Ramsey Beck leads DLA Piper Africa’s pro bono practice, from her base in Nairobi. As Pro Bono Director for the region, she has responsibility for the pro bono practices of 20 country offices across Africa.
Ramsey is a trusted adviser to civil society, human rights groups and governments, working with them to expand the practice of law in the public service and advance rule of law and access to justice. Ramsey also leads multi-country projects to support human rights and access to justice and build legal capacity. Her focuses include children in conflict with the law, refugee rights, and prisoner rights. She is a member of DLA’s Responsible Business team and the Africa Management Team.
Ramsey’s practice focuses on human rights with an emphasis on child rights, refugee rights and access to justice. She regularly works with global NGOs, local NGOs in African countries, UN agencies, and government. Recent work includes:
Observation visits and advocacy to help a Zambian NGO improve access to justice for children in prison.
Multi-country research and advocacy on extended pretrial detention and the right to bail to support human rights advocacy for adults and children in prison.
Advice to a Zimbabwean NGO to assist it to expand access to mental health counselling in underserved communities in Zimbabwe.
Research on access to sexual and reproductive health rights of children for UNAIDS and The Center for Reproductive Rights.
Resettlement application assistance for refugees and displaced people.
Research and corporate advice on capital markets access, innovative financial instruments and extension of financial services to improve food security and sustainable development.
Advice United for Wildlife’s Financial Taskforce on regulations impacting financial intelligence gathering to combat wildlife trafficking.
Research and analysis supporting the International Budget Partnership’s work to achieve more effective public monitoring of government spending, corruption, and service delivery.
Ramsey has advised the following organisations:
UNICEF
UNHCR
Center for Reproductive Rights
UNAIDS
Afrobarometer
Standard Chartered Bank
United for Wildlife
The Nature Conservancy
Wildlife Conservation Society
The World Bank
ActionAid
Undikumbukire Project Zambia
The Friendship Bench
Languages
English
French
Education
Harvard Law School, JD, 1999
Columbia College, BA, 1994
Seminars
Ramsey regularly presents at conferences on topics related to pro bono practice and access to justice and rule of law. For the past two years, Ramsey has participated as a facilitator at the Judicial Institute for Africa’s Core Skills course for judges.
Prior Experience
Prior to joining DLA Piper, Ramsey worked in corporate practice. She also worked at a Nairobi-based think tank, focusing on politics, peace and security in East Africa and the Horn of Africa.