Page
Our team
Adah Ashikomera, Intern, MRG Africa
Adah is a project management professional working with the Kenyan government under the energy sector, certified monitoring and evaluation expert with extensive experience in infrastructural donor-funded projects, behavioural science and economic empowerment. Adah is currently pursuing an MSc in Development Studies at Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology in Kenya, with a keen interest in gender inclusion, human rights and development economics.
Email: adah.ashikomera@minorityrights.org
Adeniyi Adewumi, Digital Communications Assistant
Adeniyi is a digital communication specialist with robust knowledge and skills in content creation, developmental communication, project management, and networking. Before joining MRG, he served as the Digital Communications Officer for Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, where he worked on various advocacy campaigns across Africa, with the most noticeable one being the tobacco control campaign. He holds a Master’s degree in digital campaigning and content creation from Queen Margaret University.
Ágnes Dinnyés, Roma Programmes Assistant, MRG Europe
Ágnes Dinnyés is a Roma Programmes Assistant at MRG Europe. She holds an MPhil degree from the University of Oslo in the Theory and Practice of Human Rights and has previous experience in research and human rights organizations.
Agnes Kabajuni, Managing Director, MRG Africa
Agnes is MRG’s Africa Regional Manager. She has over 16 years of experience in the field of human rights and has extensively worked in research and advocacy, both on international and national levels. Her area of expertise includes cultural rights, women’s rights and ethnic minority and indigenous rights.
Andrea Mari, Monitoring & Evaluation Coordinator
Andrea is a Monitoring & Evaluation specialist with experience in participatory and quantitative methods, logframe design and capacity building. Before joining MRG, he worked as an M&E Specialist in Tanzania (with VSO), in Uganda, and at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS). He holds a Master’s degree in International Education from the University of Sussex and a PhD in International Development from the University of Rome.
Andrea Spitálszky, Legal Programme Coordinator
Andrea joined MRG in April 2017. Since then, she has been running various projects related to discrimination and countering cyber hate against Roma in Central and Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans. Currently, she is coordinating the PRESS, COACH and Roma employment programmes covering Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary. She is a Hungarian lawyer specialized in human rights and international law. Andrea previously worked as a Legal Officer at the Mental Disability Advocacy Center (currently, Validity Foundation) and as a Research Consultant for the European Network Against Racism and Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund.
Email: andrea.spitalszky@minorityrights.org@minorityrights.org
Angelica Ricaurte Villalobos, Regional Adviser for Latin America
Angelica joined MRG in January 2023 as Regional Adviser for Latin America. She is an Afro-Colombian human rights lawyer and activist with over 10 years of professional experience in the field of human rights. Before joining MRG, she worked as Human Trafficking Legal Consultant at Justice Education Society and Legal Consultant for The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights, from where she conducted strategic litigation to present cases of Afro-Colombian human rights defenders before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Angelica has also served as legal adviser for several territorial entities in Colombia, and she was legal intern at the public Defender’s Office of the Tippecanoe County Courthouse, in Indiana, USA. She holds a LL.M. from The Pennsylvania State University where she concentrated on ‘Law, Race and Equity’ as a Fulbright fellow.
Anna Alboth, Media Officer (Europe)
Anna coordinated the Media, Minorities and Migration programme, which provided training for 200+ journalists on European border countries. She is responsible for contact with the media, media programmes and MRG Sofa Talks. She is also a journalist publishing human rights stories and a human rights defender. She co-organized different initiatives such as the Civil March For Aleppo, European Youth Press and Grupa Granica. Anna is based in Berlin.
Antonio García Cazorla, Europe Programmes Assistant
Antonio joined MRGE in April 2023 as Europe Programmes Assistant. He is a psychologist with a master’s degree in equality and gender. Before joining MRGE, Antonio worked in diverse international organizations, agencies, bodies and NGOs focused on promoting human rights and gender equality in Europe and Latin America. Some of his experiences include working with the Council of Europe, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) and the UN Women Americas and the Caribbean Regional Office.
Arroi Baraket, Tunisia Communication Officer
Arroi is MRG’s Tunisia Communication Officer. She joined MRG in November 2020. She previously worked as a journalist for television and online media, working mainly on issues dealing with economic and social rights, women’s rights, minority rights and migrants’ rights. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Gender Studies.
Berihu Mohammed, Director of Finance and Administration
Bethany Partridge, Assistant Finance Officer
Bethany is Assistant Finance Officer for MRG’s London Office. She joined MRG in January 2021. Bethany is currently training for the AAT and also works as a classical musician.
Billy Rwothungeyo, Africa Media Officer
Billy is the Media Officer (Africa) with MRG, based in the Africa Regional Office. Billy comes from a media background, having worked as a journalist in Uganda for nearly ten years. He has a special interest in the extractives industries, environmental change & justice and public policy. He holds an MSc in Communication for Development from the University of Reading’s Graduate Institute of International Development, Agriculture and Economics.
Bob Mbabazi, Programme Assistant, Uganda & Rwanda
Bob Mbabazi, from Uganda, joined MRG as part of the Disparity to Dignity project and now works on the related ‘Realizing Rights for All’ project in Uganda and Rwanda. He is interested in community empowerment which he continues to do through training, dialogue and advocacy. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Development Economics from Makerere University and a Postgraduate Diploma in Project Management from the Uganda Management Institute. He has over five years of experience in education and health programme and project implementation, monitoring and evaluation and management.
Brahim Abdellahi, Finance & Administration Officer
Carl Söderbergh, Director of Policy & Advocacy
Carl joined MRG in 2009, initially as its Director of Policy & Communications. He assumed his current role in 2021. He has previously worked for Amnesty International (Sweden) and UNHCR. He assisted in opening Amnesty’s office in Afghanistan as well as conducted numerous research missions for the organization to a variety of countries. He worked for UNHCR in Pakistan and Sudan, before joining its Nordic & Baltic regional office. Immediately prior to joining MRG, Carl was Visiting Scholar at the law faculty of Lund University in Sweden, focussing on the climate crisis and human rights.
Cécile Clerc, Director of Development & Partnerships
Cécile has been running MRG’s Development & Partnerships team since 2007. She has extensive experience in fundraising with a specific focus on statutory fundraising.
Cecilia Bisogni, CREID Assistant
Cecilia joined MRG in February 2020 as CREID Programme Assistant. She currently works as Legal Programmes Assistant in addition to her initial role. As a doctoral researcher she previously focused on linguistic minorities and statelessness in South Asia. She holds a BA in Islamic studies and a MA in cultural studies. She is now based in London.
Chelsea Gonzalez, Legal Project Assistant
Chelsea is a human rights lawyer based in France. Before joining MRG, she worked on legal advocacy projects for asylum seekers rights and the rights of religious and ethnic minorities. Her legal research has focused on non-discrimination law and freedom of expression cases in regional human rights courts.
Christine Apio, Finance and Administration Officer, MRG Africa
Christine is MRG Africa’s Finance & Administration Officer. Among other things, she prepares financial accounts for Management, donors and auditors and offers finance and administrative support to MRG’s partners.
Claire Thomas, Co-Executive Director
Claire became MRG’s Co-Deputy Director in March 2023. She supports programmes, regional offices, partnership development and evaluation, and designing and implementing innovative interventions to achieve full minority rights and equality. Personal highlights include the innovative minority inclusion audit approach to bring issues facing minority community members to the forefront and a programme that ultimately brought street theatre against racism performances to 100,000 audience members across the Middle East and North Africa. Claire has a particular interest in cultural programmes, advocacy strategies and techniques, gender, intersectional discrimination, hate speech, and the Sustainable Development Goals (Agenda 2030) and, linked to this, disaggregated data.
Daphine Kansiime, Finance & Administration Assistant, MRG Africa
Donia Saadi, Tunisia Coordinator
Donia is the coordinator for Tunisia. She previously worked for Columbia University (Tunis office) and the Institut de Recherche sur le Maghreb Contemporain. Recipient of the prestigious College of Europe ENP Scholarship and the IRMC Research Fellowship, Donia has an academic background in Anthropology and European Affairs with a particular interest in migration and sexual and reproductive health. In addition to her studies, she has participated in several trainings related to human rights mechanisms, European law and psychosocial first aid. Through volunteer work, for many years, she has been advocating for equal access to health and education.
Emna Gelacia, MENA Assistant
Emna joined MRG in June 2020. She previously volunteered for a festival on intersectional feminism and organised human libraries in Tunisia to grant visibility to minorities and increase tolerance and understanding among different groups. In the US, she volunteered for the ‘Stew Fest’, a Native American festival, and took a class on Gender and Indigenous representation. She is always eager to seize opportunities that help her grow her knowledge about minorities and indigenous people. At MRG, she is happy to work on Tunisia project to fight against all types of discrimination in the country and on NORAD project to address freedom of religion and belief in 7 MENA countries.
Eunice Olembo, Africa Legal Officer
Eunice Olembo joined MRG in July 2018 as the Advocacy Officer Kenya in the landmark African Court ruling on the Ogiek Case. She is now working as the Legal Officer East and Central Africa in MRG Africa. Before joining MRG, she worked with the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) and the Refugee Consortium of Kenya (RCK).
Félicien Balikunda, Capacity Building Officer, Africa
Felicien joined MRG in July 2011 as Programme Assistant in Africa Office. He is now working as Capacity Building Officer. Before joining MRG, he worked with Uganda Red Cross Society and GTZ as Education Assistant and Programme Assistant respectively in a refugee settlement in Uganda.
Fitra Jehwoh, Thailand Programme Coordinator
Fitra coordinates the EU-funded Inclusive Peacebuilding in Thailand’s Southern Border Province programme, in a conflict area where she developed her learning experiences and contribution to peacebuilding, conflict resolution and the inclusion of marginalized groups. Before joining MRG, she worked as a Programme Officer for the EU-funded ‘Violence Against Women Project in Southern Border Provinces’ at Oxfam in Thailand and as a Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Specialist for the USAID-funded ‘Thailand Counter Trafficking in Persons Project’ at Winrock International. Fitra holds a BA in Social Science (International Studies) and a joint Erasmus Mundus degree MA in Global Studies – A European Perspective and MSc in Global Economic History.
Geoffrey Kerosi, East Africa Health Education Coordinator
Geoffrey coordinates health and education projects in East Africa. Previously he worked as a human rights defender conducting policy research, strengthening capacity of community partners, social network building and participating in positive dialogues with duty bearers in Kenya.
Geofrey Sabiiti, Africa Conflict Project Coordinator
Geofrey has ten years of experience working with International organizations on human rights protection, gender and advocacy programming. He is currently working with Minority Rights Group as Africa Programme Coordinator. Geofrey is providing technical support to partners in Africa and technically oversees the implementation of prevention and resolving conflicts through Early Warning Mechanism System (EWMS) as a sustainable way to prevent identity conflicts. He is also coordinating and taking charge of quality control measures and relevant logistics of the annual peace conferences in partnership with line ministries and partners in the host countries. He organised Multi-Country Peace conferences in Cameroon and Uganda on Ethnic Conflict Prevention Using Early Warning Mechanisms in Sub-Saharan Africa organised by MRG in partnership with local partners from a variety of countries.
Gergely Balog, Europe Finance Officer
Gergely joined MRG Europe to strengthen the Finance team in June 2023. He is an economist graduated from the Budapest University of Economics. For many years, he was working in the finance sector as an auditor. He previously worked as a Finance Officer in an EU project for the Roma Education Fund. He is engaged in human rights and minorities.
Giulia Di Mattia, Administrator & Fundraising Support
Giulia joined MRG in March 2010. Before joining MRG, she worked at the British Red Cross, Council of Europe, UN OHCHR and Amnesty International. Giulia has been involved in human rights work in Kenya, as well as indigenous and minority capacity building. She has more than 15 years of experience in the field of human rights.
Glenn Payot, UN Advocacy Consultant
Glenn has been representing MRG at the United Nations since 2013. Previously, he worked as delegate to the UN for the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and as UN advocacy officer for the coalition Impact Iran.
Gözde Aslanhan, Turkey Programme Officer
Gözde joined MRG in February 2021. She has worked in various organizations for minority youth and women since 2009. She organised many initiatives, conferences as well as trainings on human rights and minority issues. She is a minority fellow at the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Global Politics and Societal Changes.
Hafsa Begum Ali, Human Resources Assistant
Hafsa joined MRG in November 2021. Before doing so, Hafsa worked in the charity sector for four and a half years, most recently in a youth leadership organisation. Prior to working in the charity sector, Hafsa also worked for the NHS, mainly the primary health care sector. She holds a degree in Human Resource Management and has a keen interest in developing her HR knowledge and putting it into practice.
Henda Maarfi, Tunisia Programmes Officer
Henda served as the Trade Union and Social Movements Programme Officer through the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Tunisia Office as well as the FES MENA Youth Study Manager. She interned in Washington DC with World Learning in the Institutional Strengthening and Inclusive Development branch. There she worked to identify Global Snapshots and international boosters and barriers of minority groups. Through this role, she developed and led workshops about gender for an international audience and conducted research on Countering Violent Extremism in Tunisia. In March 2018, Henda was a panellist at the first side event of the government of Tunisia during the UN-CSW62 in New York as a WAGGGS delegate. She has served as a youth delegate to numerous conferences and training sessions focused on human rights, the MENA Region, women’s empowerment and youth organizations. She holds a BA in Economic and Management Sciences, and a MA in Marketing and International Commerce both from the High Institute of Management of Tunis. In 2016, she gained a Leaders for Democracy Fellowship Certificate from the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia in the US.
Email: henda.maarfi@minorityrights.org
Ifra Asad, Grants Manager, MRG Europe
Ifra Asad joined MRG in 2018, with prior experience in in civil society organizations concerning women’s rights and children’s education in Karachi and Islamabad, Pakistan. After extensive work in the South Asian region with MRG, particularly on the topic of religious minorities, she is now working as Grants Manager for the Central and Eastern Europe region, and is based in Budapest, Hungary.
Email: ifra.asad@minorityrights.org
Jad El Dilati, MENA Programme Coordinator
Jad is the Middle East and North Africa Programme Coordinator. He joined MRG in August 2023. He has experience in the field of human rights having worked with civic organizations that focus on freedom of speech and democracy in Lebanon in particular, and the levant in general. Jad holds an MA in Conflict, Governance and International Development from the University of East Anglia where he was the recipient of the Siren Associates Scholarship.
Email: jad.eldilati@minorityrights.org
Janis Volberts, MARIO Latvia Liaison Officer, MRG Europe
Janis joined MRG in January 2023. He was Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow (2018-2019) at Boston University and holds two Master’s degrees – one in Project Management from Boston University and a second in Law and Finance from Riga Graduate School of Law. Currently, Janis is also Head of the Innovation Centre at the Transport and Telecommunication Institute. His previous roles include State Secretary at the Ministry of Education and Science of Latvia, Executive Director of Transparency International Latvia and Head of Investment Attraction and the Export Promotion Division at the Ministry of Economics. He has led and acted as an expert in several extensive evaluations and research projects for the European Commission and other international organizations.
Jeanne Deniau, Research Intern
Jeanne holds a Master’s Degree in International Law and Foreign Languages and intends to continue in doctoral studies. She wrote her Master’s comparative law thesis on indigenous peoples’ land rights under French and Kenyan law. To do so, she lived in Kenya for a few months, where she worked for a local NGO representing minorities and indigenous peoples.
Joshua Castellino, Co-Executive Director
Joshua Castellino is the Co-Executive Director of Minority Rights Group International and Professor of International & Comparative Law at Derby University, United Kingdom. He founded the School of Law at Middlesex University London (2012) serving as Dean until stepping down to move to MRG in 2018. He holds visiting academic positions at the College of Europe, (Poland), Oxford University (UK), & the Irish Centre for Human Rights, Galway, (Republic of Ireland) and serves pro bono on governing boards of civil society organisations in Germany, India, Netherlands, Hungary and UK. Born and brought up in Mumbai, he worked as a journalist for Indian Express Group in the 1990s, before winning a Chevening Scholarship and completing his PhD in International Law in 1998. He has published eight books and over a hundred articles on international law & human rights over twenty-five years in academia, including the Minority Rights Series published by Oxford University Press. He engages with questions of minority and indigenous peoples’ rights at inter-governmental, parliamentary, apex courts, bar associations, civil society organisations and Universities in over fifty countries. He participated in the European Union China Diplomatic & Expert Dialogue on Human Rights (2002-2006) and was appointed Chair, by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the 8th Forum on Minority Issues (2015), an inter-governmental dialogue with civil society under the auspices of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Jude Thaddeus Ssebuliba, Partnerships officer, MRG Africa
Jude has a wealth of experience in building and sustaining partnerships and advocating for the rights of the poor, marginalized and neglected in society. He has a background in human rights and education, governance and policy analysis in agriculture, livelihoods and health promotion sectors in both crisis and stable environments. Jude is passionate about Inclusive and Sustainable Development initiatives including making governance systems work for everyone including the not-yet recognized.
Julie Barrière, Legal Programmes Coordinator
Julie is a Human Rights lawyer with project management certification. Before joining MRG, she worked on social development programmes in Egypt. She also organised advocacy and lead programmes for two years in Uganda for gender equality, women empowerment and for the abolition of the death penalty with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Karol Wilczyński, MARIO Poland Liaison Officer, MRG Europe
Karol joined MRG in December 2022. With a PhD in Islamic Philosophy, he is part of the MARIO project supporting minority organizations in Poland. He is an educator and communication expert and provides global education, media and capacity-building training. He supports victims of Islamophobia and works on combating Islamophobia in social and media spaces. Karol has worked with people on the move and forced migration for the past eight years. Currently, he lectures on Migration, Islamophobia and Politics of Fear at the Jagiellonian University, Kraków.
Kat Hall, Human Resources Manager
Kat Hall is MRG International’s HR Manager. She has been with us since February 2020. In a past life, she worked in communications, publishing and websites, mainly for a mental health charity. She then re-trained into HR and after a few years, came to MRG.
Email: kat.hall@minorityrights.org
Laia Pau Romaní, Development, Partnerships and MEL Manager
Laia has worked as Development, Partnerships and MEL Manager in our Development and Partnerships department since February 2019. She is in charge of identifying and securing statutory funding for MRG’s programmes and managing the awarded grants by promoting and maintaining relations with programme partners and funding institutions. Laia provides support across all thematic and geographic teams. As part of her tasks, she also supports expanding partnerships with trusts & foundations, and the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of MRG’s programmes and strategy. She is also engaged in providing in-house training and technical advice focused on project development, donor compliance and M&E.
Laia has extensive experience in statutory funding, project management, grant management and M&E in Non-Governmental and International Organizations. She has more than 10 years of experience working in the field of human rights, minority rights and intersectional justice, in projects involving research, awareness-raising, capacity-building, advocacy and ground monitoring work, with field experience in the Western Balkans, in Kosovo. Her previous employers include the OSCE, the European Commission and the European Centre for Minority Issues. She holds a master’s degree in History and a master’s degree in International Human Rights Law and Democratization. Laia is certified in M&E by the ILO.
Lauren Avery, Minority & Disability Intersectional Officer
Lauren co-ordinates the Minority/Disability Intersectional Discrimination project, working with disability rights activists from indigenous and minority communities in project countries to engage in local, national and international advocacy. She holds a Masters in East Asian Development, a Masters by Research in Thai/Disability Studies and is currently undertaking doctoral research on disability rights activism at the University of York.
Lilian Pons, Finance Officer (Donor Reporting)
Loïc Druenne, Digital Communications Consultant
After graduating in human rights from the London School of Economics and Political Science, Loïc worked for Le Monde des Religions in Paris (France) before joining the MRG team as a Media Consultant, then as Digital Communications Officer and finally as Digital Communications Consultant. He is specialized in cultural heritage and religious minorities.
Lydia Scott, Fundraising Development Coordinator
Lydia joined MRG in 2020 as an Individual Giving Fundraiser. Prior to this, Lydia worked in both local and UK-wide charities and across several fundraising streams. She has a long held interest in equality and human rights and holds a degree in History and Politics from Nottingham University.
Email: lydia.scott@minorityrights.org
Mays Al-Juboori, Senior Middle East Officer
Mays is a human rights professional with expertise in conflict, post-conflict, and international Law. At MRG, she works toward building civil society capacity in the Middle East, specialising on Iraq. Mays works closely with local activists on national policy and law, including draft legislation on women and minority rights. She authors human rights publications and provides regular consultation and briefings to governments and international agencies on gender, minority rights, the situation of human rights defenders and internally displaced people. She holds a qualification in Law LLB.
Mayya Kelova, DIVE Programme Coordinator
Mayya joined MRG in November 2021 to coordinate the ‘Diversity: Impact on Vaccine Equality’ (DIVE) programme. Previously she worked for the United Nations, private companies, non-profit organizations, and media outlets in the US, Europe, and Eurasia. She holds an MA in Human Rights from the Department of Legal Studies of the Central European University and a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications from the American University in Bulgaria.
Menka Sandrasagren, Legal and Policy & Advocacy Administrative Assistant
Menka graduated from SOAS University London with an MSc in Violence, Conflict and Development (Palestinian Pathway). She joined MRG in February 2020 as an intern where she assisted on the Tunisia project and became a Research Assistant on a project on the impact of Covid-19 on modern slavery worldwide. She is now an Administration Assistant for the Directorate, Legal and Policy & Advocacy departments. Her areas of expertise are in MENA politics and sexual minorities.
Mihaela Cojocaru, Communications and Fundraising Administrative Assistant
Mihaela joined MRG in 2020 as a research assistant for a global evaluation project and is currently the communications and fundraising administrative assistant. She holds a master’s degree in Globalisation and Development and a Bachelors in Linguistics. Previous experience includes migration journalism, programme coordination in Eastern Europe and research on China in Africa.
Miriam Lawson, Communications Officer
Miriam is MRGI’s Communications Officer. She works on the production of publications and manages the editorial calendar as well as supporting MRG’s social media and media strategies. She assumed her current position with MRG in 2022, having previously been an editorial and communications intern and a temporary fundraiser for MRG in 2020. She holds an MA from King’s College London in Comparative Literature, where she specialized in postcolonial studies, genocide literature and the representation of othered peoples. She has previously held communications and research roles in UK-based and international NGOs in the fields of refugee rights, freedom of expression and housing injustice.
Muna Muday, Fellow
Muna Muday is the Director of Programmes at The Addis Clinic, a global health organization delivering innovative digital health solutions in East Africa. She has more than five years of experience in the field of public health and worked with various organizations such as the CDC Foundation and the Tennessee Department of Health. She is also an activist at the ONE Campaign and Fund for Global Health, where she campaigns for preventable diseases and extreme poverty. Her advocacy work has been featured in local, national and international media. She currently serves as the youngest Board chair at the Nashville International Center for Empowerment and the New Americans Advisory Council by the Mayor’s Office of New Americans in Nashville, Tennessee. Muna also serves as an external mentor for the Somalia Marginalized and Minority Fellows Programme at the U.S. Department of State. Muna holds a master’s degree in public health with a specialization in global health from the prestigious Vanderbilt University.
Nancy Borisova, MARIO Bulgaria Liaison Officer, MRG Europe
Nancy is MRG’s Liaison Officer in Bulgaria. She joined MRG in January 2023. She previously worked as a Communication Manager in the NGO sector and as a journalist for online media. She has experience in the topics of gender equality, media literacy, economic and social rights of women and other marginalized groups such as minorities, migrants and refugees. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism.
Nasrin Charong, Thailand Programme Assistant
Nasrin graduated from the Faculty of Political Science, in the field of International relations from Prince of Songkla University, Pattani campus. She started her career in human rights issues as a Policy and Advocacy Assistant and Human Rights Campaign Officer, with a particular focus on freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly, torture and enforced disappearances, refugees and death penalty. She previously worked for Amnesty International Thailand.
Nasrin has a special interest in conflict situations and the peacebuilding process. She joined MRG in May 2022 as Thailand Programme Assistant and works on the ‘Inclusive Peacebuilding in Thailand’s Southern Border Provinces’ Programme. She aims to realize the full protection of the rights of marginalized communities in Thailand’s deep south.
Neil Clarke, Head of Legal Programmes and EU Advocacy
Neil joined MRG’s programmes department in 2004, working in MRG’s Africa, Asia and Europe teams. Between 2009-19, Neil acted as Managing Director of MRG Europe based in Budapest, with responsibility for oversight and coordination MRG’s work in Europe and Central Asia. Neil is currently Head of Legal Programmes and EU Advocacy, with responsibilities including the establishment of MRG’s new office in Brussels.
Nejra Kadić Meškić, MARIO Croatia Liaison Officer, MRG Europe
Nejra Kadić Meškić is the CEO of the Centre for Cultural Dialogue, which builds intercultural societies and fights growing mistrust and polarization by strengthening intercultural and interreligious dialogue. She graduated from the School of Business and Economics at the University of Sarajevo. Meškić has twelve years of experience as an executive director and programme leader in the fields of human rights, minority rights, migration and integration, culture of dialogue, gender equality and youth policies. She is a trainer on teamwork and leadership and has worked in the civil society sector in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and abroad.
Nejra is a trainer on teamwork and leadership in educational programmes for youth. She has experience in project management, event management, public relations and marketing as well as public finances and budgeting – especially related to gender equality and youth.
She is the author and co-author of strategic documents related to the improvement of human rights implementation. In 2013, Nejra received an award for her contribution to the achievement of gender equality from the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Nicolas Salazar Sutil, Commissioning Editor
Nic is Commissioning Editor for MRG. Previously he directed Guardians Worldwide, an organization devoted to online learning and advocacy for indigenous communities. He was also Associate Professor at the University of Leeds, where he led and conducted action research in the field of conflict, reintegration (DDR) and minority rights, primarily in the Lake Chad basin countries and in South America. He is the author of several books, and he has edited numerous journals and magazines devoted to cultural ecology, human rights and nature rights.
Nicole Girard, Norad Religious Minorities & Southeast Asia Coordinator
Nicole has worked on MRG’s programmes in Asia since 2010. She specialises in minority and indigenous rights in South and Southeast Asia, women’s rights in particular, with a focus on ethno-religious nationalism and armed movements for south determination and the rights of indigenous peoples to land and natural resources.
Nurangiz Khodzharova, OSCE Programmes Coordinator
Nurangiz joined MRG Europe in February 2023 to coordinate MRG’s projects in Central Asia and OSCE advocacy efforts. Prior to MRG, Nurangiz managed alumni relations for her alma mater, the Central European University, and worked on the European Refugee Crisis with Translators without Borders (TWB). Nurangiz has lived and worked in Eastern Europe, North America and MENA. She holds an MSc in International Development and Management from Lund University and an MA in International Relations from CEU.
Rasha Saba, Head of Middle East and North Africa department
Rasha is the head of our Middle East and North Africa department. She joined MRG’s MENA team in 2018, working on advocacy, research, capacity building and partnership. Prior to joining MRG, Rasha worked in several organizations in the field of human rights and humanitarian sector with a focus on women, refugees and minorities. She authored and co-authored a number of reports on public health and human rights. She holds a master’s degree in Global Health from Kings College London.
Renata Rosa Raab, Operations Officer, MRG Europe
Renata Rosa joined MRG Europe in July 2021. Her main tasks consist of financial and general programme support at the Budapest office. Previously she has gained more than four years of experience in financial and project support within an international environment. She graduated from Aalborg University (Denmark) with an MSc degree in Development and International Relations, where she has developed a special interest in Arctic indigenous communities.
Samrawit Gougsa, Head of Communications
Samuel Ade Ndasi, African Union Advocacy Officer
Samuel is a Senior Legal Practitioner and a human rights expert. He practices law as a Public Defender and has been a lecturer of International Human Rights Law at the University of The Gambia. Samuel has also worked as Legal Officer at the African Commission and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. He has experience working with minority groups in the North West Region of Cameroon – advocating for their rights, building their capacity and assisting them to access justice. Samuel holds a Masters in Laws, Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa from the Centre for Human Rights – University of Pretoria, and a Barrister-at-Law Certificate from The Gambia Law School.
Sanae Alouazen, Morocco Liaison Officer
Sanae is a researcher and project coordinator committed to fostering collaboration between academia and civil society. She holds a master’s degree in Gender Studies from the Central European University and a bachelor’s in International Comparative Politics from the American University of Paris. Sanae has experience working with grassroots organizations in the SWANA region and Europe, with a focus on intersectional justice, gender and minority rights.
Silvia Quattrini, North Africa Associate
Sira Thiam, Disability Intersectional Project Officer
Sira is MRG’s Intersectional Discrimination Project Officer, working with people with disabilities across the world. She holds a Masters in Inequalities and Social Science from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She also works as a paralegal for an American protest law firm. Her research interests lie in intersectionality, critical sociology, and legal mechanisms of repression.
Stefania Carrer, Litigation & Advocacy Officer
Stefania is a human rights lawyer. Before joining MRG, Stefania worked as a qualified lawyer in Italy specialising in the field of civil responsibility and international human rights protection. Her previous work experiences include the European Commission, the Hague Institute for Global Justice and the International Criminal Court. She holds a Master’s degree in European and Transnational Law and a First Level Master’s degree in Environmental Law.
Szilvia Heidl, Finance Officer, MRG Europe
Szilvia graduated in economics. She has been working in the non-profit sector since the beginning, for almost 20 years now. She has experience both from the applicant and donor sides. She supports the work of the finance department in the Budapest office.
Tamás Büchler, Europe Programme Coordinator, MRG Europe
Tamas is the MARIO Programme Coordinator at Minority Rights Group Europe. Previously he worked for CEJI – A Jewish Contribution to an Inclusive Europe, a Brussels-based organization that promotes social cohesion through training and advocacy. Prior to that, he served as the Director of the Israeli Cultural Institute in Budapest. He also worked for the Jewish Agency’s Global Leadership Institute, as the director of Minyanim, a network of community activists from Europe. He holds an M.A. in Law and undertook teacher training in Jewish Studies. He completed the University of Haifa’s Peace and Conflict Studies Programme, and the Social Impact Strategies program of the University of Pennsylvania.
Tamás Tóth, Community Outreach Officer, MRG Europe
Tamás is Community Outreach Officer to support Roma rights at MRG Europe (MRGE). Before joining MRGE, Tamás worked on various EU-funded research projects regarding social inclusion and gender equality. He also has experience working with different NGOs to support marginalized groups such as refugees, migrants and formerly detained people. Tamás obtained a Research Master’s degree in Sociology and Demography at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain. He also holds a BSc in Environmental Engineering and an MSc in Regional and Environmental Economics.
Viktor Teru, MARIO Slovakia Liaison Officer, MRG Europe
Viktor Teru is an educational expert and human rights activist supporting the MARIO project in Slovakia since January 2023. He is a country facilitator of the Roma Education Fund in Slovakia, co-founder of the Roma Environmental Sustainability and Development Initiative (RESDI) and Adviser to the President of the Slovak Republic Zuzana Čaputova.
Viktoria Villanyi-Nosko, Senior Finance Officer, MRG Europe
Viktoria is responsible for the overall financial matters of the Budapest office including developing budgets for funding proposals, preparing financial reports for international donors, overseeing and supporting partners’ financial management of joint projects. Before joining the Budapest team, she has worked for over 15 years for international organisations, such as Freedom House Europe and NESsT, as Finance and Operations Officer. Currently she serves on the board of Transparency International Hungary.
Yousef AlAbsi, Finance and Programme Assistant, MRG Europe
Yousef is MRG’s Finance and Programme Assistant in Hungary. He joined MRG in May 2023. Prior to joining MRG, Yousef worked in the private sector. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business Administration.
Zoubida Berrada, EMMAP Media Project Assistant
Zoubida is a Media Project Assistant for the ‘Engaging Minorities and Media to Act for Peacebuilding‘ (EMMAP) programme in West Africa. She is a junior communication professional who previously worked for UN Women and the National Parity Observatory of Senegal. Before that she was a reporter at the Senegalese national radio, specialized in gender and social issues. She holds a BA in journalism and communication.
Zsófia Farkas, Managing Director, MRG Europe
Zsófia is the Managing Director of Minority Rights Group Europe responsible for Eastern and Central Europe, Eastern Partnership and Central Asia. She has been working for MRG for 10 years as coordinator of the Eastern Partnership Minorities Network and other regional media capacity building efforts. She is author of several advocacy guides and training materials about the European Union system. As an advocacy officer, previously she worked for various NGOs on human rights, minority rights and child rights. She holds a PhD in international relations from Corvinus University, a MSc in NGO management from the London School of Economics (LSE) and a MA in Political Science.
Find out more about who we are
Our strategy
Our Council
Our history
Opportunities
Donors & reports
Coalitions & networks
