Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights

2006 – 2007 - 2008

Chairperson:

Mary Chinery-Hesse ( Ghana ): Ms. Chinery-Hesse is currently the Vice-Chairperson of the National Development Planning Commission of Ghana. She obtained her degrees from the University of Ghana, Trinity College , the University of Dublin, and the World Bank Institute. She was also awarded a Doctor of Laws from the University of Ghana . In 1981, Ms. Chinery-Hesse began working for the United Nations. She was appointed the first African Woman Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System and Resident Representative of UNDP to many countries. In 1989, she was appointed as the first woman Deputy Director-General of the International Labor Organization in Geneva . Before joining the United Nations, Ms Chinery-Hesse was Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning of Ghana . She was Chairperson of the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on Review of Progress in the Implementation of the Programme for the LDCs in the 1990s; Ms. Chinery-Hesse was a Member of the Eminent Persons Advisory Panel of the African Union. She was also a Member of the Distinguished High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on Financing for Development, (Zedillo Commission). Ms Chinery-Hesse is a Member of the U.N Secretary-General's Blue Ribbon Panel of Eminent Persons on Threats, Challenges and Change. She is as well a Member of the ICSC Panel on Strengthening of the International Civil Service. She in addition acts as a Consultant to several Governments and International Institutions.

Viacheslav I. Bakhmin ( Russia ): Mr. Bakhmin is currently the C.S. Mott Foundation Consultant in Russia and Manager of the Swiss Human Rights Program for Russia . Till the end of 2003, he was the Executive Director of the Humanities Programs of the Open Society Institute in Russia , where he has been working since 1995. Mr. Bakhmin was the Director of the of the Department of Humanitarian Cooperation, Human Rights and International Cultural Cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation from 1991-1995. He studied as an economic-engineer, and in his early career, worked as a programmer. Mr. Bakhmin was a prisoner of conscience from 1980 to 1984, for his defense of human rights. He has been active in the human rights movement in his country for many years. From 1992-1995, he was the Deputy Chair of the Russian Delegation to the UN Human Rights Commission. Mr. Bakhmin is a member of several Boards and Expert Committees related to the promotion of human rights and civil society.

Monica Pinto ( Argentina ): Ms. Pinto is a professor of international law and human rights law at the University of Buenos Aires Law School. She obtained her JD and Ph.D at the same university. In addition to teaching numerous courses as visiting professor of law, including the Inter-American and the International Institutes of Human Rights, she has also substantial experience in international law practice. She was the Independent Expert of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Guatemala 1993 – 1997 and Chad 2004 - 2005. She is a board member of several international institutions. She also served as Director for Human Rights Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentina. Ms. Pinto has numerous publications on human rights and international law.

William Schabas ( Canada ): Professor Schabas is director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights, which is located at the National University of Ireland, where he holds the chair in human rights law. He is an honorary professor at the Law Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing , and a professeur associe at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal . He has authored major works on such subjects as the abolition of capital punishment, genocide and the international criminal tribunals, including the International Criminal Court. Professor Schabas served as one of three international members of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reonciliation Commission. He has frequently participated in human rights fact-finding missions for such organisations as Amnesty International and the International Federation of Human Rights. Professor Schabas is an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Dr. Deepika Udagama (Sri Lanka) is the Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo. Her specialization is international human rights law. She is Sri Lanka's former alternate member to the then United Nations (UN) Sub-Commission on the promotion and protection of Human Rights, and the UN Sub-Commission's Special Reporteur on Globalization and its impact on Human Rights. Dr. Udagama was the founding director of the Centre for the Study of Human Rights in the University of Colombo's Faculty of Law. She is presently a member of the Law Commission of Sri Lanka and previously served as the Chairperson of the Sri Lanka Foundation's Commission on Democracy and Human Rights, and as a member of Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission. She holds and LLB and LLM (University of Colombo) and a LLM and JSD (Berkley, Cal.). She has been a resource person for numerous OHCHR workshops.