Charlotte Allan

Charlotte Allan is a writer, lawyer and human rights advocate currently based in LONDON. She is committed to finding creative ways to encourage the attention of audiences of all ages who do not traditionally read about human rights.

background:

Born in the UK, Charlotte is a UK qualified solicitor and began her legal career with the US law firm White & Case. Based in London and Paris, she advised on the financing of large energy projects as an associate for the firm’s award winning Project Finance team.

Charlotte left private practice and moved to Cairo in 2008 where she began her commitment to refugee rights as a legal advisor, representing asylum seekers from the the Horn of Africa and beyond for well known NGO - AMERA. From here she went on to join the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) where she has worked variously as, a Legal Advisor for the Division of International Protection, for whom she has written Eligibility Guidelines and briefing papers documenting human rights situations in the Horn of Africa and MENA regions in particular. She followed this experience with further deployments to Tanzania overseeing the interviewing and implementation of guidance she co-produced for the return of 38,000 Burundian refugees to Burundi, and to Greece where she managed the teams for the three largest refugee camps in central Greece.

Drawn strongly towards communicating the human rights situations she has observed, she has also worked as the Advocacy Officer for African activist Alliance CIVICUS in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has arranged workshops and trainings in Cairo, Geneva, Johannesburg and New York for frontline human rights defenders from across the African and Middle Eastern regions, and has developed strong grass roots networks in these regions in the areas of Women's rights and LGBTI rights.

Her human rights reports, research and travel articles have appeared online and in print for publications including The Guardian, New Statesman, Traveller Magazine and Roads & Kingdoms, and broadcast on Channel 4 News and Africa’s largest radio station, SABC Radio. She is also a commentator for the Democracy Works Foundation and has strong media contacts across Africa and Europe and at NGOs and UN agencies. She is a member of NORCAP; the Norwegian Refugee Council's expert deployment roster.

Charlotte has travelled to over 70 countries and speaks English, French and some basic Arabic. Her other passions are swimming, photography and creative writing.