Our Advocates

Connex Khomba (he/him) is a transgender man and a dedicated human rights researcher and activist from Malawi. Connex serves as the Advocacy and Grants Officer at the Ivy Foundation, an organization committed to advancing gender equality and advocating for the rights of LBQ women, intersex and transgender individuals. Connex led the development of the shadow report submitted by the Ivy Foundation for the 8th periodic review of Malawi by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which was presented to CEDAW during its 86th session in Geneva in 2023. Connex has also been instrumental in advocating for policy changes to recognize intersex and transgender individuals in order to introduce a third gender marker in Malawi.

As a volunteer human rights researcher at ReportOut, Connex has been contributing to global LGBTQI+ research. Connex was recently recruited as a data interpreter for a key populations bio-behavioral study and size estimation in Malawi. He is driven by principles of inclusivity, boldness and accountability, which guide his efforts to champion diversity and human rights in his community. He studied Journalism at the University of Malawi.

Connex is a participant in the 2024-25 Human Rights Advocates Program at the Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University.

Marine Kapanadze (she/her) is a human rights lawyer currently serving as the Civil and Political Rights Program Director at the Georgian Democracy Initiative, a local non-governmental organization in Georgia. She is actively engaged in the protection of different vulnerable groups including LGBTQ+ activists and journalists and has represented them before state bodies and courts. For more than nine years, she has been monitoring cases of discrimination, hate speech, and hate crimes; litigating strategic cases; and advocating for changes in legislation and practice. As a part of her job, she is also in charge of fundraising and communication with various stakeholders, including local and international organizations, state bodies, donors, etc. Moreover, she lectures at universities and conducts trainings on freedom of speech, national anti-discrimination mechanism, and the rule of law.

Marija Krstevska has been involved in the youth sector in North Macedonia in various capacities over the past 12 years, starting as a participant and volunteer and moving up the ranks as a project coordinator, moderator, facilitator and trainer. She is now the Secretary General of Center for Intercultural Dialogue (CID), a youth organization in Kumanovo. Marija plans to devote her time as the Secretary-General of CID to improving the position of young people in Kumanovo and the country in general, by providing more opportunities for active and quality involvement of young people in all processes that are tackling youth issues. She is also the President of the National Youth Council of Macedonia (NYCM), the largest youth representative body in North Macedonia, representing and advocating for youth and its 51 members (youth organizations, organizations for youth, unions, and youth wings of other organizations). She holds the LLM from Faculty of Law Iustinianus Primus in Skopje. 

Robert Kirenga is the Executive Director of the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders Uganda (NCHRD-U), a network organization focused on advocating and securing the rights of human rights defenders who have been threatened or are under attack. In addition to his work with NCHRD-U, Kirenga serves as a human rights trainer for the national human rights organizations, law enforcement agencies, civil society groups, and institutions of higher learning. Over the course of his career, Kirenga has worked in Uganda, Somalia, South Sudan and Zimbabwe.

Kirenga earned a Master of Arts in the Theory and Practice of Human Rights from the University of Oslo and a post-graduate diploma in International Law, and Organization from the Institute of Social Students at The Hague.

Raoul Kitungano is Coordinator of Justice Pour Tous (Justice For All), a local organization advocating for the respect of the UN Norms on the Responsibilities of Corporations and Business with regard to human rights and the rights of indigenous people. Kitungano advocates for the natives whose rights are not recognized by extractive companies and for the respect of the UN standards of the Responsibilities of Corporation and Business with regard to human rights. He is also a member of the thematic group on mining that guides policy design in the province of South Kivu. Kitungano ’s campaign against modern slavery is moving forward in Walungu and Mwenga districts. He has also been often called upon as trainer or expert on human rights issues at the national and international level. Kitungano has published several papers and research about the relationship between mining; armed conflict and human rights abuses in eastern DRC, Electoral Monitoring, Mining Code Reformation, Land Conflicts and community land Protection. Finally, Kitungano has also served as a speaker at several regional and international workshops and conferences dealing with natural resources in Africa’s Great Lakes.

—Updated by Claire Kozik, Program Assistant, Summer 2018

I learned in my childhood that rights are never given. As the second of four children, I learned about survival of the fittest. I have applied this lesson to all aspects of my life.

I experienced discrimination in the family, at the community level, in religious institutions, and at the work place because of my gender, ethnicity, and class. Instead of accepting discrimination, I have always found alternatives.

From the time I became aware of these discriminatory ideologies and attitudes, I started raising my voice strategically. The first step was to seek a strong network with other women who have had similar experiences or concerns. By taking a preventive approach through various activities such as awareness raising, capacity building, and skills development, I have started to address the issues of gender-based violence faced by the Adivasi (Indigenous) women, focusing more on the strategic needs of Adivasi women to strengthen them from within. It’s with passion that I seek to empower Adivasi women because the outcome also gives me a sense of empowerment.

When I first got information about HRAP, I thought this was exactly what I needed. For me, joining HRAP was like turning the impossible into a reality because each part of the program has had a deep impact. The best element of HRAP is that it connects us with other advocates and gives opportunities to impart the knowledge and experience of diverse human rights advocacy efforts. When I return home, I’ll pass on the knowledge and information both practically and theoretically.

I did not start out working in human rights. All through my schooling, I was thinking I would go into the banking sector or other corporate sector, and never did it cross my mind that I’d end up working in a civil society organization. I was still in college when I came across an organization that was coming to the community to do trainings, and I was motivated to join them as I believed in their mission. I became attached to the work, specifically the work on climate change, because I could see food security issues in the community. I saw a mine company arrive, extract and leave--with no benefit to the community whatsoever. We wanted to stop the mining and to have a participatory approach with the community to discuss how it would impact them. I also saw these communities stressed by lack of water access as an impact of climate change, having to walk long distances for little water.

I was drawn to HRAP because it pulls in a lot of people from different backgrounds. I really wanted to draw on the experiences from others in the field to build up my work. I especially wanted to be able to bring human rights arguments into the discussions with developers about how they are planning their projects because in our work with the indigenous movement, this has created a lot of challenges.

I’ve really enjoyed the workshops offered by HRAP, especially the fundraising workshops and the one on stress management. These workshops helped me to see things in a different way and to see that things don’t have to be complicated. It’s been an amazing experience taking classes at Columbia University—it’s made me stretch my limits and my understanding. I really enjoyed my class on Environment Conflict Resolution—it helped me to understand the aspect of conflict in relation to natural resources, climate change and how you can use that to add to your case with policymakers. Within the international process, I think my understanding of the human rights and development nexus will enable me to better engage with the international advocacy. Before HRAP, I was doing some work on documenting elders, climate change and traditional knowledge, and how communities were adapting. I didn’t know that was considered oral history until I participated in the oral history workshops through HRAP.  I realized I’m already doing that! I think HRAP has made me realize how much more I could do to make my work better, and I think I have the knowledge and confidence now to really continue with the work when I return home.

When I get back to Kenya, my organization will host sessions where I’ll be transmitting what I learned from the workshops and from the advocacy trainings on media, and I’ll also be incorporating what I learned here into my work with the local indigenous women’s leadership school.

February 2017 Update: In November 2016, Edna was offered the opportunity to participate in the two year SGP Indigenous Peoples Fellowship Initiative at the Global Environment Facility. This fellowship is aimed towards offering Edna support as she builds leadership skills and learns new strategies for better engaging in climate change policy and initiative implementation at national levels. She was also selected in 2016 as an advisory board member to the International Indigenous Womens’ Forum (FIMI) to provide leadership guidance for Africa region.

Musola Cathrine Kaseketi joined in HRAP in 2013, 11 years after founding Vilole Images Productions, a nonprofit dedicated to developing the film industry in Zambia, and using it as a platform to promote the arts and disability rights. The cause itself is quite personal for Kaseketi. When she was 18 months old, a medical mistake damaged her left leg, leaving her unable to walk without difficulty for the rest of her life. Enduring mistreatment by her stepmother in her early life and by her community overall, Kaseketi developed an incredible determination to succeed in spite of hardship.

During her time at HRAP, Kaseketi’s drive allowed her to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by the program. She states: “There is so much knowledge I acquired from participating in HRAP that has been useful to my work.” Kaseketi was further inspired after hearing the kind of work that her fellow advocates were involved in, and still keeps in contact with them to this day. In fact, one of the instructors whose workshop Kaseketi attended while at Columbia University, Melissa Warnke, became her mentor. Apart from meeting colleagues that would be an important part of her network, the program gave Kaseketi extremely memorable experiences. She writes: “My greatest memory is being one of the speakers at the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School during the symposium on disability rights. The symposium was open to scholars, practitioners and the public, and highlighted the backdrops of rural poverty and educational underdevelopment as barriers to inclusion and to education for persons with disabilities. Inclusion in relation to disability, especially women and girls with disabilities, is a critical issue in some developing countries, thus this meant much to me.”

Kaseketi is as motivated as ever to continue paving the way for change for people with disabilities. As of the summer of 2018, she completed the feature Smoke and produced four short films, Long Wait for Justice, Lwito-Light, Tuso-Help and Music Activity, which will be used in awareness campaigns. In 2016 she hosted the first Zambian Conference on Gender-Based Violence and Disability after doing community screenings and workshops in six provinces across the country; the theme for 2016 was “Awareness Raising through Film: Addressing and Preventing Gender Based Violence and Discrimination among Women and Girls with Disabilities.” Though it can be difficult to cope with the pressure of being Zambia’s first female film director and an inspiration to so many people, this only pushes Kaseketi to keep fighting for a cause that is deeply important to her.

—Article by Gabrielle Isabelle Hernaiz-De Jesus in 2016

—Updated by Claire Kozik, Program Assistant, Summer 2018

For Hasina Khan, the pursuit of human rights developed from personal experience. She was born into a family and community that valued religion and traditional conservatism. As the fourth daughter in a very traditionally conservative family, she explains, “I was the first woman educated and the first non-believer in compulsory marriage for women. The traditional family demands marriage for women and does not accept a non-heterosexual person.” In rejecting these norms, she has had to separate herself from her family and her community, forcing her to fend for herself in order to pursue a full education and a more free life. Khan found strength and support in the grassroots women’s rights movement more than 20 years ago, especially at the organization Awaaz-e-Niswaan (Voices of Women). “Through Awaaz, I met and saw lots of women with similar experiences and in similar situations as my own.” Since then, Khan has been working with women who struggle with the traditional and religious norms that do not welcome them. “People have the freedom to take a stand and say that this is my choice,” Khan says. “If you are aware but silent this is problematic because the laws will not change.” While change has been slow, she readily speaks about the lessons her career in human rights has taught her. “It’s not magic that happens and makes change,” she says. “I expect not for today, but for tomorrow.” As a testament to her words, she explains that her nieces are talking openly to her and looking to her for guidance in their own challenges. Her community has also recognized the success she has achieved in her career. “They look to me now because of my awareness and successes. I continue my work for them and other women. I can’t jump in to say the traditional family and laws are not correct, but I can make the choice and help other women to make theirs.”

Before participating in the Human Rights Advocates Program in 2009, Kaplan had worked for nearly ten years in Bangkok as the co-founder and Policy and Development Director at the Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group (TTAG). When asked about her experience at HRAP, Kaplan writes, “I gained practical knowledge and skills that built upon my human rights work in Thailand and globally, and I made contacts with extraordinary advocates who continue to inspire and motivate me to continue my work.”

The Human Rights Advocates Program is a four-month program at Columbia University that provides participants with the resources to learn and grow as human rights advocates. Advocates are required to audit at least two graduate-level courses at Columbia University. Kaplan writes, “The opportunity to engage and study with prestigious human rights and law professors expanded my knowledgebase and shaped my perspective on human rights.” In addition to graduate coursework in law and human rights, HRAP supplemented her human rights work in Thailand through advocacy trainings, valuable workshops and networking opportunities. In reflecting on her the way that HRAP influenced her work, she concludes, “The extraordinary peers and expert instructors and various human rights leaders we met through the program continue to be one of my greatest inspirations, source of solidarity and support, and a sense of community in a time when human rights are under attack around the world. “

Since her participation in HRAP, Kaplan continued to work with Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group (TTAG) in Thailand, helping to bring HIV-related services to highly marginalized and criminalized at-risk populations, including people who use drugs and people in prison. She also helped establish a global coalition to expand access to the hepatitis C cure while working for Treatment Action Group (TAG) in New York. I then became Executive Director of Asia Catalyst, where for six years I worked on building human rights documentation and advocacy capacity for grassroots groups in China and Southeast Asia, mainly Myanmar. Kaplan was selected to be in the Human Rights group of the Global Fund's Technical Review Panel (TRP), reviewing country applications - and eventually was elected to Human Rights Focal Point in her last serving year. After that, she has been doing work for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, for example evaluating country programs to remove human rights barriers for people at high risk for HIV/AIDS, including LGBTQ people, sex workers, people who use drugs, and others.

She has co-authored numerous publications in collaboration with the University of British Columbia Urban Health Research Institute on barriers to healthcare access and problems of police abuse for people who inject drugs in Thailand. She has given numerous presentations, including a plenary at the International Conference on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) in 2011. She was recently selected to serve on the Human Rights Reference Group for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM).

Kaplan is a recipient of the 2009 John M. Lloyd Foundation HIV/AIDS Leadership Award, and the Health GAP Founders Award.

Khan is a 2002 graduate of the Human Rights Advocates Program from India. Following her time with HRAP, Khan returned to India and worked in the state of Gujarat with women survivors of sexual violence, fighting to get the strategic use of sexual violence during the 2002 unrest in Gujarat recognized and addressed in order to secure justice for survivors. Khan went on to complete a Masters in Law from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London in 2005 through an international fellowship program of the Ford Foundation.

Khan then went on to work with the United Nations Mission in Darfur from 2005-2007 on documenting and setting up remedial measures for sexual and gender-based violence in collaboration with government authorities. Starting in 2009, Khan worked in the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq with the UN on post- conflict reconstruction, specifically supporting the development of legislative frameworks and the issue of conflict-related detainees.

Khan currently works as a Human Rights Officer and team leader for the women’s rights team of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. Her duties include monitoring, reporting and building capacity of local institutions on women’s rights and gender. She also works on the implementation of UN Security Council 1325 and subsequent UN Security Council Resolutions on women’s participation in political and peace processes.

When asked about the impact that HRAP had on her capacity and skills, Khan says "The exposure I had through the program broadened my understanding of international human rights law and advocacy tools. The greatest benefit was the exposure to a different education system which helped me with pursuing further education. It also exposed me to a broader global scenario than only my own context. I learned a lot in terms of issues in other parts of the world and advocacy and campaign methods being used, and I learned about formulating my arguments using international human rights law."