International Fellows Alumni

Ms. Carolyne Atieno Abong currently serves as the Deputy Secretary of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights she oversees all the programming of the Commission and supervision of Departments heads and regional field offices. She conducts research on human rights issues and advises the Government and Parliament on initiating policy, administrative and other reforms to enhance promotion and protection of human rights in Kenya.  She has served as a United Nations Volunteer with the UNDP/Standing Committee on Human Rights and a Research Associate with the Center for Conflict Research in Nairobi, Kenya.  Ms. Abong holds a master’s degree in international studies from the University of Nairobi.  During her fellowship year, Ms. Abong will focus on human rights, monitoring and evaluation, public policy analysis frameworks, project management, accountability, effectiveness, and civic engagement.

Ms. Allami is a lawyer and activist for women’s rights in Iraq. She operates Women for Progress, a Baghdad assistance center for women which offers free legal advocacy, medical care, literacy education, and vocational training. Since 2004, she has served as a member of the Baghdad Provincial Council.  In 2008, she authored by-laws which were adopted by this Council, as well as by the District Council and the Qada Council.  In March, 2009, she was one of eight women worldwide to receive the International Woman of Courage Award, which was presented to her by First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.  During her fellowship year, she would like to explore women’s rights and human rights in general from a democratic perspective. She hopes that her experience here will help her to introduce to the men and women of Iraq a deeper sense of the importance of women’s rights and of their potential as partners in the future development of Iraqi society and government.

Mr. Olivier Donat Andriamahefaparany is currently an elected member of parliament in the National Assembly of Madagascar, and is a member of the commissions of Finances & Economy and Infrastructure.  Outside the assembly, he acts as political leader of his country sector and organizes and supports social, economic, and cultural activities within that sector.  Mr. Andriamahefaparany has held a series of positions in the Malagasy Government in a variety of departments including the Ministry of Energy and Mines, the Ministry of Tourism and the Municipality of Antananarivo City.  He is a strong advocate of private and public sector linkages.  He received a Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences of Constance, Germany, a Master of Science in Renewable Energies from the University of Oldenburg in Germany and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Lancaster, UK.  During his fellowship year, Mr. Andriamahefaparany will focus on economic development, public policy, and science, technology and environmental policy.

Ms. Butt is currently working as a civil/family court judge. She is a law graduate with a master’s degree in political science. Her area of interest is gender equality and human rights, focusing on improving the lives of women in Pakistan. She intends to study gender equality jurisprudence and the functioning of family courts in the U.S. Ms. Butt hopes to obtain an internship in the public or private sector with an organization that specializes in the enforcement of human rights, gender equality, and mainstreaming.  She is especially interested in studying successful models for innovation and improvement in regard to gender-related issues in countries having a cultural background similar to that of Pakistan.

Dr. Das is a human rights lawyer and practitioner from Bangladesh. He has a Doctor of Philosophy in Law and Human Rights from the University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh. He holds an LL.M. with honors and a Master of Human Rights.  Dr. Das worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as the National Protection (Legal) Officer in Bangladesh for four years. He has been instrumental in introducing the study of international refugee law in law schools in his country. He also worked for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for two years; he planned, coordinated, and directed training programs for lawyers, police, immigration officials, members of the armed forces, and law students on the issue of human trafficking. Dr. Das has taught in law schools and training institutes. His areas of interest include South Asian anti-human-trafficking laws and policies. Through the Humphrey Fellowship Program, Dr. Das wishes to learn about the anti-human-trafficking laws and policies in the U.S., especially strategies and mechanisms to prevent and prosecute cases of labor trafficking. He also intends to share his knowledge and experience with his counterparts in the U.S. and other countries.

Dr. Karthikeyan Doss spans a twelve year career with the Indian Administrative Service in senior management positions in a variety of posts.   He currently serves as Joint Secretary to the Government Finance Department in Chennai, where he is involved in budget formulation and control of expenditures for government programs and evaluation of projects.  He has received two National Awards from the Deputy Prime Minister of India for successfully implementing an e-Governance Project in an urban local body.  He received a Ph.D. in statistics from the University of Madras.  During his fellowship year, Dr. Doss will pursue a master’s of public affairs degree with a focus on urban management and planning, urban development, and e-Governance.

Mr. Todor Efremov is currently the executive director of the Foundation for Information Technology, a citizen’s information center, where he is implementing a series of projects which provide better services and stronger relations between local institutions and citizens.  One of these projects, the establishment of a foundation for supporting small business, was awarded 1st prize for the best project in Macedonia from the European Agency for Reconstruction in 2006.  He has worked for eight years in public administration as head of the local economic development sector in the Municipality of Kavadarci, a grape and wine producing region of Macedonia. He received a law degree from the University of St. Ciril & Methodius in Skopje During his fellowship year, Mr. Efremov will focus on strategies for government decentralization, local self  government, public service, small business and local economic development (particularly in wine producing regions), and human resources management.

Dr. El Ghazawi is a colonel in the Ministry of the Interior.  He heads the Legal Affairs & Human Rights Office in Qena Security HQ.  He is also a lecturer in human rights and international law for police trainees in the Police Academy in Cairo.  Dr. El Ghazawi hopes to do comparative study of the interplay between policing and human rights in the United States and Egypt, and to identify and analyze techniques for the domestic protection of human rights found in international treaties, with a special focus on the topics of children’s rights and gender balance.

Mr. Amit Garg currently serves as the joint commissioner of police, special branch, of the Indian Police Service in Hyderabad, where he handles matters related to foreign registration and collection of intelligence on organized crime. In his 15 years experience working with India’s police force, using the community policing concept, he has involved various sections of civil society for effective and sustainable enforcement.  He has coordinated with civil society organizations to assist victims of human trafficking for their protection and rehabilitation and victims of domestic violence.  Mr. Garg received a Master of Philosophy from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.  His dissertation was on “From Slavery to Debt Bondage: Bonded Labour System in India.”  He also received a Master of Arts in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Center for Study of Social Systems.  During his fellowship year, Mr. Garg will focus on human trafficking, organized crime, trafficking victim protection programs, witness protection programs, rescue and rehabilitation, and NGO partnerships.

Dr. Guo is an attorney, chief arbitrator, professor, and director of the Center for Law Application of Anhui University. His main interest is in conducting comparative law research on the theory and practice of alternative dispute resolution, civil procedure, evidence, and human rights law. He has authored more than twenty publications in China on research in these fields. He is attempting to understand how China can learn and adopt beneficial systems from U.S. legal theory and practice. Dr. Guo hopes to be able to make a persuasive case in his own country for the importance of making improvements in alternative dispute resolution. At present, Chinese scholars are studying alternative dispute resolution, but it is not practiced in China. Dr. Guo hopes someday to establish a center for alternative dispute resolution in China. During his fellowship year, he hopes to communicate with U.S. researchers, educators, and practitioners in the fields of human rights and alternative dispute resolution.

Dr. Beata Jajko currently works as a unit head at the Polish Ministry of Finance and is responsible for economic programs.  During her nine years at the Ministry she has been involved in a broad range of public policy issues, including conducting analyses for Polish economic policy, preparing opinions on fiscal policy, presenting recommendations on required public policy actions such as changes in the tax system, preparing public debt management strategies, and analyzing public-private partnership issues. She has also worked with international institutions and organizations including the IMF, European Commission, Eurostat and OECD. Dr. Jajko graduated from the Warsaw School of Economics with a Master of Economics degree. In 2008 she was awarded a Ph.D. in Economics from Warsaw University; the title of her dissertation was “Public Debt and Fiscal Policy.  The Polish Experience.”  During her fellowship year, Ms. Jajko will focus on fiscal policy management. Her specific interests will include ways of making public policy more supportive to economic growth while simultaneously addressing social problems; means of reforming the tax system to increase economic activity; reform of public expenses, and enhancing cooperation between public and private sector partners.

Mr. Krekar Abdullah Hussein Khoshnaw has spent the majority of his career in public administration working for the Government of Iraq and its Kurdistan Region.  He began in the Ministry of Agriculture as Assistant Agricultural Engineer, working his way up to the position of General Director.  He currently serves as the Director General and Senior Consultant of the Iraqi-Kurdistan Parliament, where he supervises over 300 employees, oversees the work of all directorates and is responsible for all administrative and financial functions. Throughout his career, he has been devoted to more transparent and efficient practices.  He received a bachelor’s degree in law from Sulaimani University and a bachelor’s degree in agricultural science from Mosul University, Iraq.  He has completed certificate courses in legal training from the International Bar Association in the United Arab Emirates and in public administration from the Central Official Training Institute in South Korea.  He is also a published author of five books in Kurdish and Arabic.  During his fellowship year, Mr. Khoshnaw will focus on law, government administration, policy making, transparency, corruption, and finance.

Ms. Koffi  is a judge, with past experience as a prosecutor, and has been a deputy in the Youth Administration of the Department of Justice in Abidjan since 2001.  She works with children who are in conflict with the law, authors reports for her Department, and is a human rights educator with a focus on children’s and women’s rights. She also coordinates work against child trafficking and is a frequent presenter on this topic.  During the Ivorian Crisis, women and children were exposed to sexual violence and gender inequality, and children were jailed for almost anything.  She hopes that her Humphrey experience will help her to resolve some of the many ongoing issues in the Ivory Coast. Gender equality and children’s rights are her main concerns and she hopes that working with human rights educators here in the U.S. will further her goals.

Ms. Eka Kvakhadze has contributed to the democratization process and the strengthening of regional and local self-government during decentralization reform in Georgia.  She currently serves as director of the Local Government Information Center in Rustavi, Georgia, where she promotes bilateral communications between local government and the community through public hearings and public awareness, collaborating with Regional Administration on regional planning issues, and capacity building activities.  She also manages the organizational activities of the center.  She has extensive work experience in the field of public relations with international NGOs such as Eurasia Foundation, CARE International, and World Vision International. She received her Master’s Degree in history from the Tbilisi State University, Georgia.  During her fellowship year, Ms. Kvakhadze will focus on local and regional development, policy and planning, and decentralization.

Mr. Lewocki holds degrees in law from the University of Białystok in Poland and in sociology from Lancaster University in the United Kingdom and has worked in the field of human rights since 2002. He also holds advanced graduate certificates in foreign affairs service from Warsaw School of Economics in Poland and in human rights from Helsinki Foundation of Human Rights in Poland. Mr. Lewocki is a member of the Polish Legislative Association. As a lawyer in the Polish Ministry of Justice, he drafts government responses to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasburg. He served as an election observer on several missions organized by the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He is currently completing his Human Rights Ph.D., focusing on the right to free and fair elections. During his fellowship year, his major areas of interest are international human rights, criminal law, the rights of incarcerated persons, crisis management, public security, and election rights. In addition, Mr. Lewocki hopes to improve his leadership and management skills.

Dr. Xiaoke Li is currently a professor of political philosophy at the Central Party School in Beijing where he lectures on the political and legal philosophy of the West to high-ranking political leaders and is editor of Theoretical Horizon, a magazine published by the school.  His writings on liberty have been widely cited in China. And his teaching and research on western politics and legal theories, as well as the numerous practical activities he has engaged in promoting the ideas of human rights and the rule of law, have earned him a remarkable reputation, both in academia and among officials all over China.  He received a Ph.D. in western philosophy from Fudan University in Shanghai.  He also earned a master’s degree in philosophy and a bachelor’s degree in English language and literature form Shaanxi Normal University in Xi’an, China.  During his fellowship year, Dr. Li will focus on U.S. governmental systems, constitutionalism and the rule of law, human rights, public choice, constitutional economics, U.S. laws governing elections and political parties, and laws and regulations against political corruption.

Mr. Siarhei Lisichonak received a specialist degree in Law from Belarusian State University. From 2007 to 2008 he served as International Coordinator for the Executive Bureau of the Assembly of Pro-Democratic NGOs of Belarus. Since 2002, Mr. Lisichonak has been vice-chair of the leading pro-democratic youth organization called Young Front. During his fellowship, Mr. Lisichonak will seek a master's degree in public Policy, specializing in public leadership.

Ms. Gayane Martirosyan has been working with NGO’s since 2001, and is currently the coordinator and advocacy specialist of the ‘NGO Center’ Civil Society Development Organization, whose mission is to promote democracy through civil society development.  The ‘NGO Center’ works with indigenous Armenian NGOs to help them strengthen their institutional capacity, increase public awareness and understanding of the role of the NGO sector in the creation of civil society, and support and promote cooperation and linkages among NGOs and potential partners such as policy makers, media, business, international and foreign organizations. Ms. Martirosyan is a member of the International Program Evaluation Network (IPEN) and Armenian Trainers Group. She has also served as a member of the Grants Selection Committee for the Civic Advocacy Support Program. She received the diploma of Teacher of Biology and Chemistry from Vanadzor State Pedagogical Institute, Armenia.  During her fellowship year, Ms. Martirosyan will focus on policy modeling and design, forecasting and planning, modern methods of analysis, program evaluation, and government/public cooperation.

Mr. Marukyan has been a human rights NGO activist and now is a human rights attorney. Since 2001, he has specialized in the protection of human rights and has been considerably involved in the strengthening of democracy and civil society in Armenia.  In 2005, as a human rights NGO representative, he became an observer at the Public Monitoring Group, observing the rights of persons taken into custody at criminal-executive institutions within Armenia. He has provided legal consultation to a number of projects, defended citizens in court hearings, and submitted applications to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. His work has been closely associated with: the construction of democratic society; the formation of civil society; the protection of human rights; the increase of civic participation, particularly as a mechanism for public monitoring; and, the designing of anticorruption initiatives in Armenia. He holds a master’s degree in jurisprudence from the Public Administration Academy of Armenia. During his year as a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow, Mr. Marukyan will focus on international human rights mechanisms as well as the role of human rights attorneys in the formation of international case law.

Mr. Tom Mc Gonigle has worked in the Northern Ireland criminal justice system since 1980, initially with the Probation Service and subsequently as a manager in juvenile custody and voluntary sector organizations.  He has been a Criminal Justice Inspector since November 2003, and has led inspections of public protection arrangements, management of sex offenders and life sentence prisoners, and adult and juvenile custodial facilities.  He received a Masters Degree in Social Anthropology from Queen’s University Belfast, with research focused on the impact of life sentences on prisoners and their families.  During his U.K. Fulbright for Public Affairs Fellowship, Mr. Mc Gonigle will examine the Minnesota approach to risk assessing dangerous offenders in preparation for release from custody, and how the risks they pose are managed in the community after being released.