The networking that takes place during the Human Rights Advocates Program (HRAP) continues even after the program ends.
Between 1989 and 2016, a total of 317 human rights advocates from 88 countries attended HRAP. The many alumni and friends of the program make up a growing and active network around the world. Members of the HRAP community continue to meet and support one another far beyond their time at Columbia University.
Dr. Theodorus Sandfort, Professor of Clinical Sociomedical Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health, has mentored many participants of HRAP over the years. While in Kenya in June 2017, he met with former mentees Esther Adhiambo (pictured left top) and Jeffrey Wambaya (pictured left below).
Esther Adhiambo is a 2014 HRAP advocate working on lesbian, bisexual, and queer rights. She is the Executive Director of Initiative for Equality and Non-Discrimination. Jeffrey Wambaya is a 2016 HRAP advocate working on health rights of men who have sex with men. He is a program manager at Ishtar-MSM.
Kemal Pervanic and Lana Ackar (pictured right) attended the 2012 and 2011 HRAPs respectively and have supported one another's work in Bosnia-Hercegovina. Kemal is the co-founder and director of Most Mira, a charity working in Bosnia Herzegovina to promote ethnic understanding among Bosnian youth. Lana is the co-President of Pravnik, a non-profit focused on rule of law and transitional justice in Southeastern Europe.
Click here to read more about HRAP Alumni Collaboration.
