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UN Representative and Senior Legal Adviser

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Sandra Epal-Ratjen is the UN Representative and Senior Legal Adviser of the International Commission of Jurists.

From April 2023, Sandra Epal-Ratjen is the UN Representative and Senior Legal Adviser of the International Commission of Jurists.

From 2016 to 2023, she served as International Advocacy Director and Deputy Executive Director of Franciscans International. She has extensive experience and expertise in international legal and advocacy processes, especially pertaining to Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

She also served as Senior Legal Advisor in the Legal and Policy Office of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) in Geneva, heading the Program on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Before joining the ICJ, she worked for over 10 years for Food First Information and Action Network (FIAN) International — an international NGO specialized on the right to adequate food.

She holds a Master’s degree in Public Law and International Relations from the University of Grenoble, France. She has published extensively on the issues of human rights, development and access to justice, and regularly lectures at universities and academic institutions—e.g. The Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, the University of Neuchâtel, the American University Washington College of Law, and others.