Jane Buchanan

Senior Legal Advisor (Parental Leave Cover) at Women Enabled International

Jane Buchanan is an independent human rights consultant with over 15 years of experience in research, advocacy, and training. She is currently serving as Senior Legal Advisor (Parental Leave Cover) at Women Enabled International, supporting staff and teams working on legal capacity, access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, capacity strengthening, and intersectional disability movement building.

In her work as a consultant, Jane regularly collaborates with organizations of persons with disabilities and non-profit organizations advancing the rights of marginalized groups. She designs and conducts research, writes analytical reports, prepares fundraising proposals, and implements national and global advocacy strategies.

Previously, Jane was the acting director and deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Disability Rights Division, as well as an associate director and researcher in the children’s rights and Europe and Central Asia teams at Human Rights Watch. Her thematic areas of disability rights expertise include armed conflict and humanitarian crises, institutionalization, independent living in the community, children with disabilities, and access to inclusive education.

Jane has an M.A. in International Affairs and Economics with honors from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. She is fluent in Russian.