Physician (specialist in Family and Community Medicine), NOHA Master’s in Humanitarian Action, and PhD in International and Intercultural Studies from the University of Deusto (Bilbao, Spain).
Visiting professor at the Human Rights Institute of the University of Deusto (and member of its Advisory Board). Coordinator of modules on humanitarian protection and the protection of human rights defenders in several master’s programs.
Co-Director of the NOHA Advanced Courses on Humanitarian Protection.
Independent consultant, researcher, and trainer on protection-related topics (including humanitarian protection, protection of human rights defenders, and protection in peacebuilding processes) for numerous NGOs, various United Nations agencies (UNHCHR, WFP, UNDP), and DG ECHO (European Commission).
Director of the academic journal Iter: Journal of Protection Studies (in development).
Peer Reviewer for the Journal of Humanitarian Action.
Former Senior Advisor for Protection International (Brussels) with experience in health, humanitarian action, and protection projects in several countries (El Salvador, Sri Lanka, Guatemala, and Colombia), as well as in numerous short-term missions across the Americas, Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Union regions.
Expert witness for the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on public policies for the protection of human rights defenders and author of several books, book chapters, and articles on protection-related issues.
Examples of previous consultancies and collaborations:
About humanitarian protection:
- Co-author of DG ECHO/European Commission Humanitarian Protection Policy (2016, with the IECAH/Inspire Consortium)
- Trainer on humanitarian protection for the Danish Refugee Council, the UN World Food Programme and others in various countries (between 2005 and 2008).
- Trainer on humanitarian protection for DG ECHO staff and humanitarian organisations in more than twenty countries (between 2013 and 2021, with the IECAH/Inspire Consortium).
- Systematisation of DG ECHO’s piloting of protection indicators, and development of the guides and self-completion online courses (2021-2024).
- Development of institutional protection policy for several international humanitarian organisations.
- Consultancies for DG ECHO (with IECAH/Inspire Consortium) on:
- The use of cash transfers for protection (2023-24)
- Cost-efficiency analysis of protection projects (2024)
- An inclusive and intersectional approach to protection (2024).
- Postgraduate courses: Coordinator and lecturer of the Protection Programmes Module of the NOHA Master’s Degree in Humanitarian Action (University of Deusto) (since 2015).
About the protection of human rights defenders:
- Co-author of the first existing manual on the protection of human rights defenders, and of successive manuals and guides on the subject.
- Trainer on protection in numerous projects in different countries.
- Co-author of the Principles on risk analysis and protection plans (2021).
- Trainer, advisor and policy development for the HRD protection mechanisms of the governments of Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, and others (as well as for civil society organisations in these countries), with the OHCHR, UNDP, and others.
- Assessment/evaluation of the Intersectorial Protection Mechanism of the Government of Peru (2024) (for the UNHCHR Office in Peru).
- Expert opinions for the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on national policies for the protection of HRDs.
- Postgraduate courses: Coordinator and lecturer of the Module on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders in the Erasmus Mundus Human Rights: Policy and Practice Master’s Degree (University of Deusto) (since 2022).
Others:
- Training and advice on humanitarian protection for the UN Mission for South Sudan (UNMISS) (2017).
