Monica Kirya is Senior Governance Specialist and Program Lead of the Anti-Corruption for Development Program (AC4D) in the Governance Global Practice at the World Bank Group, Washington DC.

Previously, Monica was a Principal Adviser and Deputy Director at the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre in Bergen, Norway, where she worked on mainstreaming anti-corruption in public services and integrating a gender perspective in anti-corruption initiatives (2016-2026). She was founding chair of the Global Civil Society Coalition for the UNCAC Working Group on Gender, Inclusion and Corruption, a global network of activists, academics and practitioners collaborating to advance a gender-sensitive approach to the implementation of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (2023-2026).

Before joining U4, Monica was a law lecturer at Makerere University Uganda and Dean of Law at Cavendish University Uganda (2001-2007, 2015-2016). She was also Assistant Counsel to the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of Corruption in Uganda Revenue Authority (2002-2003).

Monica is an Advocate of the High Court of Uganda and a Member of the Association of Uganda Women Lawyers. She holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from Makerere University and a Master’s and PhD in Law from the University of Warwick, UK.