Rachel Sikwese made history by becoming the youngest judge to ever sit on the United Nations Dispute Tribunal (UNDT) panel. Born on February 9, 1970, Rachel Sikwese was appointed for a seven-year term in 2019. She holds an LLB (Hon.) from the University of Malawi and a Master of Laws Degree from Indiana University, Bloomington, USA.

Before she was appointed to the UNDT, Rachel served in various judicial capacities in Malawi for 21 years - from the magistracy, registrar, chairperson of the Industrial Relations Court to currently Judge of the High Court specializing in commercial law. She has been the editor of the Malawi Law Reports since 2002 and sits on the special Law Commission on the Review of the Supreme Court of Appeal Act as Deputy Chairperson.

Other enviable positions occupied by Judge Sikwese include Expert Contributor to the World Bank Group (Women, Business and the Law), UN Sustainable Development Goals- Goal 16, World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2017-2018 report, and ILO Bureau for Gender Equality. She has also served as an expert contributor on HIV & AIDS Digest for Judicial Application, the International Labour Organization, and as a Temporary Advisor to the World Health Organisation (Social Determinants of Health). Again, Judge Sikwese was an Executive Committee member of the International Labour and Employment Relations Association and serves in various capacities in both local and international associations.

Justice Sikwese is an adjunct lecturer at the University of Malawi and an Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Development and Labour Law, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Her publication Labour Law in Malawi and her monograph in the International Encyclopaedia of Laws on Labour Law and Industrial Relations, are leading authorities on labor law in Malawi. Sikwese’s other publications include HIV and AIDS in the World of Work; Legal Instruments for Judicial Use, Sources and Institutions of Labour Law in Malawi, Access to Labour Justice, Unfair Labour Practices in Malawi: A Guide to Relevant Cases and Materials, Protection and Promotion of Labour Rights: A Judges’ Perspective, and Creating a more Conducive Legal Framework for the Industrial Relations Court of Malawi.