Organisation

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee is the deciding board in charge of reaching the organisation’s goals. It is composed as follows:

Bertrand G. Ramcharan (Guyana) - President

Dr. Ramcharan was elected President of UPR Info in January 2011. He was acting High Commissioner for Human Rights from August 2003 July 2004. During his three decades with the United Nations, Dr. Ramcharan served in the Centre for Human Rights as Special Assistant to the Director, as the Secretary-General’s Chief Speechwriter, as Director of the Office of the Special Representative for the Secretary-General in UNPROFOR, as Director of the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia, as political adviser to the peace negotiators in the Yugoslav conflict, and as a Director in the United Nations Political Department, focusing on conflicts in Africa.

A barrister of Lincoln’s Inn, with a Doctorate in international law from the London School of Economics and Political Science earned in 1973, Dr. Ramcharan was Adjunct Professor of International Human Rights Law at Columbia University and has written or edited some twenty books and numerous articles. He holds the Diploma in International Law of the Hague Academy of International Law, where he has also been Director of Studies.

Source: www.ohchr.org

Saida Manieva (Kyrgyzstan) - Treasurer

Waqas Ali Saqib (Pakistan) - Secretary

Secretariat

The Secretariat is in charge of implementing the Executive Committee’s decisions and of ensuring the daily functioning of the organisation.

Roland Chauville (France) - Executive Director

Roland Chauville is the founder and Executive Director of UPR Info since its establishment in February 2008. In this regard, he has been involved in the UPR process since its beginning following each session and participating in numerous trainings and conferences on this issue. Roland is a member of the Geneva based Think tank "Universal Rights Group" and holds a Master in International Relations from University Jean Moulin Lyon 3, in France.

Jean-Claude Vignoli (Switzerland) - Programmes Director

Jean-Claude Vignoli joined UPR Info as soon as 2008. Since the beginning, he has been deeply involved in communication strategy and tools development. He is currently in charge of the UPR Info’s Follow-up Programme. Jean-Claude holds a Master in International Relations from the Graduate Institute of International Relations (Geneva).

Enkeleda Papa (Albania) - Programme Manager

Enkeleda Papa joined UPR Info early in 2013 and has since been working in the capacity of Programme Manager. Prior to joining UPR Info, she worked as Advocacy and Training Officer for Franciscans International where she was in charge of the Africa-Europe and the Contemporary Forms of Slavery Programmes. Enkeleda holds an MA in European Law from the European Institute of the University of Geneva and an MA in Development Studies from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva). She is currently in charge of the Pre-sessions.

Advisory Board

The Advisory Board is in charge of providing the Executive Committee and the staff with advice, expertise and strategies on the activities of the organisation in order to better fulfil its goal: to promote and strengthen the Universal Periodic Review. The current members are:

Anita Goh (France) - NGO Group for the CRC

Marianne Lilliebjerg (Denmark) - Amnesty International

Marc Limon (United Kingdom) - Universal Rights Group

Marc Limon is the Director of the Universal Rights Group (URG), an independent think-tank dedicated to international human rights policy. The URG’s goal is to generate progress towards the full realization of the rights and freedoms contained in the universal human rights instruments through solutions-based policy research and forward-looking policy prescription, and through offering a respected platform for information-sharing and dialogue.

Prior to the establishment of the URG, Marc served for six years as a diplomat of the Permanent Mission of Maldives at the United Nations Human Rights Council. Marc also worked for seven years for the Government of the Republic of Maldives to help implement the country’s democratic and human rights reform agenda. Earlier, Marc worked as a government relations consultant in Brussels where he advised a range of government and corporate clients on EU policy and public relations.

Marc holds two Masters Degrees from the Free University of Brussels and the Catholic University of Leuven (both in Belgium), and a Bachelor Degree from Keele University (UK). He is married with two children.

Professor Edward R. McMahon (United States) - University of Vermont

Edward McMahon currently holds a joint appointment as Research Associate
Professor in the Departments of Community Development and Applied
Economics, and Political Science, at the University of Vermont. He has
collaborated with UPR Info since 2009, and has taken the lead in
developing the action category component of UPR Info’s innovative
database. He has made a number of presentations in the regard to a
variety of audiences in Europe and the United States, and has a related
article in the forthcoming edition of the African Yearbook of
International law.

McMahon previously was Dean’s Professor of Applied Politics and Director
of the Center on Democratic Performance at Binghamton University. He
also held the position of Africa Regional Director for the National
Democratic Institute for International Affairs from 1989-1998 and
previously served for 10 years as a U.S. diplomat.

Katharina Rose (Germany) - International Coordination Committee of NHRIs

Since 2007 Katharina Rose is the Geneva Representative of the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions (ICC). Ms Rose supports national human rights institutions (NHRIs) in their engagement with the Human Rights Council and specifically the Universal Periodic Review. She also administers and promotes ICC activities, including liaising with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and supports awareness building and promotion around NHRIs and the ICC.

Prior to joining the ICC, Ms Rose worked at the German Bundestag and as junior lawyer in Germany and Morocco. Ms Rose studied law, international relations and literature in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. She holds the Zweites Juristisches Staatsexamen, qualifiying her to practice law as barrister, judge or prosecutor in German jurisdiction. Ms Rose is fluent in French, German, English, Spanish and Italian.

Micheál Tierney (Ireland) - Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ireland