Young Leaders
Arely Alvarado, Honduras
Arely Alvarado is a psychologist and human rights defender from Honduras. She graduated with honors from the National University and went on to work as a clinical-social psychologist in rural and urban areas. She also worked in prisons with torture victims and victims of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and their families as part of a 5-country project spanning Gaza, Egypt, Mexico and South Africa. She previously held the post of head of the Psychological Department in the Integral Rehabilitation Center in Teletón working with differently disabled people, as well as with victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence. She was part of the IHRTP 2009 at EQUITAS. Currently she is the local coordinator of the Regional Platform for Prevention of Violence, which is considering working in Central America in the areas of advocacy, prevention and research. She has been working with a medical-psychological program on the Catholic radio and is now finalizing her masters in educational research. At present she is working on a large study related to the attitude of teachers toward human rights education, a complex topic considering the coup.
Nina Aqlan, Yemen
By the time Nina Aqlan began her post-secondary studies, she had lived in Pakistan, Tanzania, the United States, and Yemen. She received her B.A. in international trade from Victoria University in 2008 while interning with Amnesty International Malaysia in the field of human rights, with a focus on refugee conditions and racial discrimination. An activist at heart, upon her return to Yemen she started volunteering with the Women National Committee where she assisted in drafting and translating several successful project proposals. She is now the Communications Officer for the Committee and manages all communications for the 4th National Five Year Development Plan Project (FYDP), a project aimed at gender integration. As part of her interest in youth programs, Nina visited Egypt as a participant in the "Arab-Western Youth Dialogue," hosted by the Arab Women Organization, and later Jordan as a participant in the "Arab Women Leadership Training," hosted by the International Republican Institute. Soon after, she was offered a three-month fellowship opportunity by the Arab Women Leadership Institute at the International Republican Institute in Amman, Jordan. Currently, Nina is working on a research project focused on HIV-AIDS and its prevalence in Yemen. The findings will be included in the 4th FYDP. Nina's future plan is to pursue graduate studies in international development in 2011.
Georgios Andriotis, Greece
Georgios Andriotis was born in 1986 in Kavala, Greece. He holds a B.A. in Political Studies and Diplomacy from the University of Macedonia (Thessaloniki, Greece), an M.A. in International and Public Affairs from the University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong S.A.R.), as well as an LL.M. in Public International Law from Leiden University (the Netherlands) as a Leiden University Fund Scholar. Georgios has worked as a research assistant for the UNESCO Chair of Intercultural Policy at the University of Macedonia on issues such as equality, education and culture. While completing his studies at the University of Leiden, Georgios interned for the Hague Institute for the Internationalisation of Law as well as for the prosecution team in the court case The Prosecutor vs. Charles Taylor before the Special Court for Sierra Leone. His thesis at Leiden University was "Protection of Victims and Witnesses vs. Rights of the Accused in International Criminal Proceedings." Georgios was also a visiting researcher on international criminal law issues at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto in summer 2009. After his graduation from Leiden University, Georgios worked as a legal intern for Trial Chamber I at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. His main areas of interest include international criminal law, humanitarian law, human rights, transitional justice, and international arbitration.
Kristina Bouree, Armenia/Russia
Kristina Bouree was born in Erevan, Armenia. She holds a Master's degree in law from the State University of the Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia). Upon completing her degree, she spent one year studying at the Doctoral Support Program at the Legal Studies Department of Central European University (Budapest, Hungary). At the moment Kristina works for the NGO Libertas International (Leiden, Netherlands) doing youth projects in the fields of human rights and intercultural learning. Kristina conducts international trainings in the above-mentioned areas and acts as a project manager. She works within Europe for the most part, but at the moment she's also involved in a project on HIV prevention in South Africa, implemented by a branch of Libertas International in Johannesburg
The topic of Kristina's doctoral thesis is "Special Bodies against Corruption: the existing models and the effectiveness of the system." Kristina's professional interests include corruption studies, human rights, and perceptions of democracy, or different understandings of democracy in different countries. Kristina is the author of more than 40 publications including works on the topics of human rights and legal theory.
Pema Dechen, Bhutan
As a student, Pema Dechen interned with the Gender & Law Association (Delhi, India) as a Program Coordinator. She also worked as an assistant at the Conference Secretariat for the Eleventh SAARC LAW Conference and at the Eight Chief Justices Conference held in Thimphu. In 2003, she attended the Sparsh 2003 Second Behavioral Testing Lab for three months and participated in a two-day lab as an experimenter. As a volunteer she worked with the Delhi Legal Services Authority organizing legal aid, publicity campaigns, and legal literacy camps. Her experience as a Court Registrar was among her most enriching. She has handled both civil and criminal law, dealing with everything from matrimonial cases to monetary cases and drugs, rape and sexual harassment cases. She has also assisted a judge in the drafting of judgments, though the most important part of her job is to follow up on the enforcement of judgments rendered by the bench. The majority of her enforcement work pertains to alimony cases. Due to her direct dealings with litigants Pema has come to understand the importance of handling such cases with the utmost sensitivity and patience. Her ongoing interest in subjects related to human rights, gender, and women and children led her to complete a three-week training in gender mainstreaming in Copenhagen, Denmark in March 2010.
Julie Dubé-Gagnon, Canada
Julie Dubé-Gagnon holds an LL.B from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), a B.A. from McGill University in international development, and is an LL.M candidate as of August 2010 in International Human Rights Law at Notre Dame Law School, for which she obtained a full scholarship from the Office of the Provost. At UQAM, she actively participated in the International Clinic for the Defense of Human Rights (CIDDHU), where she presented human rights recourses on behalf of indigenous communities from Central America. She has been working as a student-at-law at the Montreal offices of Heenan Blaikie LLP since the summer of 2008. During the summer of 2010, she was sent to Guatemala by Lawyers Without Borders to work with representatives of civil society to strategically litigate human rights cases. Julie worked at the Guatemalan Human Rights Commission in 2005-2006 and clerked in 2007 for Rt Hon. Judge Sir Dennis Byron and Judge Robert Fremr at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania. Since 2007, Julie has been a member of the Board of Directors of OEIL Côte-des-Neiges in Montreal, a tenant’s rights advocacy group which promotes housing rights and decent living conditions. Before sitting on the Board, she worked at OEIL as a community worker for three years.
Damir Hadzic, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Damir Hadzic was born in 1983 in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. After his childhood experience of the war in Bosnia he was offered a scholarship to complete his studies in England, where he remained for the duration of his legal studies at the University of Southampton. He then moved to Vienna to complete his postgraduate degree at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna with a concentration in legal and security subjects. He now works as a Project Associate at the United Nations Development Programme in Sarajevo for the project "Support to Processing of War Crimes Cases in BiH". There, efforts are being made in assisting local judiciary to process a high number of pending war crimes cases in a reasonable timeframe as defined by the State War Crimes Strategy. Damir has also worked as a consultant at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in the Organized Crime Section providing assistance to the efforts made in combating transnational organized crime at the Fourth Conference of the Parties. Previously, he also worked for the Action against Terrorism Unit of the Secretariat of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe as well as for the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Irena Hristov, Macedonia
Irena Hristov's professional focus is on communications and public relations. Her experience working in the UN Office in Macedonia has given her a chance to closely follow developments, progress and set-backs in the areas of human rights and inter-ethnic relations in a multicultural environment. She is currently working on her Master's thesis, exploring the links and influences between the globalized world, mass media production and local cultures, and specifically how global media and information flows impact local cultural identities, and if it is a matter of positive human development with an inevitable loss of unique diversity. Besides being a powerful instrument for establishing and maintaining mainstream agendas on a global scale, mass media is also the best tool for the promotion of social justice and raising awareness on important topics like respect for diversity, multiculturalism, and tolerance in ethnically and religiously mixed communities. In that regard, Irena has a particular interest in exploring emerging cultural forms in the contemporary set-up of digital media dominance, globalization and new forms of civic engagement.
Alan Huynh, Australia
After growing up in one of the most ethnically diverse areas in Australia, Alan Huynh has come to demonstrate a passionate commitment towards optimising youth participation and representation, enhancing civic engagement and promoting multicultural issues over the past 10 years.
He is the former Youth Chair of the Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia and the Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland - the national and state peak bodies representing Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. In these voluntary roles, Alan led advocacy efforts on behalf of young Australians from CALD backgrounds on issues such as anti-racism, community service, education and employment. He currently serves on the community advisory committee of the Special Broadcasting Service, Australia's multicultural broadcaster, and has volunteered with the Queensland Program for Assistance of Survivors of Torture and Trauma.
In 2008, he led a team of 15 volunteers to create an award winning, socially innovative youth leadership initiative, the 'Partners in Peace' project, and was selected as one of 100 young leaders to attend the Australia 2020 Youth Summit. Last year, Alan represented young Australians at the 7th Commonwealth Youth Forum in Trinidad and Tobago as well as the 10th International Award Forum in Sydney. In 2006, he was selected as a youth ambassador on the 18th Ship for World Youth program, a global cultural exchange program.
Currently, Alan is a graduate medical student at the University of Queensland. He graduated from the University of Sydney with a B.Ec. (SocS) (Honours) in international relations in 2005. For his work with young Australians, Alan was the inaugural recipient of the Australian Human Rights' Commission Young Peoples' Human Rights Medal, the 2008 Queensland Multicultural Award for an Outstanding Young Achiever, and the 2009 Brisbane Lord Mayor Young Citizen of the Year.
Cristina Istratescu, Romania
Cristina Istratescu holds two B.A.s in Political Science and in Communication and Public Relations and is currently a Master’s degree candidate in Political Science at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. Since 2004 Cristina has been a devoted activist who has engaged with passionate and creative people to create opportunities and tools that empower young people, and especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to be the change they want to see in their communities and in the world. As of 2008, Cristina created along with a few other young people, the European Network “Voices of Young Refugees in Europe” (VYRE) which is based in Montenegro.
Nadejda Khamrakulova, Uzbekistan
Nadejda Khamrakulova holds an LL.M. from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. She obtained her LL.B. from the University of World Economy and Diplomacy of Uzbekistan. She is currently working at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) as the Associate Programme Officer. Before joining UNECE, she worked at the UN Development Programme in Uzbekistan contributing to coordination activities to support the achievement of Millennium Development Goals. Her experience also includes work in other international governmental and non-governmental organizations, such as Japan International Cooperation Agency and World Vision. Ms. Khamrakulova has volunteered for the Open Society Institute/Soros Foundation in Uzbekistan. Previously, she was involved in monitoring human rights implementation in Central Asian countries, conducting specific assessments of the implementation of women's economic rights, and doing research on migration and human trafficking. She was also involved in different projects working on social rights and inclusion, and the right to health and reproduction. Combining her academic law background and work experience in the field and in the international arena, Ms. Khamrakulova is now particularly interested in research and practical experience in the area of human rights and sustainable development.
Yuliya Khvatsik, Belarus
Yuliya Khvatsik was born in 1984 in the Republic of Belarus. She holds a law degree and an MD from Belarus State Economic University, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in law. As a second-year student, she became a volunteer for the student Legal Aid Clinic at BSEU, where law students work for the protections of citizens' rights. Yuliya's research during her studies included the protection of labor rights of Belarusian, Ukrainian and Russian citizens. Her current focus is human rights protection in banking law in Belarus and Eastern Europe. She is a member of the working group on consumer credit, which focuses on intensifying legal protection for private banking clients. In 2006 she became a fellow of the Clinical Legal Education Program for USAID. In 2009, she completed a summer course at Central European University (Hungary, Budapest) in teaching law, human rights and ethics in cooperation with PILI, Columbia Law School. Yuliya has been practicing and teaching human rights law since 2003. She taught at the Belarus State Economic University as an assistant professor of comparative business law and banking law, and participated in many human rights workshops as a trainer. Yuliya has also presented papers at various conferences, and has published 3 papers in major Belarusian and Ukrainian law journals. In 2010, Yuliya, together with students from the Legal Aid Clinic, set up a socially-oriented project they called "Financial education of poor people: everyday knowledge and simple skills for life". She also works as an expert in legal mediation procedures in Belarus. For several years she has been working with homeless dogs and cats as a volunteer at the open society, Ehida (Minsk, Belarus). Her dream is to build an animal shelter in Minsk.
Jakob Silas Lund, Denmark
Jakob Silas Lund is the founder and director of the organization Play31, which uses football to bring people together in post-conflict countries, contributing to local reconciliation processes. Jakob is also a Senior Research Analyst with the Center for UN Reform where he works on Security Council reform, human rights and development issues. He has previously worked for Amnesty International in Denmark, US Congress and the Anne Frank Stichting in the Netherlands. Jakob received his B.A. in public administration from Roskilde University, Denmark, and is a recent graduate of Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, where he concentrated on human rights and conflict resolution.
Kuong Ly, USA
Kuong Ly is a Cambodian-Chinese-American who grew up outside of Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He earned his undergraduate degree in philosophy from Boston College and was named a Harry S. Truman Scholar in 2007 for his commitment to serving the public good. He has a Master of Laws degree in international human rights law from the University of Essex and is currently a candidate for the master's degree in international relations from the University of Cambridge where he is a British Marshall Scholar. Kuong plans to make a positive impact on the world by working for social justice and human rights in the fields of law, politics, and policy.
Aditi Malhotra, India
Aditi studied history at Miranda House, University of Delhi and went on to do post graduation in Social Work with a focus on Women Centered Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. She was the one of the founding members of TissTalks (www.tisstalks.wordpress.com), a peer discussion forum on gender issues while at TISS. She has done extensive field work on the issue of food security- to obtain ration cards for workers in the unorganised sector and senior citizens an urban slum in Mumbai besides has also worked on sexual health with transgender communities and other high risk groups. She was selected by UNIFEF for the Knowledge Community on Children in India programme and her report on the initiatives to sustain and enhance quality education in Maharashtra was subsequently published by UNICEF. Currently, she is working with Partners for Law in Development, a legal resource group working in the fields of social justice and women’s rights in India and South Asia. She coordinates the CEDAW capacity building programme being implemented in the states of Jharkhand, Bihar and Orissa and has conducted trainings for the same. She has also actively engaged in the campaign to decriminalise homosexuality in India and in debates on sexual law reform.
Rosa María Martínez, Colombia
Rosa María was born and raised in Colombia where she received a Bachelor’s Degree in Government and International Affairs from the Externado University. Currently, she is a second-year geography student at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Rotary Peace Fellow at UCB. During her years at the Externado University, she worked as a research assistant at the Centro de Investigación de Proyectos Especiales de la Universidad Externado de Colombia (Special Projects Research Centre), which focuses on subjects related to conflict resolution and armed conflicts around Colombia’s borders. She also worked as a junior analyst at the Human Rights Observatory of the Vice-Presidency of Colombia for three years. There, she was in charge of systematizing and processing human rights violation reports, including those committed against teachers and trade unionists in Colombia. In addition, she wrote several reports about the unions’ situation and human rights violations, as well as the dynamics of the Colombian armed conflict. In the summer of 2010, Rosa Maria worked in Nairobi as an intern for the NGO G.R.A.C.E Africa, and in New York City as an intern at the Political Affairs Office of United Nations.
Salma Mohammed, Ghana
Salma Mohammed is a passionate individual who hails from the Northern part of Ghana. Her father was a lecturer, which meant she grew up on a university campus in a relatively calm neighbourhood.
At a young age she started volunteering as a Girl Guide and Red Cross member. She went on to join the Head of State Award Scheme and obtained all three levels of the award. She is currently an assessor for the award scheme in Ghana. Salma attended the University of Ghana Legon where she majored in psychology with a minor in sociology. She went on to become an activist because she wanted her views and the views of others less fortunate to be heard and respected. Salma is particularly passionate about causes involving gender and youth, and she feels motivated by the fact that her work is actually making a difference in the lives of the youth she works with.
Caroline Mosler, Germany
Born in Munich, Germany, Caroline Mosler left her family at the age of 14 and went to school in England. She developed an interest in human rights while in school, and shortly after her high school graduation, she spent some months in Beijing, China learning Chinese. Two years later she returned to China to work on a short-term legal expert contract with the German Hanns-Seidel- Foundation. She also undertook a research project on women's rights in China, and developed a comparative analysis of Mongolian criminal law and Scottish/ German criminal law for the Mongolian State University's Department of Law. Following this experience, which further encouraged her interest in human rights, she undertook an LL.B at the University of Edinburgh and the University Paul-Cezanne, Marseille III, from 2004 and 2008. Her studies were focused on human rights, gender and justice, and she wrote her undergraduate thesis on asylum seekers and human rights in France, the UK and Germany. Currently she is doing a MSc of Human Rights at the London School of Economics and Political Sciences. This experience sparked Caroline's interest in intercultural dialogue on human rights and the human rights based approach to development. In her Master's thesis she will be discussing property rights and the distribution of wealth in Mahayana Buddhism, a topic she would like to continue studying in the future.
Her work experience with the German Embassy in Nepal, UNHCR Germany and the Council of Europe led her to become a volunteer for the International Secretariat of Amnesty International -Human Rights Education Team in 2009. Caroline will start working with the German GTZ in November 2010 and will move to Bangladesh in January 2011 to work on reform of women's prisons.
Rahila Muhibi, Afghanistan
Rahila Muhibi is from Afghanistan, and is currently a graduate student in London. She received her B.A. in Political Science and International Studies from Methodist University in the United States. One of her formative experiences as a young woman was her time spent studying at Lester B. Pearson College in British Columbia, Canada in 2003. During her studies abroad, she has been involved in a few small projects in Afghanistan, including the 100 Mothers Literacy Program, a project offering basic education to young mothers in rural areas of Afghanistan. Her life, like many other young Afghans who lived through a tragic era in the history of Afghanistan, cultivated Rahila's interest in human rights and global understanding.
Joanna Noronha, Brazil
Joanna Noronha is a Master's degree candidate at Rio de Janeiro's Catholic University, Brazil, and a visiting graduate student at the University of Toronto, Canada. She is part of the Emerging Leaders of the America's Program, and is on a scholarship from the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). She is also a member of the Health Equity and Law Clinic at the University of Toronto. Her primary areas of interest are law and development, gender equity and international human rights. Her most recent research deals with sexual and reproductive rights in Latin America, as well as domestic violence against women in Brazil.
Milena Oganesyan, Republic of Georgia
Milena Oganesyan is from the Republic of Georgia. As a Georgian Armenian, Milena grew up a member of a minority in the cosmopolitan city of Tbilisi. As a result, she was exposed to diverse cultures and languages spoken in the South Caucasus. Milena's multicultural and multilingual communication has shaped her worldviews and convinced her of the importance of dialogue and cooperation, as opposed to conflict and confrontation. She holds a B.A. in Near East History and International Relations from the Tbilisi Institute of Asia and Africa (Georgia). She has a Master's degree in history from the University of Montana, U.S.A. The title of her thesis is "James A. Baker, III and Eduard A. Shevardnadze: The Story of the Madrid Peace Conference of 1991." Milena is currently pursuing her doctoral studies in Cultural Anthropology at the University of Montana. She is interested in human rights, international development, and peace and conflict studies. As a Graduate Assistant, Milena helps facilitate projects aimed at promoting an inclusive graduate community and addressing the needs of underrepresented student groups. She is a United States of Hope Fellow, a humanitarian organization that provides support to people, especially children, affected by conflicts, wars, and disasters. Milena has also served as a translator and interpreter for international organizations, state institutions, and official delegations in Georgia, Armenia, and the United States.
M. Najibur Rohman, Indonesia
M. Najibur Rohman was born in 1986 in Rembang, a regency in the easternmost Central Java Province. During his college studies, he occupied the position of editor-in-chief of Justisia magazine and journal. He went on to graduate from the Islamic Law Faculty of the State Institute of Islamic Studies (Institut Agama Islam Negeri) in Walisongo Semarang, Indonesia in 2009. He has received acclaim from various institutions and organizations such as the Indonesian Youth and Sports Ministry (2006), the Higher Education Division of Indonesian Religious Affairs Department (2006), the Center of Research of IAIN Walisongo (2009), and The Japan Foundation (2009). Besides working as one of the senior editors of Justisia and volunteering for lembaga studi sosial dan agama, an organization which promotes tolerance, human rights and social justice, he is also a researcher for the Jatisari Institute, an NGO in Central Java focused on developing Indonesian human resources.
Manish Thapa, Nepal
Manish Thapa is an Assistant Professor of Peace Studies in the Department of Conflict, Peace & Development Studies at Tribhuvan University in Nepal, where he teaches courses on non-violence, human rights, peace-building and conflict transformation. He is also a Doctoral Research Candidate in International Studies at the University of Tokyo, where he is working on a research project entitled From Bullet to Ballot: The Politics of Peacemaking in Nepal. He is a recipient of the prestigious Robert McNamara Fellowship (2009-2010) from the World Bank and the RONPAKU Fellowship (2008-2011) from the Japan Society for Promotion of Sciences (JSPS). He is also associated as a Robert McNamara Visiting Research Fellow at the Department of Peace & Conflict Research at Uppsala University, Sweden. He was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, USA (2008-2009) and a Sauvé Research Fellow at McGill University, Canada (2006-2007). He received his bachelor's degree in Development Studies from Kathmandu University, and a master's degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from Austria's European University at the Centre for Peace Studies. He was a founding Executive Director of the Asian Study Centre for Peace & Conflict Transformation (ASPECT). In 2005, Manish founded the Nepal Peace Initiative Alliance, which was instrumental in the establishment of the Ministry of Peace & Reconstruction in Nepal. He is co-chair of the Internal Conflicts Commission at the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) and Council Member of the Asia-Pacific Peace Research Association (APPRA). He is on the Research Committee of the Centre for Global Non-killing (CGNK).
Daniel Teweles, USA
Daniel Teweles is the Personal Democracy Forum's Vice President of Business Development and Marketing, and the project manager for www.10Questions.com. PdF explores how technology is changing politics, and Daniel oversees the organization's democratization experiments, as well as identifies new opportunities to leverage technology for activists, organizations, and political institutions.
Prior to joining PdF in June of 2010, Daniel was the National Student Coordinator for STAND, one of the world's largest youth activist organizations and the student-led division of the Genocide Intervention Network. At STAND, Daniel led strategic review and organizational restructuring processes, was a champion of innovative video and social media advocacy, worked with the White House and State Department on the Obama Administration's first-ever live webcast, managed and built partner relationships, and mentored STAND's student leadership team.
Previously, Daniel worked as the project coordinator for an NGO developing water and sanitation public infrastructure in Kenya, and as an Officer of Public and Academic Affairs for Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Based out of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., Daniel was responsible for helping to manage the Government of Israel's relationship with the American public, managing relationships with academic institutions and student groups, as well as assisting in the launch of Israel's official YouTube channel.
Originally from Michigan, Daniel graduated with dual degrees in Political Science and Philosophy & Religion from James Madison University where he was a member of Theta Alpha Kappa and Sigma Alpha Lambda. He is a proud recipient of the Congressional Medal of Merit for his service to his community. Daniel lives in New York with his dog, Jack, and enjoys exploring New York and traveling internationally.
Fordam Wara
Fordam Wara is an attorney and a human rights defender from Kenya. Fordam has received legal training in Kenya, U.S.A., and Canada. He began his career in private practice by defending product manufacturers in litigation and alternative dispute resolution proceedings involving motor vehicles, construction materials, food products, asbestos and silica containing products. This practice experience further inflamed Fordam's passion for social justice. In 2005, he won a human rights fellowship through the University of Minnesota’s Upper Midwest International Human Rights Fellowship Program. Through the fellowship, Fordam mobilized stakeholders involved in child welfare to identify intervention strategies on behalf of street children in western Kenya. Consistent with the stakeholders' recommendation, Fordam continues to pursue the establishment of a child resource and referral center in that part of the country. Fordam is currently a Master of Laws student at McGill University in Canada. He has just completed a Masters research project on how to protect East African consumers from harmful genetically-modified organisms. After graduation, Fordam intends to continue consumer advocacy and to promote the rights and interests of children..