High-Level Legal Working Group Announces Final Draft of Africa Pro Bono Declaration

September 17, 2026 – The Strengthening Pro Bono in Africa Working Group, convened by the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice and comprising more than 35 senior legal practitioners from over a dozen countries, today made public the final draft of the Africa Pro Bono Declaration in a presentation by the Working Group’s Drafting Committee.

The groundbreaking Declaration seeks to establish a shared regional commitment to strengthening pro bono legal practice and expanding access to justice across Africa.

The Declaration asserts the essential value of pro bono work to ensuring broad access to justice and promoting human rights and acknowledges the professional duty of legal practitioners to provide these necessary services.

It sets out a commitment for signatories to achieve an annual target for pro bono services, which can be measured in various ways, including hours of legal services, number of matters, and/or the value of services provided. The commitment also encourages signatories to contribute to expanding access to legal services and advocate for the recognition of pro bono legal services as part of a legal practitioner’s professional development and within professional societies.

The Declaration is open to law firms of all sizes, as well as legal professional organizations and individual legal professionals across Africa.

The Drafting Committee included senior legal professionals from across Africa – law firm lawyers, academics, bar leaders, and other access to justice actors – with a demonstrable commitment to pro bono legal services, as well as several Working Group members with experience and dedication to the promotion of pro bono in other regions. This committee met 12 times over five months to craft a Declaration that encompasses the diversity of Africa’s various legal communities and will be applicable throughout the continent.

The publication of the draft marks the beginning of a continent-wide engagement campaign.

The Working Group will present the draft Declaration to members of the legal community across different countries in Africa through a series of in-person, virtual, and hybrid meetings, conferences, mobilization roadshows, and engagement sessions beginning now and running through Spring 2027.

Law firms, legal professional organizations, and individual legal professionals are invited to help build support for strengthening pro bono across the continent by hosting some of these events, meetings, and other engagements.

Law firms and other potential signatories will be able to sign on to the Declaration as Founding Signatories before a formal launch event is held in mid-2027.

“The Africa Pro Bono Declaration is the culmination of years of dialogue and collaboration between pro bono leaders from across the continent united by a shared commitment to expanding access to justice. We look forward to sharing it widely over the coming months and invite colleagues from all sectors to join this collective movement to strengthen pro bono practice in Africa.” – Adaobi Egboka, Director of Africa Initiatives at the Vance Center

“I was privileged to be part of this drafting committee. It was enlightening to share experiences and discuss the relevance of each clause with legal practitioners and academics from all over the continent and beyond. My hope is that this Declaration will help us achieve a unified commitment to undertake legal work pro bono, thereby bringing access to justice to vulnerable people and the organizations who serve them. Our aspiration is to leave a lasting legacy through this commitment.” – Fatima Laher, Head of Pro Bono at Bowmans

“To me, the formulation of an African Pro Bono Declaration is, in a sense, the giving of flesh to the skeleton that articulates shared values for Africans, namely: a commitment towards ensuring access to justice, respect for and protection of human dignity, and promotion of the rule of law. There is currently a wide schism and imbalance between the capacity of the legal profession in relation to the need for legal assistance, and this can only be bridged through the mainstreaming of pro bono assistance. The integration of pro bono work by all legal professionals is the hallmark of service to society, and it is a duty which every legal practitioner must strive to leave their mark on, for the betterment of society.” – Wilfred Nderitu SC, Managing Partner at Nderitu & Partners Advocates and Senior Counsel of the Law Society of Kenya

“The essence of pro bono service lies in using the power of the law to give a voice to the voiceless, protect the vulnerable, and ensure that justice remains within the reach of all. Join us and let us make justice accessible to all.” – Adesina Adegbite, Secretary General of the West African Bar Association, and Past General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association

The Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, a nonprofit program of the New York City Bar Association, has coordinated a series of cross-border discussions on pro bono practice in sub-Saharan Africa since 2020. The Declaration is the outcome of this multi-year initiative to promote pro bono practice across the continent and connect to existing efforts around the world.

The AfricaPBD is the second regional pro bono commitment that the Vance Center has initiated.

In 2008, the Vance Center introduced the Pro Bono Declaration of the Americas. This document, the first instrument of its kind to institutionalize a regional commitment to pro bono, includes a commitment for each signatory to provide at least 20 hours of pro bono legal services per lawyer annually, and emphasizes recognizing pro bono as part of lawyers’ ethical obligations. To date, that Declaration has more than 560 signatories from 21 countries, representing more than 5,000 lawyers providing pro bono services across Latin America.

Law firms, bar associations, universities, and other legal professionals interested in learning more about the Declaration or joining as a Founding Signatory should contact the Vance Center team at aegboka@nycbar.org.

Learn more about the Vance Center’s Pro Bono Promotion initiatives.