Deputy Chief of staff(Administration)
Telephone: (233) 544 322 352 (m) e-mail: nanaoyel@yahoo.co.uk
Nana Oye Bampoe Addo is a human rights lawyer with 32 years’ experience in human rights law, litigation and solicitor’s practice. She holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of Ghana, Legon, and a Masters – in – Law (LLM), Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa from the University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Her work has spanned diverse areas, including gender equality, children’s right, public health, and governance at international, regional and national levels.
She was the Africa Regional Coordinator for the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (2004 to 2008). She established the Human Rights Advocacy Centre, a human rights research and advocacy NGO in 2008. She led advocacy for the following Acts to be promulgated: Children’s Act (1998), Criminal Code Amendment Act (1998), Domestic Violence Act (2007), and several other laws. She mobilised human rights NGOs and led human rights missions to monitor human rights violations and hold government accountable.
Her awards include the Vera Chirwa Award for human rights in Africa (2007), the fourth most influential African woman (2013) and the Champion Torchbearer for Women’s Rights (2008).
In 2013, she begun a four-year term as Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection of Ghana. She reverted to legal practise, lecturing and consulting in 2017 until present. She is also the Executive Director of the John Evans Atta Mills Memorial Heritage.
As Cabinet Minister, she led the creation of a strong legal and policy framework for gender, children and social protection. Under her leadership, Cabinet approved five key policies; the Gender Policy, Social Protection Policy, Child and Family Welfare Policy, Justice for Children Policy, and the School Feeding Policy (2013 – 2016).
Under Social Protection, the Ghana Household Registry was developed during her tenure and she also led restructuring of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty Programme [national cash transfer programme]. The National Standards for Disability friendly public buildings was gazetted and adopted by Government in 2016. For the first time ever, a traditional witch camp in the Northern part of Ghana was closed on 15th of December, 2015.
She was a leading member of CSOs that advocated for the adoption of the Additional Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women (Maputo Protocol) and the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa.
She was the ECOWAS Chair of the Conference of West African Ministers of Gender and Social Development. During her tenure as ECOWAS Chair, gender related policies were adopted.
In 2022, she was appointed by the World Bank as a member of the World Bank Advisory Council for Partnership for Economic Inclusion.
At the political level, she was appointed by the National Democratic Congress as Secretary, Conflict Resolution Commmittee, (2019, 2020, 2022); Secretary, 2020 NDC Manifesto Committee, and 2024 NDC Manifestio Committee, Secretary, NDC Social Democracy Lab,(2021 – to date); Chair, NDC Gender Children and Social Protection Committee(2023- date), Branch executive member, Perez 1B, Ogbojo Ward, Adenta, and member, NDC Finance Committee, Adenta.
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