About Us
The UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty was led by Manfred Nowak, numerous experts from all over the world and children who were consulted. Various dissemination and follow-up activities are coordinated by the Global Study Team.
The Global Study Coordination Team
The Global Study Team is based in Vienna, Austria, and is part of the Global Campus of Human Rights, a worldwide network of 100 universities. The Global Campus works in close cooperation with the Right Livelihood Foundation to promote and protect the rights of children worldwide through research, education and advocacy projects. This includes the follow-up and dissemination activities at the Global Campus of Human RIghts.
Manfred Nowak
Manfred Nowak is Professor of Human Rights at Vienna University and Director of the Vienna Master of Arts in Human Rights. He has been appointed as Secretary General of the Global Campus in January 2016. In October 2016 he was appointed Independent Expert leading the UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty.
Łukasz Szoszkiewicz
Data Coordinator of the UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty
Email:
Natalia Liush
Website Development Advisor
Email: liush.n.v@gmail.com
Global Study Structure Organigram
UN Global Study project partners
274 children
from all around the world with experiences of deprivation of liberty were consulted to inform the research of the Global Study.
The UN Inter-Agency Task Force
chaired by the Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) on Violence against Children (VAC) and composed by following members: the SRSG for Children and Armed Conflict (SRSG CAAC), the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), UNICEF, UNODC, UNHCR, IOM, WHO and the OHCHR.
As a platform to provide UN system-wide support to the Study development, the Task Force was responsible for defining the scope of the Study, while also developing an initial budget and fundraising strategy. Serving as the Study’s secretariat, the OHCHR provided invaluable support in coordinating activities with Member States. Countless other international and regional organisations made noteworthy contributions to the Study.
The Advisory Board, comprised of 22 highly renowned experts in the fields of children’s rights and the right to personal liberty:
Ann SKELTON (South Africa) (Chair of the UN Global Study Advisory Board)
Member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
Malcom Evans (United Kingdom) (Vice-Chair of the UN Global Study Advisory Board)
Chair of the UN Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture
Andrew Coyle (United Kingdom)
Adviser on Prison and Criminal justice matters to
the OHCHR, UNODC and
the UN Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Council of Europe (CPT)
Barry Goldson (United Kingdom)
Professor of Criminology and Social Policy,
School of Law and Social Justice,
University of Liverpool
Benyam Mezmur (Ethiopia)
Member and Former Chair, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
Ben Lewis (Unites States)
Human Rights Officer,
Migration and Human Rights (OHCHR)
Catalina Devandas Aguilar (Costa Rica)
UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Dainius Puras (Lithuania)
UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health
Hina Jilani (Pakistan)
Former UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders (2000 – 2008)
Jean Zermatten (Switzerland)
Founder and Director of the International Institute for the Rights of the Child;
Former Chair of UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
Juan Mendez (Argentina)
Professor of Law and Human Rights Activist; Former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture (2008 – 2016)
Leila Zerrougui (Algeria)
Former UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict
Mary Beloff (Argentina)
Children’s Rights and Criminal Law Expert, Faculty of Law, University of Buenos Aires
Maud de Boer-Buquicchio (Netherlands)
UN Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography
Pablo Ceriani Cernadas (Argentina)
Vice Chairperson of the UN Committee on the Rights of Migrants
Thomas Hammarberg (Sweden)
Former Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe (2006-2012);
Former Member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (1991-1997)
Ton Liefaard (Netherlands)
Professor of Children’s Rights and
holds the UNICEF Chair in Children’s Rights at Leiden University,
Leiden Law School
Ursula Kilkelly (United Kingdom)
Dean, School of Law, University College Cork, Director of the Child Law Clinic
Usang Maria Assim (South Africa)
Senior Researcher Children’s Rights Project,
Dullah Omar Institute for Constitutional Law,
Governance and Human Rights,
University of the Western Cape
Vitit Muntarbhorn (Thailand)
UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination
based on sexual orientation and gender identity (2016 –present);
Former Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (1990 – 1994)
Jo Becker (United States)
Advocacy director of the Children’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Benoit Van Keirsbilck (Belgium)
Director of the Belgian section of Defence for Children International (DCI)
led by Defence for Children International and Human Rights Watch (2020), consisting of 170 NGOs working directly or indirectly on children’s deprivation of liberty. Collaborating closely with these organisations was key in the conceptualisation, realisation and implementation of the Study.
Click here to access the Composition of the NGO Panel for the Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty.
Research Groups
The thematic research groups, chaired by distinguished experts and their institutions from all around the world. Many of these academic institutions are members of the Global Campus of Human Rights, a worldwide network of 100 universities.