russian Federation), Benyam DawitMezmur (Ethopia), Mikiko Otani (Japan) Ann Marie Skelton (South Africa) and Luis Ernesto Pederna Reyna (Uruguay).
Professor Lumina is a Research Professor of Public Law Law at University of Fort Hare in South Africa and previously served as a UN independent expert on foreign debt and human rights.