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Board of directors

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COHRE is governed by a Board of Directors made up of prominent figures in the field of international human rights law.

COHRE's Board is responsible for setting the agency's broad strategic goals and for ensuring legal and financial oversight. Responsibility for implementing the objectives agreed by the Board and for the day-to-day management of COHRE's activities is delegated to COHRE's Executive Director. All members of the Board serve in an unpaid, honorary capacity. 

The governance role of the Board of Directors is complemented by a broader Advisory Board consisting of experts in human rights, international development, human settlements, housing, progressive business and related fields. 

Members of COHRE's Board of Directors:

Prof John Packer (Chairperson)

John Packer is Professor of International Law and Director of the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex in the United Kingdom. He has advised a number of governments, inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations on issues of conflict prevention and resolution, the protection of human rights and diversity management. He was until October 2007 Coordinator of the global Initiative on Conflict Prevention through Quiet Diplomacy – for which he continues to act as a Senior Adviser. Until March 2004, he was Director (and formerly Senior Legal Adviser) of the Office of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities based in The Hague, The Netherlands. He has taught International Law at the Fletcher School at Tufts University and been a Fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He has previously worked as a Human Rights Officer at the United Nations in Geneva and for the International Labour Organisation and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. He edits a number of scholarly journals and sits on the Boards of four non-governmental organisations.

 

Prof Paulo Sergio Pinheiro (Treasurer)

Prof. Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro is a Research Associate at the Centre for the Study of Violence, University of Sao Paulo, which he founded and directed from 1987 to 2002 and was, until 2003, Professor of Political Science at the University of São Paulo. He has taught at Brown, Columbia and Notre Dame Universities in the USA, at Oxford University in the UK and at L’Ecole des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, France. 

At the United Nations, he was a member of the Sub-Commission for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights, where he was the Special Rapporteur on Housing and Property Restitution for Refugees and Internally Displaced People. Pinheiro was also Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar. He is a member of the Group of International Advisors for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland. He is also a Commissioner at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Pinheiro also served as Secretary of State for Human Rights in Brazil. He has published many articles and books on human rights and political science.

 

Mr Robert Zoells (Secretary)

Mr Robert Zoells is a Swiss legal expert based in Geneva, specialising in advising international commercial and not-for-profit organisations. After graduating in Vienna, Austria, he earned a law degree at the School of Law of the University of Geneva in Switzerland. He has practiced law independently since 1985 and is a member of the Boards of various corporations and not-for-profit organisations, often holding secretarial positions and liaising with local and national authorities. He also participates as a speaker in legal training seminars.

 


members of COHRE's Advisory Board: 

Prof. Virginia Dandan (Manila, Philippines)

Virginia Dandan is the Chairperson of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Professor of Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines. She also serves as Chairperson of the President’s Committee on Culture and the Arts at the University of the Philippines. She has held very positions and appointments in the past, including Commissioner for the UNESCO National Commission.

Prof. Savaitri Goonesekere (Colombo, Sri Lanka)

Savaitri Goonesekere is a Professor of Law at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. She is also a Member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and a leading human rights practitioner in Sri Lanka. A consultant of international repute in the areas of human rights, law and development, she has been a consultant for the ILO, ESCAP, UNICEF and the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Mr. Felix Morka (Lagos, Nigeria)

Felix Morka is the Executive Director of the Social and Economic Rights Action Centre (SERAC). Mr Morka is Nigeria’s leading advocate for economic, social and cultural rights. He is a Board member of ESCR-Net, and holds a range of additional positions.

Mr. Enrique Ortiz (Mexico City, Mexico)

Enrique Ortiz is the Project Coordinator of Habitat International Coalition/Regional Office for Latin America. He initiated the Mexican Government’s Popular Housing Fund (FONAPO), widely hailed as one of the most effective programmes of its kind anywhere in the world.