Guest speakers

Opening Plenary Session

Nazila Ghanea became the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief in 2022. She is a Professor of International Human Rights Law at the University of Oxford, where she also directs the MSc program in International Human Rights Law. With nearly 30 years of experience, Ghanea has worked in academia, teaching in China and the UK, while also engaging with multilateral practices in international human rights law. She has extensively researched, published, and consulted on human rights issues, particularly focusing on freedom of religion or belief. Ghanea has supervised numerous academic works and co-authored a comprehensive publication on freedom of religion or belief, emphasizing UN records.

Key Publications:

• Are Religious Minorities Really Minorities? 1.1 Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, 2012
• Combatting global religious intolerance: The Implementation of Human Rights Council resolution 16/18, Universal Rights Group, 2014 (with Marc Limon and Hilary Power)
• Freedom of Religion or Belief: An International Law Commentary, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016 (with Heiner Bielefeldt and Michael Wiener) 
• Nazila Ghanea, Back to Basics in Evaluating Belief, 36.4, Emory International Law Review, 2022 
• Nazila Ghanea, Piecing the Puzzle, Women and Freedom of Religion or Belief, 20.3 The Review of Faith and International Affairs, 2022

Gamze Erdem Türkelli is an Associate Research Professor at the Law & Development Research Group of the University of Antwerp. Her work is situated in the interface of international law, human rights law and sustainable development. She conducts research into transnational human rights obligations, hybrid public-private actors in international law such as multistakeholder partnerships, 'innovative' development financing, business & human rights, children's rights as well as accountability and responsibility. She is the Principal Investigator of the ERC Starting Grant 2023 funded GENESIS Project.

Key publications:

• Bakta, S., Türkelli, G. E., & Vandenhole, W. (2025). Beyond legalist approaches to child, early, and forced marriage: Insights from Dodoma and Kondoa Districts in Tanzania. Journal of Human Rights, 24(4), 406–423.
• Erdem Türkelli, G. (2025). "Chapter 9 Bilateral Development Finance Institutions, Business and Extraterritorial Human Rights Obligations". In Business, Human Rights and Sustainable Development. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill | Nijhoff.
• Türkelli, G. E., De Feyter, K., & Kruger, T. (2024). Breaches of obligations arising from peremptory norms of international law: Consequences for institutional cooperation with universities in Israel. Antwerpen. 23 p.
• Türkelli, G. E., Kruger, T., & De Feyter, K. (2024). Ernstige schendingen van internationaal recht door Israël en gevolgen voor de Universiteit Antwerpen. Tijdschrift voor mensenrechten, 4, 8-17. ISSN 1379-0250.
• Vandenhole, W., Türkelli, G. E., & Lembrechts, S. (2024). Children's rights: A commentary on the CRC and its protocols. Edward Elgar. 616 p.

Jan Wouters is a Full Professor of International Law and International Organizations at KU Leuven, where he also serves as the Jean Monnet Chair ad personam in EU and Global Governance. He is the founding Director of both the Institute for International Law and the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies at KU Leuven. Furthermore he currently teaches EU external relations law as a Visiting Professor at Paris-II and the College of Europe. He is a member of the Royal Academy of Belgium for Sciences and Arts and holds the role of Of Counsel at Omega Law in Antwerp. He has authored or edited 80 books and contributed to over 400 journal articles and book chapters. His research spans international and EU law, global governance, and corporate and financial law.

Key publications:

• Hamid, L., Wouters, J. (sup.), Ryngaert, C. (cosup.) (2025). Protecting Human Rights in the State-Like Entities of the Pan-European Space: Between De Facto Control and State-Centrism.
• Grossi, Z., Wouters, J. (2025). The Judges, The Bench, and The Rules of Court. In: A Comparison of the European, Inter-American, African and Arab Human Rights Courts: Institutional Aspects, (25-49). The Hague, T.M.C. Asser Press. ISBN: 978-94-6265-695-6.
• Lissens, S., Wouters, J. (sup.), Pałka, P. (cosup.) (2025). The U.S. and EU approach towards personal data protection: “A collision of tides or a convergence of waves?” A legal exploration of the differences and convergences between the United States and the EU.
• Van Poecke, T., Wouters, J. (sup.), Verbruggen, F. (cosup.) (2025). Terrorism and Armed Conflict: A Transnational Criminal Law Framework.

Closing Plenary Roundtable

Martina Pignatti Morano is the Executive Director of Un Ponte Per, where she has focused on supporting social movements in the Middle East. Her work has involved organizing training sessions on human rights and active non-violence in several countries, including Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Ukraine. She holds significant positions in various peace-oriented organizations. She is the national representative of the Civil Peace Interventions Table and an active member of the Italian Peace and Disarmament Network, where she organizes campaigns to strengthen civil peacebuilding and support disarmament policies. Currently, Pignatti chairs the Ethics Committee of Banca Popolare Etica, teaches Peacebuilding and Peacekeeping courses at the University of Pisa and co-edits the academic journal Quaderni Satyagraha.

Key publications:

• Pignatti Morano, Martina. Unarmed Peacekeeping. Ferrara: Centro Gandhi, 2005. Series: Quaderni Satyagraha. 320 pages, paperback. ISBN/EAN: 9788875000127.
• Pignatti Morano, Martina. “New Pact for Europe – National Report – Italy.” In New Pact for Europe Project Reports, edited by European Policy Centre, 2017. Brussels: EPC.
• Un Ponte Per & partners. Civil Society Against War: Building Peace in the Middle East. Contributions by Martina Pignatti Morano et al. Rome: Un Ponte Per, 2018.
• Pignatti Morano, Martina. “North-East Syria, the Strength of a Civil Revolution.” HuffPost Italia, 2020. https://www.huffingtonpost.it/autori/martina_pignatti_morano/.

Madiha Fareed is a communications and human rights professional currently working with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as the Human Rights Officer for Punjab. In this role, she works at the intersection of policy, rights-based advocacy, and strategic partnerships; liaising with government counterparts, civil society actors, and international organizations to advance inclusive governance and rights-based development. Her journey also includes impactful roles with the UNOCHA, World Health Organization (WHO), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR).

Andrea De Domenico works as Head of OCHA Ukraine. Before joining Ukraine in December 2024, Andrea served as Head of Office in OCHA OPT where, during the last year, he managed the humanitarian response to the ongoing war. Before joining OCHA OPT in 2019 as Deputy Head of Office, Andrea worked in OCHA New York in the area of Humanitarian Financing, initially as Head of Unit (2011-2015) and then serving as the Chief of the Country Based Pooled Fund Section (2015-2019), contributing to the consolidation and the growth of the humanitarian funds. Between 2005 and 2011 he worked in OCHA DRC initially on planning and then moved to humanitarian financing, managing one of the first common humanitarian funds established by OCHA.

Issa Amro is a Palestinian human rights defender from Hebron, West Bank. He co-founded Youth Against Settlements and directs Working for Peace and Justice: Friends of Hebron. Recognized as a Human Rights Defender by the EU, he received the Right Livelihood Award (2024), the Franco-German Human Rights Prize (2024), the Harvard Law School Human Rights Prize, and the One World Media Award, and was named Human Rights Defender of the Year in Palestine by the UN OHCHR. Amro co-authored the play “How to Make a Revolution” and has been featured in New York Times Magazine, CNN, BBC, The New Yorker, and The Guardian. Amro is focused on community resilience and direct action in Hebron, and on international advocacy for Palestinian rights. In response to his peaceful community organizing, Amro has been arbitrarily detained, jailed, prosecuted and tortured by Israeli authorities. In 2025, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and listed in TIME Magazine’s 100 Next leaders.

Key publications:

• Amro, I. (2025, June 3). I told the truth about the West Bank and was threatened and assaulted. Now I’m relying on you to act. The Guardian — Opinion. The Guardian
• Amro, I. (2021, August 11) (with Zak Witus). It’s time for Jews to join Palestinians in civil resistance to the occupation. Forward — Opinion (co-authored). The Forward
• Amro, I. (2020, November 3). Rabin’s legacy is not peace. Forward — Opinion. The Forward
• Amro, I. (2019, August 15). Dear Reps. Omar And Tlaib: An Open Letter From A Palestinian You Won’t Get To Meet. Forward — Opinion / Open letter. 

Nello Scavo, has been a journalist for Avvenire since 2001. Over the years, he has investigated organised crime and global terrorism, reporting from many hot spots – from the former Yugoslavia to Cambodia and Southeast Asia, via the countries of the former USSR, Latin America, the Horn of Africa, the Maghreb and Ukraine. In September 2017, he infiltrated a clandestine prison run by Libyan people smugglers, reporting on the conditions of the trapped migrants. His investigations, which have inspired in-depth articles in international newspapers such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Le Monde, the BBC, CNN, Clarin, La Nacion, El País and others, have earned him numerous awards – including the CIDU Human Rights Award (2020), the Premiolino (2020), the Colomba d'Oro Peace Prize (2020), the Roberto Morrione Witness Award (2020), the Marco Luchetta International Award (2020), the Mario Francese Award (2020) and the Giuseppe Fava Award (2020). More recently, his commitment has been further recognised with the Buone Notizie Award 2023 and the Biagio Agnes Award 2024.

Key publications:

• Scavo, N. (2024). The Savior of Children: A Ukrainian Story. Milan: Feltrinelli.
• Scavo, N. (2023). Hands on the Coast Guard: How Politics Threatens the Independence of a Great Italian Institution. Milan: Chiarelettere.
• Scavo, N. (2022). Kyiv. Milan: Garzanti.
• Scavo, N., & Kaba, A. (2020). Slaves of the Militias. Lecce: Quarup.
• Scavo, N., & Ferrari, M. (2020). Fishers of Men. Milan: Garzanti.
• Scavo, N., & Cavalli, G. (2019). In Their Own Home. Milan: People.

Maria Fernanda Salas Jimenez is a Costa Rican researcher and journalist currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Human Rights and Multilevel Governance at the University of Padua in Italy. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Collective Communication Sciences with an emphasis in journalism and a Licentiate degree in Strategic Communication from the University of Costa Rica. Her work explores the intersections of politics, populism, gender, digital media, and climate change in Latin America. She is currently a Lancet Fellow for the Lancet Countdown Latin America, contributing to research on the health impacts of climate change and regional policy responses.

Key publications:

• Salas, M. F., Siles, I., & Carazo, C. (2023). Imaginarios de periodistas costarricenses sobre la inteligencia artificial y otras tecnologías digitales. Textual & Visual Media, 17(1), 61–75.
• Takahashi, B., & Salas, M. F. (2024). Localizing (or not) climate change in Spanish-language newspapers in the United States. Environmental Communication. Advance online publication.
• Takahashi, B., Amiden dos Santos, I., & Salas, M. F. (2025). Building Bridges: A narrative literature review of Spanish and Portuguese-language climate change communication scholarship from Latin America. Environmental Communication, 1-15.