DEBORAH EFFIONG holds an LL.B and B.L degrees in Law and M.SC in Peace and Conflict Studies. 

Deborah is the Executive Director of Arise for Gender and Livelihoods Initiative (ALIVE). She anchors and manages the grant-making Portfolio of the organization. She also serves as the National Coordinator of Gender Advocacy Network (GANET), a regional network of women’s rights groups with a focus on building partnership that connects Women and Girls.

Her work centers on Governance, Human Rights and Peace Building.

She has a proven track record and cutting edge expertise in addressing several policy issues bothering on Governance, Human Rights and Development, Political Participation and Leadership. She has been at the centre of designing and implementing Advocacy Campaigns, leading progressive social movements and speaking up against Injustice.

Her areas of specialty and interest include; Research, Policy Analysis, International Human Rights Law and Development, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Gender Justice. 

An Associate member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in the U.K, Deborah brings to the forefront her experience and rare courage in transformational leadership and Human Development. She has the ability to lead, to organize, to think and reflect critically on contemporary issues and build viable institutions. 

Deborah has worked at the grassroots, regional, national and international levels focusing on Equality Rights, Constitutionalism, Policy/Legal Reforms, and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

She is passionate about women’s issues and as a professional lawyer, she has used her skills to advocate for gender responsive and women-friendly policies within the frameworks of the A.U, ECOWAS and other International Agencies. 

She as the Rivers State Coordinator for the Partners and Peace (P4P) Network, a network of peace actors coming together to address issues of conflicts within the Niger Delta. 

Prior to this engagement, she had served as the secretary to the DAWN IN THE CREEKS (DITC) Board of Directors. Dawn in the Creeks is a Niger Delta Legacy Engagement, which seeks to change the negative narratives of the Niger Delta as a region given to violence and criminality.

Deborah’s leading interventions have focused on addressing the social inequalities evident in our social justice system and empowering vulnerable groups and communities to assert their rights.

She belongs to several professional bodies such as the International Federation of Women Lawyers (F.I.D.A), The International Bar Association (I.B.A), The Nigerian Bar Association (N.B.A), The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIARB) in the UK.