Theresia Kirkemann Boesen     Theresia has worked in the field of human rights and development for the past 16 years. She covers a broad area of expertise, including: international programmes on human rights, HRBA and human rights education; capacity development of civil organisations and state institutions including national human rights institutions and Ombudsman Institutions; cooperation on formal and informal justice projects; as well as strategic management and leadership; finance and budget control; staff administration and human resource development; and fundraising and donor relations.

Theresia holds an MA degree in Political Science, with further studies at the University of Birmingham (Department for Political Science and International Studies, and Centre for Russian and East European Studies). Theresia was employed by the Danish Institute for Human Rights, where she held a number of positions between 1999 and 2015, lastly as Department Director for the Department for Human Rights Education and National Human Rights Institutions. Additionally, she has been on long-term advisory postings to Turkey and Malawi, and was in charge of developing DIHR’s portfolio in relation to human rights education, at national and international level, as well as conceptualising the cooperation between DIHR and other national human rights institutions. Over the years, Theresia has published a number of papers related to human rights issues.

Core Areas

  • Human rights based approach (HRBA)
  • Role of civil society, and cooperation between state institutions and civil society organisations
  • Role and functions of national human rights institutions including Ombudsman Institutions
  • Informal justice and human rights
  • Human rights education and the right to education
  • Law enforcement and justice sector institutions
  • Democratisation and transition
Expertise and Services
  • Project and programme formulation – including identification and capacity assessment
  • Design and implementation of projects and programmes – with a focus on human rights, HRBA, cooperation with civil society and state institutions
  • Monitoring and reporting on projects and programmes – including measuring of results and performance
  • Capacity and skills development
  • Review and evaluation
  • Course/seminar/workshop design, facilitation and evaluation
  • Quality assurance (QA)
  • Strategic planning and organisational development
  • Leadership and management
Country Experience

Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Vietnam
Europe: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Georgia, Greenland, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine
Middle East & North Africa: Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia
Sub-Saharan Africa: Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Languages

Danish: Native
English: Fluent