Current role
Joëlle Munyerenkana Shabani, a Congolese lawyer, is currently a Program Assistant at DR Congo Bridges to Justice, where she has a leadership role in providing free legal assistance to vulnerable and detained women. She replaced former head JusticeMaker of the DRC program, Nadine Amuli Feza, who had to take pregnancy leave.

Professional experience
Joëlle is a defense lawyer at the South Kivu Bar. She is specialized in the judicial assistance of children, and more generally of indigent individuals in conflict with the law.
She has gained extensive experience working with human rights as a consultant, researcher, trainer, and conference facilitator. She regularly participates in human rights defenders’ trainings, and national and international advocacy.

Project
Joëlle’s project will focus on training women lawyers on legal representation of indigenous women and girls.
The main challenges in DRC include the distance between jurisdictions and the locations of the crimes and the lack of lawyers who take pro bono cases.