{{Short description|Zimbabwean academic, professor of law at SOAS}} {{BLP sources|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = Zimbabwe | nationality = | occupation = Academic, professor of law | known for = | education = | alma_mater = University of Zimbabwe <br/>University of Oxford | notable_works = ''African Migration, Human Rights and Literature'' (2022) | parents = | spouse = | children = | awards = | employer = SOAS University of London | website = }}
'''Fareda Banda''' is a Zimbabwean academic. She is currently a professor of law at SOAS University of London.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Professor Fareda Banda {{!}} Staff {{!}} SOAS University of London|url=https://www.soas.ac.uk/staff/staff30610.php|access-date=2022-02-10|website=www.soas.ac.uk|language=en}}</ref>
== Biography == Fareda Banda was born and raised in Zimbabwe.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/news/professor-fareda-banda-featured-phenomenal-women-portraits-uk-black-female-professors|title=Professor Fareda Banda featured in Phenomenal Women: Portraits of UK Black Female Professors|website=www.soas.ac.uk|language=en|date=9 March 2020|access-date=15 October 2023}}</ref> She studied law at the University of Zimbabwe, graduating among the top three.<ref name=":0" /> This led her to winning a Beit Fellowship to the University of Oxford, where she completed her doctorate on the topic of "access to justice for women". Upon completing her doctorate, Banda worked for the Law Commission of England and Wales, before returning to Oxford as a post-doctoral researcher.<ref name=":0" />
She has been a professor at SOAS University of London since 1996 at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Her main areas of work include the human rights of women and family law in Africa.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Fareda Banda|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fareda-Banda/e/B001K8FZIS?ref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share|access-date=2022-02-10|website=www.amazon.co.uk|language=en-gb}}</ref>
== Career == Banda is a former collaborating researcher with UNRISD where she did work on Women's Rights.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Fareda Banda {{!}} Staff {{!}} About UNRISD {{!}} UNRISD|url=https://www.unrisd.org/unrisd/website/people.nsf/(httpPeople)/F1A85E6FA547B5BAC1257E5B00374EBC|access-date=2022-02-10|website=www.unrisd.org}}</ref>
Apart from her work teaching at SOAS University of London, Banda also teaches a summer programme at the University of Oxford on women's rights. She has also taught programmes around the world in cities including Harare, Kampala, Onati and Oslo.<ref name=":1" />
Banda is the author of the 2022 interdisciplinary book ''African Migration, Human Rights and Literature''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/african-migration-human-rights-and-literature-9781509945467/ |title=African Migration, Human Rights and Literature|publisher=Hart Publishing|isbn=9781509945467}}</ref> In 2023, she was chair of the Caine Prize for African Writing,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://republic.com.ng/october-november-2023/first-draft-fareda-banda/|title='I Wanted to See if I Could Pull Off Writing an Interdisciplinary Book' {{!}} Fareda Banda's First Draft|website=The Republic|location=Nigeria|date=6 October 2023|access-date=15 October 2023}}</ref> with the other jurors being Edwige-Renée Dro, Kadija George Sesay, Jendella Benson and Warsan Shire, the prize's first all-female judging panel.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/news/fareda-banda-chairs-first-all-woman-caine-prize-african-writing-judging-panel|title=Fareda Banda chairs first all-woman Caine Prize for African Writing judging panel|website=SOAS University of London|date=7 August 2023|access-date=27 July 2024}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist|30em}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Banda, Fareda}} Category:20th-century women lawyers Category:20th-century Zimbabwean lawyers Category:21st-century women lawyers Category:21st-century Zimbabwean lawyers Category:Academics of SOAS University of London Category:Living people Category:University of Zimbabwe alumni Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Zimbabwean academics Category:Zimbabwean women lawyers Category:Zimbabwean women writers