The following candidates were granted 2013 Oxford Pro Bono Publico (OPBP) Internship Fund awards to enable them to undertake an internship at a public interest organisation. Read about their experiences and the contribution they made to the important work of their host organisations below.

Aman Aman – Section 27, Johannesburg, South Africa

Aman began his five-week internship with Section 27, Braamfontein (Johannesburg), in the last week of April 2014. Section 27 is a public interest centre that works towards the realisation of the socio-economic rights enshrined in s 27 of the South African Constitution. The Centre is involved with research, advocacy and legal action to achieve its goals. Aman assisted Ms Sasha Stevenson, who works on issues such as the right of access to health care services, the right of access to food, and children’s rights to basic nutrition.

Vrinda Bandhari – National Law University, Delhi, India

Vrinda undertook a two-month internship with the National Law University, Delhi. In collaboration with the faculty of the National Law University, she prepared a report on delays in the justice system which was submitted to the Supreme Court in August 2013. The matter is currently under consideration before the Court. Read about Vrinda’s experience here.

Lauren Dancer – Legal Resources Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa

Lauren undertook a two-month internship at the Constitutional Litigation Unit of the Legal Resources Centre in South Africa. She supported counsel on a range of complex matters, including land restitution matters, employment matters, and litigation relating to the scope of the right to access adequate housing under the South African Constitution. Read about Lauren’s experience here.

Jodi Gardner – StepChange Debt Charity, London and Leeds, U.K.

Jodi undertook a two-part legal research internship with StepChange Debt Charity in the United Kingdom, based at their London policy headquarters and then the Leeds call centre. Her work involved analysing StepChange data on debt problems associated with payday lending. Jodi then assisted the organisation to draft a detailed public policy piece looking at appropriate government responses to high cost credit.

Alice Irving – Women’s Legal Centre, Cape Town,

South Africa

Alice took up an internship at the Women’s Legal Centre in South Africa. She undertook a range of research projects with the Centre, primarily focusing on projects aimed at supporting victims of sexual violence. Read about Alice’s experience here.

Marija Jovanovic – AIRE Centre, London, U.K.

Marija spent the summer interning with the AIRE (Advice on Individual Rights in Europe) Centre in London. She worked on the Human Rights Law Database of the Western Balkans and assisted in developing an online database of judgments of the European Court of Huma n Rights in the local languages. The overall goal of the project is to assist judges and prosecutors in the Western Balkans to apply European legal and human rights standards. Read about Marija’s experience here.

Celia Rooney – Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, London, U.K.

Celia undertook a two-month internship with the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law in London. Her work with the Centre involved extensive research on the efficacy and functioning of human rights monitoring mechanisms in the Council of Europe and the United Nations on behalf of the Open Society European Policy Institute. Read about Celia’s experience here.