Peter Mota

Peter Mota is a Consultant Legal Officer at the Gender and Justice Unit (GJU) and Co-Lead of the Irene M. Staehelin Foundation-funded EmpowerLine Plus Project, which is supporting the expansion of the EmpowerLine model across eleven districts in Malawi. In his current role, Peter co-leads project coordination and implementation, with a particular focus on paralegal training, mentorship, and strengthening community-based access-to-justice structures. His work supports the development of survivor-centered legal empowerment initiatives, legal clinics, and referral systems that improve access to legal information and support services at community level. Alongside his work with GJU, Peter serves as Chief Legal Officer at the Competition and Fair Trading Commission (CFTC) in Malawi. He previously worked with the Malawi Human Rights Commission, where he served in several legal and leadership roles, including Deputy Director of Civil and Political Rights and Head of Legal Services. Peter has extensive experience in human rights law, legal advocacy, investigations, litigation, and institutional capacity strengthening. His work has contributed to national advocacy efforts around the Access to Information Act and the Gender Equality Act in Malawi. He brings to GJU strong expertise in legal training, strategic leadership, and rights-based approaches to community engagement and accountability.