In order to ensure a high level of accuracy in the selection of projects, the NHRF operates with local consultants in most of its priority countries. The main tasks of the consultants are capacity building of grantee organizations, monitoring of projects, and providing advice to the Secretariat on strategies and project applications. The NHRF also uses international networks and references from like-minded donors and national and international human rights organizations in the selection of projects. All NHRF consultants are qualified human rights activists with extensive experience from working with grassroots organizations in their respective countries. Currently the NHRF has consultants in Pakistan, India, Mexico, Thailand and Indonesia.
The NHRF organizational structure
The NHRF is anchored in Norwegian civil society organizations, providing imperative support to human rights projects. Correspondingly, five member organizations and institutions contribute strategically, professionally, and financially to the NHRF’s work and are represented in its Board.
The Board and supporters
The NHRF is managed by a Board of Directors that represent each of the member organizations.
As of 2022, the NHRF's members are:
- Amnesty International Norway
- Church of Norway Council on Ecumenical and International Relations
- Norwegian Centre for Human Rights
- Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions
- The Atlas Alliance
Board members
The Atlas Alliance is an umbrella organization of Norwegian disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs) working to promote the human rights and improve the living conditions of persons with disabilities in the Global South. The Atlas Alliance’s goals are equal rights for all and that all Norwegian development aid and humanitarian efforts are inclusive.
The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO-Norway) is Norway’s largest and most influential workers’ organisation with over 880 000 members, with a strong position in the Norwegian society. LO’s strategy in its work for international solidarity, democracy, and social equity is to contribute to building strong, representative, and democratic trade union organizations at the national, sectoral and local levels.
Amnesty International Norway - with a national reach of 100.000 members and activists - is an independent and democratic organization working towards defending human rights globally. Amnesty takes up human rights issues through letter-writing, online and offline campaigning, demonstrations, vigils and direct lobbying of those with power and influence. Their members are the cornerstone of the organization's efforts, who believe that human rights abuses anywhere are the concern of people everywhere.
The Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) is a multidisciplinary centre connected to the University of Oslo. It is internationally recognized as a leading research institution in the field of human rights, with research staff including lawyers, political scientists, social anthropologists, social geography, and philosophy. Its activities are based upon research and education, in addition to the activities as a host for several international programmes.
Wenche Fladen Nervold
Board Member
Church of Norway Council on Ecumenical and International Relations
The Church of Norway Council on Ecumenical and International Relation's mission is to coordinate and promote contact between the Church of Norway and churches around the world, and to maintain close relations with international church bodies. It is also responsible for the theological dialogue and practical cooperation with other churches and faith communities in Norway, and has the task of presenting the Church with any current and relevant international issues or concerns, human rights being one key priority.
Amitabh Behar
Board Member
NHRF's Secretariat in Oslo
Ingeborg Moa
Executive Director
Einar Wengen
Head of Finance
Kristin Storaker Skutlaberg
Head of Programmes
Lotte Yttereng
Administration and Finance Adviser
Halvard Hjermundrud
Programme Adviser
Lorena Schwab De La O
Programme Adviser
Sarah McMains
Programme Adviser and MEL
sarah.mcmains@nhrf.no
Maya Sunde Singh
Programme Adviser
Devika Nair
Programme Adviser
Aina Ferretti Sardà
Programme Officer
Sandra Petersen
Special Advisor
NHRF's Colombia Office
Katrine Ringhus
Country Director
Dhayana Cuellar Becaría
Finance and Administrative Manager
Gonzalo Sánchez
Finance and Administration Officer
Astrid Aristizábal
Finance and Administration Assistant
David Pico García
Program Officer (MEL)
Katheryn Sánchez
Program Officer (Strategic communications and Advocacy)
Marcela Ruiz
Communications Officer
Luz Andrea Silva
Head of Environmental Area (climate and forest)
María Camila Pinilla
Program Officer, Environment, Forest and Human Rights Area
Yojan Leonardo Gutiérrez
Program Officer, Environment, Forest and Human Rights Area
Germán Barrera
Program Officer, Environment, Forest and Human Rights Area
Mónica Jiménez Amorocho
Head of Peace and Human Rights Area
Angela Galvis
Program Officer, Peace and Human Rights Area
Alejandro Jiménez González
Program Officer, Peace and Human Rights Area
Diana Torres
Program Officer, Peace and Human Rights Area
Local Consultants
Alexandra Jiménez
Local consultant in Mexico
Zulfiqar Shah
Local consultant in Pakistan
Petcharat Saksirivetkul
Local consultant in Thailand
Anita Cheria
Local consultant in India
Papang Hidayat
Local consultant in Indonesia
Advisory Board
Mary Lawlor
UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders. Founder and Board member of Front Line Defenders. Adjunct Professor in the School of Business, Trinity College, Dublin. Member of the steering committee to develop an ethics policy for the School of Business. Former Director and Chair of Amnesty International Irish Section.
Jan Egeland
Founder of the NHRF and Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council. Former Special Adviser to the UN Special Envoy for Syria. He has served as State Secretary in the Norwegian MFA (1990-1997) and UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (2003-2006). Former positions: Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch, Director of HRW Europe, Director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Secretary General of the Norwegian Red Cross and Chair of Amnesty International Norway. Professor II at the University of Stavanger.
Phil Robertson
Deputy Director at Human Rights Watch, Asia Division. Previous program manager of the UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP). Before that, he led the Mainland Southeast Asia office of the AFL-CIO's Solidarity Center, working on trade union rights, democratic political reform, and rights of migrant workers, focusing primarily on Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Jemima García-Godos
Associate Professor - Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo. M.Phil. and Dr.Polit in Human Geography, UiO. Doctoral research fellow at the Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo. Researcher and Post-doctoral research fellow at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, UiO.
Gerald Staberock
Secretary General of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT). Previous Director of Center for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers (CIJL) and Director of its Global Security and Rule of Law Initiative at the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ). Coordinator of rule of law and anti-torture projects at OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
Nora Sveaass
Nora Sveaass is Professor Emeritus at the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo. She is a former member of the UN Committee Against Torture, and currently a member of the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture. Sveaass is the founder of Health and Human Rights Info, and the Human Rights Committee at the Norwegian psychological association, and is part of NHRF’s Advisory Board. In 2018, she was awarded the Human Rights Prize of the University of Oslo and in 2019 the Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav.
Miloon Kothari
President of UPR Info Geneva. Previously, he has been Convenor of the Working Group on Human Rights in India and the UN (WGHR) and appointed the first United Nations Special Rapporteur on adequate housing.
Advisory Board in Colombia
Mildrey Corrales
Former local NHRF consultant, National Technical Secretary of the Coordination Colombia Europe United States – CCEEU.
Claudia Mejía Duque
Colombian feminist and human rights defender, former Director of the organization Sisma Mujer.