Speakers

Mr. Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Mr. Türk is the current United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. He took up his official functions as High Commissioner on 17 October 2022.

He has devoted his long and distinguished career to advancing universal human rights, notably the international protection of some of the world's most vulnerable people - refugees and stateless persons.

Prior to this, Mr. Türk was the Under-Secretary-General for Policy in the Executive Office of the United Nations Secretary-General where he coordinated global policy work. He also ensured UN system-wide coordination in the follow-up to the Secretary-General’s “Call to Action for Human Rights” and his report, Our Common Agenda, which sets out a vision to tackle the world’s interconnected challenges on foundations of trust, solidarity and human rights. He previously served as Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Coordination in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General (2019-2021).

As Assistant High Commissioner for Protection in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva (2015-2019), Mr. Türk played a key role in the development of the landmark Global Compact on Refugees.

Over the course of his career, he held a number of key positions including at UNHCR headquarters where he served as Director of the Division of International Protection (2009-2015); Director of Organizational Development and Management (2008-2009); and Chief of Section, Protection Policy and Legal Advice (2000-2004). Mr. Türk also served UNHCR around the world, including as Representative in Malaysia; Assistant Chief of Mission in Kosovo and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, respectively; Regional Protection Coordinator in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and in Kuwait.

Mr. Türk holds a doctorate in international law from the University of Vienna and a Master of Laws degree from the University of Linz, Austria. He has published widely on international refugee law and international human rights law. He is fluent in English and French and has a working knowledge of Spanish.

H.E. Mr. Václav Bálek, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, President of the Human Rights Council

Ambassador Václav Bálek has been the Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva since August 2021. On 9 December 2022, Mr. Bálek was elected president of the Human Rights Council for 2023.

Mr. Bálek held several positions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. He was Director of the Department of Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid (2017-2021), Head of the Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Unit (2015-2017), Political Director - Director General of the Security and Multilateral Issues Section (2013-2015), and Director General of the Section of Non-European States (July-October 2013). He also served as Director of the Department of Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union (2006-2009), Deputy Director of the Security Policy Department (2004-2006) and desk officer at the Security Policy Department (1999-2000).

Abroad, Mr. Bálek was Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the Political and Security Committee of the European Union in Brussels, Belgium, from 2009 to 2013. From 2000 to 2004, he served as second secretary in the political section of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in London, United Kingdom.

From 1998 – 1999 Mr. Bálek undertook training at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Before joining the foreign service, he worked as researcher at the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague. He holds a master's degree from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Czech Technical University, Prague.

H.E. Ms. Antonia Urrejola, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Chile – Keynote Speaker

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonia Urrejola Noguera, is a lawyer from the University of Chile and she holds a postgraduate degree in Human Rights and Democratization Processes from the same university. She was Commissioner of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for the period 2018-2021, an instance that she chaired (2021). She has been an advisor to the Chilean Government in different periods, in the areas of human rights, indigenous people rights, childhood, sexual diversity and environment.

Senior Advisor to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS). During her tenure, she was responsible for coordinating and liaising between the General Secretariat and the organs of the Inter-American system, such as the Inter-American Commission, Court and Institute of Human Rights, and the Inter-American Commission of Women.

She has worked as an independent consultant on public policy, indigenous law and the Inter-American human rights system; as a consultant and advisor to the United Nations Development Program, the International Labor Organization and the Inter-American Development Bank, among others. She also worked as an advisor to the Ministry General Secretariat of the Presidency, until 2017, in matters of Human Rights and Convention 169 of the ILO.

H.E. Mr. Galib Israfilov, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, Chairperson

Prior to his appointment as the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, Amb. Israfilov had been serving as Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Austria, Slovenia and Slovakia, as well as the Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and Vienna-based United Nations organizations from July 2011 to July 2021. He also served as Third and then Second Secretary at the Embassy of Azerbaijan to Austria and the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe from November 1999 to December 2002. He served as a Counsellor for political affairs at the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Washington, United States from July 2009 to May 2011. From January 2003 to January 2005, Mr. Israfilov served as Second Secretary, then First Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the United Nations in New York.

A career diplomat, Mr. Israfilov joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan in 1996. Among other positions, he was the Deputy Director of the Department of Security Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from August 2007 to June 2009, and Head of Division at the same Department from May 2005 to August 2007.

Mr. Israfilov has a degree in international relations from Baku State University in Azerbaijan (1991-1996) and another in international relations from Georgetown University, Washington D.C., United States (1997).

Mr. Grieve Chelwa, Director of Research, Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy, The New School

Dr. Grieve Chelwa is the Director of Research at the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at The New School. Before joining the New School, Grieve was a senior lecturer in economics at the University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business and before that was the Inaugural Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for African Studies at Harvard University. He was previously a visiting postdoctoral fellow at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER) at the University of the Witwatersrand. Grieve holds a BA in Economics from the University of Zambia and advanced degrees in economics, including a PhD, from the University of Cape Town. Before taking up a career in academia, Grieve was a banker with Citi and completed postings in Congo (DR), Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa.

Ms. Attiya Waris, United Nations Independent Expert on foreign debt and human rights

Attiya Waris was appointed the UN Independent Expert on foreign debt, other international financial obligations, and human rights by the Human Rights Council at its 47th session, and took up the function on 1 August 2021.

She is the only Professor of Fiscal Law and Policy in Eastern and Central Africa. She holds a PhD in Law and is a specialist in Fiscal Law, Policy and Development. She is an advocate, company secretary and arbitrator of over 20 years standing and was the founding Chair, Fiscal Studies Committee from 2017-2020. She spearheaded the first agreement on sharing of data between a University and a revenue agency globally in 2016. She is an Observer to the UN Tax Committee.

She teaches at the Law School, University of Nairobi, Kenya and has previously taught in South Africa, Rwanda, Malaysia and the United Kingdom. She has researched and published on global, African, Asian, European as well as Latin American issues. Her book 'Tax and Development’ (2013) is the first publication globally that links the areas of tax and human rights and her more recent publication ‘Financing Africa’ is the first publication globally to map out African fiscal systems.

She is fluent in English, French and Kiswahili. She has been invited to speak about taxation, illicit financial flows, tax justice and human rights at some of the leading international and regional organizations & universities as well as before governments and national parliaments across the world.

Mr. Arnaud Peral, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Tunisia

Mr. Arnaud Peral has been appointed by the Secretary General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, on 14th September 2020 as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Tunisia. Mr. Peral holds a master´s degree in development economics from the University of Paris X in Nanterre-France, and a bachelor’s degree in economic policy from the University Pierre Mendès France in Grenoble, France. Mr. Peral has focused much on his work during the last 20 years on sustainable development, democratic governance, gender equality, crisis prevention and management, conflict reduction and peace building.

Mr. Arnaud Peral held managerial positions in the French government, including Cooperation Counsellor for Scientific and Technical Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the French Embassy in Cuba, Research Assistant of the Ministry of Environment in France, and Research Assistant in public policy of the Ministry of Agriculture in Chile.

At the United Nations, he most recently served as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Ecuador after holding a number of leadership positions with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), including Country Director in Colombia, Deputy Resident Representative in Brazil and Mexico, Chief of Staff at the UNDP Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean in New York and Programme Officer in Cuba.

Ms. Leilani Farha, Director of The Shift on the Right2Housing

Leilani Farha is the Global Director of The Shift, an international human rights organization focused on housing. She was the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing from 2014 – 2020. Leilani’s work is animated by the principle that housing is a social good, not a commodity and that homelessness can be solved by 2030. She has helped develop global human rights standards on a variety of topical, thematic issues, including the first UN Guidelines for the implementation of the right to housing. She recently coauthored a Protocol on a human rights based approach to homeless encampments and The Shift Directives, the first human rights guidance for governments and investors on the financialization of housing. She is the central character in the award-winning documentary film, PUSH, and co-hosts PUSHBACK Talks, a podcast about finance, housing, and human rights. Leilani is also a Commissioner at the International Commission of Jurists.