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Abdullah, Maria

Malaysia

Maria Chin Abdullah is a keen advocator, NGO activist, consultant and policy-oriented researcher in the areas of women’s rights and equality, democratic governance and NGO organisational development. As a women’s rights activist, she has been with the women's movement for more than 20 years. Her leadership is shown through her active involvement in the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG), a vocal women's coalition. She is a trainer in gender equality, non-discrimination for women, women’s political participation and democratic governance. She publishes books and articles on women and education and women, governance and democracy. She sits as a judge for the Malaysian civil rights awards. Her strength is also in coalition building, where she leads in the Coalition for Good Governance and contribute as a member of BERSIH for free and fair elections. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Economics and a Master of Science in Urban Planning at the University College, London.

Andayani, Esti

Indonesia

Esti Andayani is the Director of the Non-Aligned Movement Centre for South-South Technical Cooperation (NAM CSSTC). She is also the Director for Technical Cooperation, Directorate General of Information and Public Diplomacy at the Indonesia Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jakarta. Prior to this, Ms Andayani worked in many different capacities for the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs both abroad and at home. Major positions held include Director for Commodity and Standardization, Directorate General of Multilateral Economic, Finance and Development; Counselor/Minister Counselor, Economic Section, the Indonesian Mission to UN, Geneva; Head of Sub-Directorate for OIC Economic Cooperation, Directorate of Economic Relations of the Developing Countries, DFA, Jakarta; Second Secretary/First Secretary, Social and Economic Section, the Indonesian Mission to UN, New York; Act. Head of Division for Transportation, Finance and Banking, Economic Bureau ASEAN, DFA, Jakarta; Head of Sub-Division for Finance and Banking, Economic Bureau ASEAN, DFA, Jakarta; Attache/Third Secretary, Consular Section, Indonesian Consulate, Bombay. In addition, Ms Andayani has been member in the Indonesian delegation to various international conferences and meetings in the UN and other International Organizations including, G-77, NAM, ASEAN, OIC, G-15 and D-8. She holds a, Bachelor Degree in Social and Political science, majoring in Sociology from the University of Indonesia.

Arya, Gothom

Thailand

Gothom Arya is the Secretary General of Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development. Dr. Arya was previously the Director of the Research Centre for Peace building at Mahidol University. He is also a former election commissioner and played a key role in the drafting of the Thai Constitution of 1997.

Azra, Azyumardi

Indonesia

Azyumardi Azra is Professor of history and Director of the Graduate School of the State Ismalic University in Jakarta, Indonesia. Prof. Azra is well noted for his books on political and religious subjects and participation in inter-faith dialogues. He graduated from the Faculty of Tarbiyah (Islamic Education), IAIN (State Institute for Islamic Studies) Jakarta (1982). In 1986 he won a Fulbright Scholarship to pursue his advanced studies at Columbia University, New York City and got his MA (1988) from the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures. Winning Columbia President Fellowship, he moved to Department of History, Columbia University, where he got another MA (1989), M Phil (1990), and PhD (1992).

Arinanto, Satya

Indonesia

Satya Arinanto is Constitutional Law professor and Secretary at the Department of Constitutional Law at the University of Indonesia. Prof. Arinanto was a former assistant to the Indonesian minister of state for Human rights. He is the author of many books on human rights and political transition in Indonesia.

Adhikari, Bipin

Nepal

Bipin Adhikari is a senior Nepalese constitutional and human rights expert. He is working in the new constitution making process being pursued in Nepal recently. A PhD of Constitutional Law, Adhikari has worked extensively with the United Nations and other international organizations, and has been a legal advisor in the area of human rights, legal reforms, and democratizations process. Adhikari is also the owner of Nepal Consulting Lawyers, Inc based in Kathmandu.

Badu, P. Sunil

Nepal

Sunil Badu Pant is a member of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal from the Communist Party of Nepal. He is the only CA member who represents the third sex (homosexuals) in the Constituent Assembly. Hon. Pant holds a post-graduate degree in computer science from Belarus Polytechnic Academy and is interested in minority rights issues and social welfare activities. He is a former president of the Blue Diamond Society - an organization set up to work for the rights of sexual minorities in Nepal. He has written many articles on sexuality, gender, and their definitions.

Djumala, Darmansjah

Indonesia

Darmansjah Djumula is the Head of Centre for Education and Training at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Prior to this, Darmansjah worked for the Indonesian Foreign Mission in different capacities in Switzerland and Japan. In 1997, he was appointed Consul in the Economic Affairs Section of the Indonesian Consulate General in New York. In 2001, he became Head of Section for Economic Affairs in the New York Consulate General. He was appointed Deputy Ambassador and Representative of the Republic of Indonesia to the EU in Brussels in 2003. Darmansjah holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Development Studies and a Master of Arts in International Relations from Webster University in Switzerland

Devkota, Khimlal

Nepal

Involved in politics since 1979, Khimlal Devkota is currently a member of the Nepal Constituent Assembly and legislator in the Interim Legislative Parliament. He is also a member of the Maoist state committee and central chairperson of Nepal National Intellectuals Organization. Hon. Devkota was a member of the drafting committee for the Interim Constitution of Nepal in 2006. He joined leftist politics after taking membership of the party at the Fourth Convention in 1981. A member of the party's town committee in 1985, Hon. Devkota is one of the founding members of a human rights organization called People's Right Concern Campaign.

Ghai, P. Yash

Kenya

Yash Ghai is a professor emeritus of constitutional law and honorary professor at the University of Hong Kong. Prof Ghai served as the Chair of the Kenya Constitutional Review commission and as Senior Advisor to the UNDP Programme in Nepal. He was also a former UN Special representative for Human rights in Cambodia.

Henny, Andries

Indonesia

Kadirgamar-Rajasingham, Sakuntala

Sri Lanka

Sakuntala Kadirgamar-Rajasingham is a Research Scholar with the Nepal Centre for Contemporary Studies (NCCS) in Kathmandu. Prior to Joining NCCS, Dr. Kadirgamar-Rajasingham was involved in many constitution building projects as Senior Advisor in Support to Participatory Constitution Building in Nepal of UNDP; Project Manager, Constitution Building Program for UNDP Somalia; Senior Advisor to the Constitution Building Project, International IDEA and also the Head of the South Asia Program for International IDEA. She served as Programme Officer at Law and Development Studies Division, Marga Institute for Research and Development in Sri Lanka. She has worked as a consultant for Law and Society Trust, Sri Lanka for the development of human rights training manuals. She has also worked for The World Bank on the legal status of women and labour standards in several African countries. She is a former Board Member of a Washington based International NGO promoting women’s legal rights called Women, Law and Development. She is a regular contributor to publications on legal literacy for women, domestic violence, and democratization.


She holds degrees in Law (University of Colombo, Sri Lanka), in Social Sciences (University of Reading, UK) and a Ph.D. in Law (University of Sydney, Australia).

Kamali, H. Mohammad

Malaysia

Mohammad Hashim Kamali is the Founding Chairman and CEO of the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia. He studied in the UK from 1969 to 1976 and obtained an LLM and a PhD in Law from the University of London. He was Professor of Islamic Law and Jurisprudence at the International Islamic University Malaysia (1985-2004), and also Dean of the International Institute of Islamic Though and Civilisation (ISTAC) from 2004 to 2006. Dr Kamali was previously Assistant Professor at the Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University in Canada; he was a Visiting Professor at the Capital University, Ohio, and also at the Institute for Advanced Study (Wissenschaftskolleg) of Berlin. He was a member of the Constitution Review Commission of Afghanistan (2003) and also served as a UN expert on constitutional reform in the Maldives (2004). He advised on the new constitution of Iraq (2004-2005) and is currently on the UN Alliance of Civilisations Global Experts panel. He now serves on the boards of 13 local and international academic journals. Kamali has addressed over 130 national and international conferences, and he has published 17 books and over 140 academic articles.  His books Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence; A Textbook of Hadith Studies; and Freedom of Expression in Islam; and Shariۦah Law: An Introduction are reference works in leading English speaking universities worldwide.  He is listed in a number of leading Who’s Who in the world.

Kapai, Puja

Hong Kong

Puja Kapai began her career at the Hong Kong Bar in 2002 and practiced as a barrister for some time before joining the Faculty of Law at the University of Hong Kong in 2005. She is now an Assistant Professor with the Faculty of Law and has taught a variety of courses including Multiculturalism and the Law, Legal System of Hong Kong, Law and Society, Contract Law and Legal Research and Writing. Her areas of expertise include International Human Rights Law, Multicultural Policies and issues in Ethnicity, Freedom of Religion and theRight to Culture, Women's Rights,  the Dynamics between Human Rights, Religion and Culture and Constitutional Law. Ms Kapai has presented her work widely at various international and regional conferences. She is also running a Diversity Studies Project  at the University of hong Kong which aims to bring together different academics and institutions working on diversity-related issues.

Khan, Sona

India

Sona Khan is a prominent attorney before the Indian Supreme Court and columnist for Indian Express, The Hindu, and the Hindustan Times. Dr. Khan is an expert on the Indian constitution. She is renowned in India and beyond for her work on women's rights. Dr. Khan was instrumental in the Shahbano case, which pitted a Muslim woman against her former husband and raised the issue of how to weigh a woman's rights to maintenance after divorce against India's separation of civil and religious law. Dr. Khan is an expert in Islamic law and has also worked to end child prostitution.

Naylor, Nikki

South Africa

Nikki Naylor, a South African human rights attorney was appointed to the post of Program Officer for Human Rights in the Ford Foundation’s Office for Southern Africa in January, 2007.  Nikki’s grant-making focuses on advancing socio-economic rights for vulnerable and marginalized populations, such as, people living with HIV/AIDS, women, refugees and undocumented migrants and gay and lesbian populations.  In addition, Nikki focuses on combating gender-based violence in Southern Africa. Nikki has two law degrees in South Africa (B.Proc. and LL.B) and an LLM (with distinction) in International Human Rights at the University of London.  Nikki’s areas of specialty include women’s rights and issues surrounding violence against women.  Nikki has also practiced law within one of the largest commercial law firms in South Africa. Sonnenberh Hoffmann and Galombik Inc (now ENS inc). Prior to joining the Ford Foundation, Nikki worked as a lawyer on the Equality Program of Interights in London where she, amongst other things, worked on submitting amicus curiae briefs before the European Court of Human Rights as well as the African Commission for Human & People’s Rights.  She also worked for several years at the Women’s Legal Centre, a public interest law firm that protects and promotes women’s rights and gender equality.  

 

Ortiz, Raul Avila

Mexico

Raul Avila Ortiz is a consultant and a commissioner of the Oaxaca State’s Institute for Access to Public Information. He has 20 years experience as a former law professor in various Mexican universities and has also held diverse public positions in both the Mexican Federal and Local governments. From 1997 to 2004, he was both a legal advisor and the International Affairs Coordinator in the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Branch of the Federation. He was also the coordinator of the National Autonomous University of Mexico PhD Research Program.  He is the founder and current President of the Mexican NGO “Law, Education and Culture”, and the “Centre of Constitutional and Multicultural Studies of Oaxaca State”. He holds an MD in Latin-American Studies from the University of Texas, Austin (1998) and Ph D in law from the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Rocamora, Joel

The Phillipines

Joel Rocamora is a former Director of the Institute for Popular Democracy in Manila Philippines. Dr. Rocamora is also a Fellow and former Co-Director of the Transnational Institute (TNI). He earned his doctorate in the USA then later came to Amsterdam to coordinate TNI's early work on the Philippines while he was in political exile during the Marcos regime. Dr. Rocamora returned to the Philippines in 1992 where he worked as a political analyst at the Ateneo Centre for Social Policy and Public Affairs and as a consultant to several development NGOs. He was awarded the 1995 Philippines National Book Award for his, Breaking Through: The Struggle within the Communist Party of the Philippines (Anvil1994). His areas of interest are Philippine & South East Asian Democratization Process; New Kinds of Political Parties; Participatory Democracy.

Saunders, Cheryl

Australia

Cheryl Saunders is a laureate professor at the University of Melbourne and the founding director of its Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies. Prof. Saunders has specialist research interests in constitutional and administrative law and comparative public law, with particular reference to federalism, intergovernmental relations, constitution-making and comparative constitutional method and design. She has held visiting positions at the universities of Cambridge, Paris II, Indiana (Bloomington), Hong Kong, Copenhagen, Fribourg, Cape Town, Auckland and Oxford and has an honorary doctorate from the University of Cordoba, Argentina. She is President of the International Association of Centres for Federal Studies, President Emeritus of the International Association of Constitutional Law, and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and a Foundation Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. She is a member of the Advisory Board of International IDEA and of the Program Committee of the Forum of Federations.

Surbakti, Ramlan

Indonesia

Ramlan Surbakti is Professor of political science at the department of political science at Airlangga University in Indonesia where he has taught, inter alia, comparative politics; political theory; political party, election and governmental system, classical and contemporary social theories since 1978. He also has extensive administrative experience having been Chair of the Department of Political and Social Sciences and other programmes such as the Doctoral and Master Programmes in Social Sciences, etc. Prof. Surbakti was a member of the team of experts that advised the Committee for Constitutional Amendment of the Peoples Consultative Assembly in 2001. He was deputy and acting chairman of the Indonesian Electoral Commission from 2001-2005 and 2005-2007 respectively. He was also a member of the drafting team that that drafted the Indonesian General Election and Political Parties laws, the Law on Local Government as well as the Law on the Composition and Functioning of Legislative Bodies. He has also been serving as the Senior Advisor on the Election at the Partnership for Governance Reform in Jakarta since 2008. Prof. Surbakti studied at Ohio University (MA) and Northern Illinois University (PhD).

Thaewanarumitkul, Prinya

Thailand

Prinya Thaewanarumitkul is Professor of constitutional law and Assiatant Rector of Thammasat University. He was the leader of the Peoples' Alliance for Democracy, a group that was active in bringing down the Thai Government in 2006. He holds an M. Jus from the University of Gottigen in Germany.

Villacorta, Wilfrido

The Phillipines

Dr. Wilfrido V. Villacorta is Professor Emeritus of De La Salle University. He was the Deputy Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) from 2003-2006, with the rank of Ambassador. He was responsible for external relations and functional cooperation, which included education, environment, labor, health, rural development and poverty reduction, women and youth.

Before his appointment to ASEAN, Dr. Villacorta was President of the Yuchengco Centre, a think tank based at his university. He was also Dean and Senior Vice-President of De La Salle University. He was a delegate to the 1987 Constitutional Commission which drafted the present Philippine Constitution. He has extensively published in the fields of international relations, comparative politics and political economy.

Dr. Villacorta completed his bachelor’s degree in Political Science at the University of the Philippines, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Politics, major in International Law and Relations, at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Welikala, Asanga

Sri Lanka

Asanga Welikala, LL.B, LL.M, is a Senior Researcher at the Legal and Constitutional Unit of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), Colombo, Sri Lanka. He was educated at St. Thomas College, Mount Lavinia and at the Laws School of the University of Hull, UK

In 2005-06, he was a Legal Officer at the Office of Constitutional Support of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) in Gaghdad, where his main substantuve responsibilities were in the areas relating to the federal schema of the new Iraqi constitution, fiscal and financial framework and resource sharing (including the oil and gas sector), and the rule of law and fundamental rights (in particular freedom of information). He has also held consutancies on a variety of constitutional and legal reform issues and peace processes in Sri Lanka, South and South East Asia region, Maldives, Thailand, Nepal and in Africa.

Warren, Christie

USA

Christie S. Warren is Professor of the Practice of International and Comparative Law and Director of the Comparative Legal Studies and Post-Conflict Justice Program at William and Mary Law School. She serves as the Curriculum Development Advisor for IDEA’s Constitution Building Programme. Dr Warren’s areas of expertise include Comparative Law, Comparative Constitutional Systems, Post-Conflict Justice and the Rule of Law, International Human Rights Law, Litigation in Civil Code Systems and Islamic Law. She has contributed to constitutional, judicial and legal development in 34 countries throughout Africa, Central and East Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and the Newly Independent States, the Balkans and East Timor. Dr Warren was named the 1998 – 1999 Supreme Court Fellow at the Supreme Court of the United States and served as an advisor to the Constitution building process in Kosovo.

Wibowo, Triyono

Indonesia

Triyono Wibowo is the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia. A career diplomat, Mr. Wibowo has worked with the Indonesian Foreign Service since 1980, following his graduation from Airlangga University Law School in 1979. He was appointed Secretary of the Ministry’s Directorate General for American and European Affairs as well as Head of the Personnel Division from 2002-2004, before being appointed Advisor to the Ministry’s Administration and Management Bureau. In 2005, Mr Wibowo was appointed to the position of Indonesia’s Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Vienna - from where he will be appointed Deputy Foreign Minister in 2008.

Rofi'ie, Achmad

Indonesia

Achmad Rofi’ie has been working with NAM Centre for South-South Technical Cooperation (NAM CSSTC) since February 2000. He had spent some years working in business circle especially in foreign direct investment-based integrated textile industries. He had been working for a national development NGO for more than twenty years operating activities in both urban and rural areas in the field of integrated community development schemes; also working with a regional NGO promoting development alternative schemes through structured network covering Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia. He was also delegation member of numerous high level meetings on technical cooperation among developing countries at different occasions and places/countries. He was awarded by the President of Indonesia in 1998 with ‘Satya Lancana Pembangunan’ (Medal of Honor for Development Dedication). 

Allen, Melanie

USA

Melanie Allen is an Assistant Programme Officer in the Constitution Building Processes programme of International IDEA. Her work focuses on policy development for international partnerships and constitution building. Prior to joining the CBP programme, she worked in the Political Parties programme on issues related to the internal functioning of political parties and on the South Asia region component. She later joined the Electoral Processes programme. She has held internships with IFES and the International Labour Organization.

Ms. Allen holds an A.B. in Government from Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts and completed coursework at the University of Geneva and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland.

Böckenförde, Markus

Germany

Markus Böckenförde is a Programme Officer for the Constitution Building Programme at International IDEA, Stockholm, Sweden. Before joining IDEA, he was the Head of the Africa Projects and a Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (MPIL) in Heidelberg for several years. In 2006 to 2007, he was seconded by the German Foreign Office to the Assessment and Evaluation Commission (AEC) in Sudan as its Legal Expert. The AEC has been mandated to support and supervise the implementation of the Sudanese Comprehensive Peace Agreement. He holds an LL.M from the University of Minnesota and a doctorate degree from the University of Heidelberg in Germany. He also holds the equivalent of a Bachelor degree in political science. He has published widely in the area of constitution building and is the co-author on several Max Planck Manuals used as training materials for Max Planck projects. He has worked as a consultant for UNDP, GTZ, the German Foreign Office, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. 

Ellis, Andrew

UK

Andrew Ellis is the Director of the Asia Pacific Programme of International IDEA. Prior to this, he was Director of Operations for the Institute. Before joining IDEA, Mr Ellis was Senior Adviser in Indonesia for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), responsible for constitutional and political law reform issues and the development of local government associations. He also served as Technical adviser on electoral issues in a variety of countries, including design of European Commission technical assistance to Cambodia for the 1998 election, coordination of registration observation for OSCE ODIHR in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and acting as European Commission supported chief technical adviser to the Palestinian Election Commission from 1994 to 1996. Mr Ellis was involved UK politics over 20 years through the Liberal Party and Liberal Democrats, including six years as Vice Chair of the Party and four years as Secretary-General. He is a writer on Indonesian constitutional and electoral matters.

Mr Ellis holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge, UK; a Master of Science degree in Statistics from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK; and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Law from Newcastle upon Tyne Polytechnic (now the University of Northumbria), UK.

Hedling, Nora

USA

Nora Hedling is a Research Assistant for International IDEA’s Constitution Building Processes Programme where she focuses primarily on the development of the Handbook on Constitution Building.  She has previously conducted research in the areas of election law and judicial reform. She has also worked in both the nonprofit and education sectors.

Ms. Hedling is a member of both the Minnesota State Bar and the American Bar Association. She holds a B.A. from Tufts University and a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School. Most recently, she received a Masters in European Law at Stockholm University where she was also awarded an Oxford University Press Law Prize.

Isberg, Jenny

The Phillipnes

Jenny Isberg is Administrative Assistant in the Constitution Building Processes Programme at International IDEA. Prior to joining IDEA, she was a translator in the Embassy of Tanzania in Stockholm for nearly six years. Ms Isberg’s experiences in the Philippines include Market Research Supervisor in Duty Free Philippines (1994-1997); Community Development Officer in an NGO which was providing livelihood projects to the victims of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1993; PR representative and newsletter contributor (later editor) in the Canadian-Filipino owned Marcopper Mining Company in 1991-1993; and Development Management Officer for a UNDP-funded project on poverty alleviation at the National Economic and Development Agency (NEDA).

Ms Isberg holds a Masters degree in Swedish Social Studies under the International Graduate Program of Stockholm University, 2000 and a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of the Philippines. She also attended the MBA Program at Ateneo de Manila University and has a Diploma in Journalism and Professional Writing.

Ismail – Clarke, Rosinah

Malaysia

Rosinah Ismail-Clarke is the Accounting and Administrative Officer the Constitution Building Processes Programme at International IDEA. Prior to joining the CBP Programme in 2006, she initially worked for the Democracy Assessment and Analysis Programme at International IDEA. Ms Ismail-Clarke has also held a number of positions in marketing, public relations and project management: Technical Assistant, Field Marketing Specialist and Marketing Programmes Specialist in a leading American IT company in Paris, as well as with the Malaysian Tourism Development in Paris.

Ms Ismail-Clarke holds an MBA with a specialization in management from Marshall University, USA, and a Bachelor of Science in Administrative Sciences from Southern Illinois University, USA.

Ngenge, Tayuh

Cameroon

Tayuh Ngenge is a jurist and Assistant Programme Officer in the Constitution Building Processes Programme at International IDEA. Previously, Mr. Ngenge worked with the Legal Summits Division of Marcusevans (Scandinavia) Ltd in Stockholm (2008). He has also worked with the Contracts and Procurement division of ARDET Solutions in Yaoundé, Cameroon (2003-2005).

Mr. Ngenge holds a Master of Law (LL.M) from Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, Hungary and a Certificate of Studies in Global Law from Emory (USA) and Central European Universities respectively. He also holds a Licence and Maîtrise en Droit degrees from the University of Yaoundé II (Soa-Cameroun).

Rikkilä, Leena

Finland

Leena Rikkilä is Programme Manager for the International IDEA’s Nepal Office. She started her political work with the 1980s solidarity movement for South Africa and with Finland's Nelson Mandela Reception Committee in the 1990s. She is former secretary-general of Finland's Advisory Board for Relations with Developing Countries, KESU, which monitors and assesses issues related to Finland’s development relations and global policy. Prior to KESU, she worked at the University of Tampere. She is a former chairperson (2001-2002) and current board member of Network Institute for Global Democracy (NIGD). Among her roles at NIGD, she co-ordinated projects promoting North-South dialogues on democracy and globalization and was involved in the World Social Forum process. She has also worked for the MOST (Management of Social Transformations) programme at Unesco, Paris. Her most recent publication, From a Global Market to Political Spaces (Helsinki May 2002), co-edited with Katarina Sehm-Patomäki, discusses Southern views on initiatives on global democracy. She has also written on matters related to gender and politicized religion in violent conflicts, especially in South-Asia. In 2004, she co-ordinated IDEA’s project on constitutional dialogues in Nepal.

Tesfagiorgis, Paulos

Eritrea

Paulos Tesfagiorgis is the Senior Advisor for Democracy and Constitution Building of International IDEA, based in the IDEA Pretoria Office. He has extensive teaching experience in family law, public international law and constitutional law at the University of Asmara, Eritrea (1993-200) and was involved in the drafting of the Eritrean Constitution as a member of the Constitution Commission of Eritrea (Executive Committee) in 1994-1997. Subsequently, he chaired/coordinated the Law Reform Programme (1997-1998) which was tasked with reviewing, revising and reforming all Eritrean laws inherited from Ethiopia and harmonize them with the new Eritrean Constitution. He was also involved in drafting the first election laws for Eritrea as a member of the Committee to Draft Election Laws for Eritrea (1997-2001). In 2004-2006, he was involved in the Iraqi constitution making process in Baghdad as a Senior Legal Officer with the UNDPA and UNAMI.

He graduated from Haile Sellassie I University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with LL.B.; received his LL.M. from McGill University, Montreal, Canada; completed course work towards MLI (Master of Legal Institutions) at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.

Wahiu, Winluck

Kenya

Winluck Wahiu is a lawyer who joined International IDEA in September 2006 and became the Project Manager for the Constitutional Building Processes Programme in October 2008. Previously (2001 -2005), he worked as the Programme Officer of the African Human Rights and Access to Justice Programme, a regional initiative of the Kenyan and Swedish Sections in collaboration with the Geneva Secretariat of the International Commission of Jurists. He managed the Programme’s work in 16 Africa countries to support the national implementation of international human rights standards through funding litigation and framing legal opinions on comparative constitutional law and practice for national litigation teams. He was involved in technical legal team advising the Kenyan bipartisan parliamentary consensus committee on the constitution making process leading to a referendum on the draft constitution in 2005. He was also involved in constitutional amendment process in Uganda and the legal drafting process in Swaziland after being invited in both cases by umbrella civil society organizations.

Mr. Wahiu holds an LL.B (Hons) degree from the University of Nairobi and a Diploma from Kenya School of Law.