International Bridges to Justice is proud to celebrate Innocent Maja for his invaluable contribution to improving human rights in Africa and Zimbabwe. The Country Manager of IBJ’s Zimbabwe program, Dr. Maja is also the Senior Partner of a leading Zimbabwean law firm, Maja and Associates, a law lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, and serves on various boards including World Vision Zimbabwe.

On December 09 2016, Dr. Maja received a Doctor of Laws degree at the University of Pretoria. His doctoral thesis entitled “A human rights framework towards the protection of minority languages and linguistic minorities in Africa” makes a substantial contribution to knowledge by clarifying the normative content of minority language rights in Africa. Dr. Maja’s work also provides a Draft Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on Minority Langauge Rights in Africa, which if adopted by the African Union, will change the language rights landscape in Africa. Part of his research has been used to draft the Zimbabwean Languages Bill.