Webinar on interventions to address intimate partner violence and violence against children

Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children (SRSG/VAC), United Nations

On 30 May 2019, the Secretary-General appointed Dr. Najat Maalla M'jid (Morocco) as his Special Representative on Violence against Children. Dr. Maalla M'jid took up her position on 1st July 2019. Dr. M'jid, a medical doctor in paediatrics, has over the last three decades devoted her life to the promotion and protection of children’s rights. She was Head of the Paediatric Department and Director of the Hay Hassani Mother-Child hospital in Casablanca. She has vast experience in the development of national policies on the protection of the child, and has worked with several governments, non-governmental and inter-governmental organizations. Dr. M’jid holds a Doctorate in general medicine from the University of Rabat, a specialization in paediatrics and neonatology from the University of Bordeaux II and a Master’s of Human Rights from the Human Rights Institute, Geneva.  She is the recipient of numerous awards and honours for her strong commitment to protecting the rights of the child. 

Director, Child Protection, Programme Group, UNICEF

Sheema Sen Gupta took up the role of Director, Child Protection, in August 2023. Ms. Sen Gupta's UNICEF career spans both development and complex humanitarian contexts, making her well experienced in advocating for child rights in complex emergencies. In her various roles, she led programmes focused on making sustainable changes in systems, policy and service delivery for children and women. She has been Representative in Iraq and Deputy Representative in Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Prior to these, she was Chief of Child Protection Programme in Somalia and in Ghana.Ms. Sen Gupta's UNICEF career began in Child Protection, with a focus on developing Psychosocial Support Programmes for UNICEF’s emergency response. In the last 23 years, she has worked in India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Ghana, Somalia, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Prior to joining UNICEF, she practiced as a psychologist and worked for The Calcutta Samaritans. Ms. Sen Gupta holds a Master’s in Clinical Psychology. She is a Malaysian national.

@ShSenGupta

Gender and Development Manager (Violence against girls, boys and women), UNICEF Innocenti

Alessandra Guedes joined Innocenti in 2019 to lead the development and implementation of a research programme to address key issues and constraints to achieving gender equity within child protection, with a particular focus on addressing the interlinkages between violence against children and violence against women. Prior to joining UNICEF, Alessandra served as the World Health Organization’s Regional Advisor for the Americas on family violence prevention (2009-2019) and as the co-chair of the Sexual Violence Research Initiative’s Coordinating Group, a role she continues to occupy.

@Alesscguedes

Professor of Global Public Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, LSHTM

Loraine is a social scientist whose research focuses on the development and evaluation of complex interventions within health systems and services that address violence against women and against men in same sex relationships. She also conducts research on the intersections between violence against women and violence against children with a focus on joint approaches to prevent and/or respond to women and children exposed to intimate partner violence and violence against children. Loraine was Co-Director of the NIHR Global Group on Health System Responses to Violence Against Women in low-and-middle-income countries which involved adaptation of an intervention called HERA (Healthcare Responding to Violence Against Women) in Brazil, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Palestine. She is a former Global Marie Curie Global Fellow and alumni member.

@LoraineBacchus 

Associate Professor, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, LSHTM

Manuela is an Associate professor in Health Systems and Policy and Co-Director of the Gender Violence and Health Centre in the Department of Global Health and Development at LSHTM. She has conducted research in gender-based violence, health systems readiness, integration of HIV and sexual and reproductive health services in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia for the past 19 years. She is a member of the LSHTM Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee.

@ManuelaColombini 

Assistant professor at the Preventive Department - Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo

Ana Flávia Pires Lucas d’Oliveira is a MD, PhD, assistant professor at the Preventive Department- Faculty of Medicine – University of São Paulo.  She has been researching, assisting  and training on gender based violence and health since 1994. She was PI of the WHO Multi country study on women’s health and violence against women and has been colaborating with WHO and PAHO. She has been researching in partnership with LSHTM, Bristol University and King's College. She published several papers on gender based violence and primary health care, working both with quantitative and qualitative methodologies. She has a special interest in public policies, primary health care, gender, human rights and health.

Director, Ignite Philanthropy

Don is the Director of Ignite Philanthropy: Inspiring the End to Violence Against Girls and Boys, a collaboration among private foundations working to stop violence against girls and boys everywhere. Don previously served as the founding Director of the Communities for Just Schools Fund, enlisting nearly 20 foundations to support youth and community organizing in the U.S.A. to ensure positive and supportive school climates that foster the success of all students. Over the preceding decade, Don researched, evaluated, trained, and advocated on children’s human rights, advising UNICEF and other international organizations in South Asia, Europe and Central Asia, the South Pacific, and North America. Earlier in his career, Don was a classroom teacher and lobbied for education, youth development, and juvenile justice reform in the U.S.A. Don earned a Ph.D. in Law from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Maryland, and Bachelor’s degree from Drew University, and is fluent in Spanish and Italian.

Senior Associate, The Prevention Collaborative

Ritha has over 14 years of experience working as a practitioner in the field of violence against women and girls prevention. She is skilled in programming for violence prevention, with a focus on working with couples and engaging men and boys for violence prevention.She also has experience programming for and with adolescent girls from her role as a partnership manager at Girl Effect Rwanda. Working at the Rwanda Men’s Resource Centre, she has contributed (as both a training designer and facilitator) to building capacity for local NGOs to integrate male engagement approaches into their violence against women and girls prevention work. She has played an active role in the design and implementation of the Indashyikirwa programme, which has been proven to reduce violence among intimate partners in Rwanda. Ritha is based in Kigali, Rwanda.

@RNyiratunga

Convener of the provincial Violence Prevention Forum, Institute for Security Studies

Senzekile (Senzi) Bengu is a researcher in the ISS’ Justice and Violence Prevention program and the convenor of the Western Cape Violence Prevention Forum. She is a leader, facilitator, and community builder. Before joining the ISS, Senzi was a researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand, studying the impact of conflict and inequality on social cohesion. She is a co-founder and project lead of the Kwasuka Sukela Foundation, a youth development NGO based in KZN. The foundation works with soccer teams to empower young boys to find their voices and share their stories. Senzi has a Master’s in peacebuilding and development from the University of Limerick, in Ireland.

Executive Director, Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI)

Elizabeth Dartnall is a health specialist with over 20 years’ research and policy- making experience on health systems, mental health, violence against women and violence against children. Having worked in several countries, in both government and research positions, Liz has a deep understanding of the policy process and the use of research to inform policy and practice. Since 2006, Liz has managed the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) and recently with the support of multiple partners, launched SVRI as an independent NGO. The SVRI, with more than 6600 members, is one of the largest networks in the field of research on violence against women and violence against children. The SVRI produces leading publications and materials, strengthens research capacity, provides research grants and technical assistance for research on violence against women in low and middle-income countries, and hosts the key global biannual event in the field – the SVRI Forum. Liz is committed to research and policy-making that is feminist, ethical, equitable, and partnership-based.

@Liz_Dartnall