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Steering Committee & Advisors


Executive Steering Committee


The Executive Steering Committee consists of four persons and provides ongoing support and guidance to the Executive Office. Members must therefore not only be strongly committed to Equalinrights, but also readily available and accessible to the Executive Office. A quorum of 2/3 is required for all decisions of the Executive Steering Committee. All decisions are made by consensus. The role of the Executive Steering Committee is to:

  • Develop and refine the strategies of Equalinrights
  • Approve and participate in the elaboration of Equalinrights‘ priorities and annual programme of action
  • Make all decisions concerning financial matters
  • Guide and support the conduct of equalinrights-related activities, and
  • Engage their own networks to support the activities of Equalinrights

The current members of the Executive Steering Committee are:

Professor Bas de Gaay Fortman (Chairperson)  

Professor Bas de Gaay Fortman is currently the Chair in Political Economy of Human Rights at the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM), Faculty of Law, University of Utrecht. He is an avid human rights supporter and has worked persistently on the realisation of human rights for many, many years. His experience is diverse, ranging from leading the Radical Party in the Dutch parliament, to living in Africa as Acting Head of the Economics Department, University of Zambia. He is also the author of a number of books and articles on issues like poverty and the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights.

Dr. Irene Guijt

Irene has research, training and facilitation experience with grassroots organisations and international agencies, about which she has published widely to bridge the persistent gap between academia and practice. Her main interests lie in fostering ways to facilitate learning for critically reflective practice in organisations and among societal alliances. A key part of this lies in personal transformation and understanding how power emerges and is used in interactions. She has recently finalised her PhD at Wageningen University (the Netherlands) which examines why current perspectives on monitoring are unlikely to contribute to learning in the context of dynamic resource management partnerships that are engaged in institutional transformation. She also works as a freelance consultant, with recent work including coordinating a five country evaluation of Dutch NGO support to strengthen civil society participation and coordinating the 'Assessing Social Change' initiative, undertaken with IDS (UK).

Mr. Pim Verhallen

Pim Verhallen is Policy Advisor and works with the human rights policy department in ICCO, drawing on significant experience acquired through leading the Latin America Department in ICCO and working extensively in Bolivia and Peru for the Dutch Foreign Ministry and local civil society organisations. His work now focuses on civil society strengthening and accountability for development, civil society movements, such as the World Social Forum, and fostering greater integration between human rights and development work.

Dr. Rachel Kurian

Dr Rachel Kurian is a Senior Lecturer in International Labour Economics at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague. She has degrees in Mathematics and Economics, and has studied at the Universities of Madras, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, University of Cambridge, UK and University of Amsterdam where she completed her Ph.D in 1989. Dr. Kurian’s interests lie in the arena of migration, human rights, poverty, gender, trade unions, and labour (including child labour) in the context of economic restructuring – a focus reflected in her publications and current curriculum: Politics of Alternative Development Human Rights, Development and Social Justice Feminist strategies of development, Social exclusion and Human Rights, and Migration and Development. Her wide-ranging interest and expertise is corroborated by extensive field experience in Asia (Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and South Korea), Latin America (Colombia, Peru, Chile and Ecuador), the Caribbean (Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados) and Africa (Mauritius, Tanzania). Professional profile.