Hope Behind Bars Africa is proud to announce that its Founder and Executive Director, Funke Adeoye, has been awarded the 2025 Outstanding Young Lawyer Award by the International Bar Association (IBA).

The IBA Outstanding Young Lawyer Award, supported by LexisNexis, is one of the most coveted recognitions in the global legal community. It honours young lawyers (aged 35 and below) who have demonstrated exceptional professional excellence, unwavering ethical standards, and a profound commitment to advancing the rule of law and service to humanity.

Funke was selected from a global pool of outstanding nominees for her pioneering work at the intersection of access to justice, human rights, and legal technology. Through Hope Behind Bars Africa, an organization she founded at age 26, she has led innovative justice interventions that provide quality legal support to wrongfully incarcerated individuals, promote criminal justice reforms, and strengthen civic engagement. Her efforts have facilitated access to justice and the rehabilitation of thousands of inmates while advancing structural reforms that make the justice system more accessible across Nigeria.

In her remarks, Funke dedicated the award to young African lawyers and human rights defenders working tirelessly to uphold justice in difficult environments.
“This recognition is not just about me,” she said. “It represents every young lawyer who believes that in spite of the state of our world, the law still remains a critical tool for social engineering and transformation. It reaffirms that the world is watching and that ethical, innovative, and people-centred lawyering matters.”

The award was formally presented at the IBA Annual Conference in Toronto, Canada where global legal leaders gather to discuss the future of the profession and celebrate excellence & legal brilliance.

Funke Adeoye holds an LLB from the University of Benin, Nigeria (2012) and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2013. She earned an MSc in International Human Rights Law from the University of Oxford as a Commonwealth Scholar. A vocal advocate for reimagining justice delivery through innovation and inclusion, Funke continues to advance reforms that make justice systems more accessible, equitable, and technology-driven.

This international recognition marks a significant milestone not only for her but also for Africa’s growing community of reform-driven lawyers who are redefining legal practice as a force for social good.