Christian Mpabwa
Christiana Sagay
Doctoral student

Faculty of Law
University of Ottawa



Biography

Christiana is a doctoral candidate at the University of Ottawa, using Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) and feminist conceptual tools to explore the historical evolution of Bilateral Labour Agreements (BLAs) on the African continent. Her research explores tensions between diplomatic agendas and protections for migrant workers, conducted under the supervision of Delphine Nakache, an expert in immigration and citizenship.

Christiana holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in Linguistics and an LL.B. from the University of Benin, Nigeria, and an LLM in International Legal Studies from the American University Washington College of Law, where she won the Best Research Award and the May-Firm Writing Scholarship.

Her career spans a broad spectrum, including work as a litigator and solicitor in Nigeria and in international and UN administrative law issues at the General Legal Division of the Office of Legal Affairs at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

From 2021 to 2023, Christiana served as the research coordinator for the Canadian division of the VULNER Research Team, part of a broader EU Horizon 2020 (H2020) research consortium involving partners from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Christiana has served the international law community in various capacities, including as a steering committee member and secretary of the Women in International Law Group of the American Society of International Law (ASIL), co-chair of the Poverty and Social Development Committee of the International Bar Association, and as a member of the 2024 research forum committee for ASIL Mid-Year Meeting at the University of Chicago.

Driven by a passion for creating impact beyond the traditional legal realm, she founded the “International Law Project.” Through this initiative, Christiana aims to bring international law concepts to the forefront in a fun and engaging way. Christiana is licensed to practice law in Nigeria and Ontario, Canada. 

Scholarships and Bursaries

  • University of Ottawa PhD Admissions Scholarship
  • American Society of International Law David D. Caron Fellowship
  • International Bar Association Scholarship
  • Shirley Greenberg Scholarship
  • Nicole Senécal Graduate Scholarship in International Law

Publications

  • Christiana Essie Sagay, "Twists and Swirls: Caregiving and Sexualization – Femininity Construct in Gendered Migration from Nigeria to Italy" (2021) 28:2 Ind J Global Leg Stud 81.     
  • Christiana Essie Sagay, Transnational Labour Mobility and Issue-Linkages in The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration: A TWAIL Analysis (2024) 5 TWAILR 120-148.
  • Delphine Nakache and Christiana Essie Sagay, “Migrants in Situations of Vulnerability” in Vincent Chetail and Giulia Raimondo (eds), Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Migration Law (Cheltenham and Camberley, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, forthcoming).    
  • Delphine Nakache, Anna Purkey, Biftu Yousuf, and Christiana Sagay “Accommodating Claims from Vulnerable Refugee Claimants in the Refugee Hearing: The Canadian Example” in Leboeuf, Cathrine Brun, Hilde Liden, Sabrina Marchetti, Delphine Nakache and Syvie Sarolea eds., (IMISCOE Research Series: Springer, Cham, 2024) 189.
  • Christiana Essie Sagay, Women Strapped with Bombs: ‘Victim-Perpetrators’ in the Boko Haram Insurgency – A Case of Gender Persecution (2020) 1:1 J Intl Crim L 1.