Three lawyers – Arfat Selvam, Hoda Abdel-Moneim, and Oluwafunke (Funke) Adeoye – received awards for their achievements at the International Bar Association’s annual conference in Toronto earlier this month.
Selvam, a former president of the Law Society of Singapore, received the IBA’s Pro Bono Award; Egyptian lawyer Hoda Abdel-Moneim received the Human Rights Award; while Adeoye, a Nigerian lawyer, was named the IBA’s Outstanding Young Lawyer.
Selvam was recognised for her dedication to pro bono service and access to justice. A corporate partner from Singapore with more than 50 years of legal practice, she has shown commitment to pro bono work through 17 years of consistent leadership in the Law Society of Singapore’s pro bono initiatives.
In a video address to attendees, she remarked that the award was “an incredible honour”. She added that it acted as “a renewed commitment” to work for positive change, and that “the rewards [for pro bono work] are far greater than any fees or accolades that you may earn”.
As president of the local law society in 2003, Selvam’s leadership was instrumental in institutionalising pro bono work. She championed the expansion of services from legal aid for individuals to support for community organisations. Her advocacy extended to fostering sustainable structures within law firms, advocating for policies that allocate billable hours to pro bono work and encouraging a culture in which pro bono is seen as a core professional responsibility.
Her commitment extends to work within her own firm, Duane Morris & Selvam, where she mentors junior lawyers and promotes participation in pro bono projects. In 2018, she received a pro bono leadership award from the firm.
The IBA judging panel praised her as someone who “set the tone for service at the highest level” and “has been instrumental in institutionalising pro bono work within the legal profession”.
Egyptian human rights lawyer Hoda Abdel-Moneim received the IBA Award for Outstanding Contribution by a Legal Practitioner to Human Rights. It recognised her legal work for women’s and children’s rights and against enforced disappearances.
Abdel-Moneim could not attend the ceremony as she remains imprisoned in Egypt despite completing a five-year sentence in October 2023. Her daughter, Gehad Badawy, accepted the award on her behalf, stating she hoped it would be “a step towards her freedom and the message that defending human rights should be rewarded, not punished”.
Abdel-Moneim’s career includes service on Egypt’s National Council for Human Rights, where she championed reforms to improve prison conditions and ensure humane treatment of detainees. Her advocacy led to her being detained in November 2018, subjected to enforced disappearance, and later sentenced by an Emergency State Security Court in a trial criticised for lack of due process, the IBA said.
Despite completing her sentence, she remains in custody on what her supporters say are recycled charges.
The judging panel described her as exemplifying “the highest standards of courage, integrity and dedication in the field of human rights law”. It noted her lifelong commitment to defending the vulnerable and challenging systemic injustice, even under grave personal risk.
Nigerian lawyer Adeoye was named the recipient of the 2025 IBA Outstanding Young Lawyer Award, presented annually by the IBA Young Lawyers’ Committee.
She said the award “represents every young lawyer who believes that, despite the state of our world, the law remains a critical tool for transformation. For me, the award reaffirms that the world is watching and that ethical, innovative and people-centred lawyering matters”.
An associate at Olumide Sofowora Chambers, she quickly distinguished herself for commitment to pro bono work, according to the IBA, later founding Hope Behind Bars Africa, a non-profit association blending advocacy, direct representation and technology to advance justice for incarcerated individuals.
Adeoye acts as founder, having left private practice to pursue her vision, subsequently providing legal aid to more than 7,000 detainees, developing tech tools to match prisoners with pro bono lawyers, and launching reintegration programmes.
The judging panel commended her as “a human rights lawyer and social innovator whose work exemplifies the power of law to drive social change and uplift marginalised communities”.
The awards, which are sponsored by LexisNexis, were presented on 6 November by the Section on Public and Professional Interest, which is led by Babatunde Ajibade SAN, managing partner of Nigerian firm S. P. A. Ajibade & Co, and by representatives from the IBA’s human rights, pro bono and young lawyer committees.
The Global Legal Post is the official publisher of the IBA Daily News, which is distributed at its annual conference. Click here to download PDF versions of the IBA Toronto issues. For sponsorship enquiries email [email protected].
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