ABOUT ME

I am a Human Rights lawyer with an expertise in children’s rights, gender equality, environmental law and sport policies. I am also a fiction writer and a tango dancer. I speak English, Spanish, French and some German. I am currently working as a Senior Advisor on the Integration of the Youth Perspective at the Council of Europe.

In this page I describe my career’s highlights, but you may find the “stories behind” section more fun to read.

In the Council of Europe

I have worked in the Council of Europe more than 25 years, leading amazing teams, designing strategies and developing legal standards, public policies, programmes and campaigns.

I have led programmes in the fields of environment protection, regional and minority languages, gender equality and violence against women, trafficking in human beings, children’s rights, and sport policies.

I am particularly proud of having designed two major transversal programmes in the Council of Europe: the Programme Building a Europe for and with Children and the  Gender Equality Programme.

During my career, I have very much focused on promoting child friendly services (justice, health, social services…), child participation and safe and empowering environments for children (at home, at school, in care and on line). The Council of Europe Guidelines on child friendly justice, on child friendly health care, on social services friendly to children and their families and on child participation count amongst the results of a terrific team work.

In 2016, Sport Policies became a pillar of my Department. With my team, I developed a strategy for the sector focused on the promotion of human rights for and through sport which inspired the revision of the European Sport Charter.

With the launching of the Start to talk Campaign to end sexual violence against children in sport, we built momentum for the promotion of safeguarding in sport.

From January to June 2025, I worked as Special Advisor on the Environment and led the drafting of the Council of Europe Strategy on the Environment, a Strategy focusing on the interplay between environmental protection, and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law.

…and in the UN

To get “the bigger picture”, I moved to New York to work in the United Nations as the Director of the Office of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on Violence against Children. 

Focus areas: the inclusion of the elimination of violence against children as a target in the 2030 Agenda, the promotion of national strategies and legislative reforms to prevent and eliminate violence; research on the prevalence and impact of violence and measures to address social norms and attitudes condoning violence; the elimination of sexual violence, bullying and physical and humiliating punishment; the promotion of child participation, children’s rights in the digital environment as well as facilitating cooperation amongst regional organisations .

Investing in communication

I believe in the power of compelling and empowering messages. Throughout the years, I have developed a strong expertise in advocacy and communication, including 15 years as a speechwriter for high profile figures. I really enjoyed conceptualising several international campaigns such as the One in Five campaign to stop sexual violence (featuring sweet Kiko) and the Raise your hand against corporal punishment campaign. 

I have also been a member of the Private Office of three Secretaries General and the main advisor of Deputy Secretary General Maud De Boer-Buquicchio.

Always as a team

I have led small and big teams, and worked with governments, UN agencies, civil society organisations, researchers, companies, survivors of abuse and outstanding independent experts. I particularly enjoy involving children and young people in our work. My call is to bring all these stakeholders to improve the world together.