Ashfaq Khalfan is an international

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

in human rights law, Director of the Law and Policy Programme at

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

, and Chair of the Board of Governors of the

Centre for International Sustainable Development Law The Center for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL) is an international legal research center that promotes sustainable societies and the protection of ecosystems. The CISDL is led by a Board of Governors and guided by a roster ...

Education

Khalfan completed his undergraduate studies at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

, in Montreal and continued on to complete a

Bachelor of Civil Law Bachelor of Civil Law (abbreviated BCL, or B.C.L.; la, Baccalaureus Civilis Legis) is the name of various degrees in law conferred by English-language universities. The BCL originated as a postgraduate degree in the universities of Oxford and Camb ...

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

. Following his studies at McGill, he received a

DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

from

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth-oldest college of the un ...

Professional career

Khalfan started as an Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Policy Coordinator with

in 2009 and late became a researcher and advisor for the Obligations Beyond Borders Project in 2014. In 2015, Khalfan was appointed Director of the Law and Policy Programme. Previously, Khalfan directed the Right to Water Programme at the

Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) was a Geneva-based international non-governmental organisation founded in 1994 by Scott Leckie as a foundation in the Netherlands (Stichting COHRE). Offices At its height in 2008, COHRE maintain ...

and acted as a consultant for the

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nati ...

, and

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (English: ''German Agency for International Cooperation GmbH''), often simply shortened to GIZ, is the main German development agency. It is headquartered in Bonn and Eschb ...

(GIZ). From 2000-2010, Khalfan was Director of the

. Much of Khalfan's research focuses on issues related to adequate access to clean water and sanitation, and advancing social justice.

Publications

Khalfan has contributed to nearly 20 books, articles, and reports. Representative publications include: * ''Accountability Mechanisms'' in Malcolm Langford, Wouter Vandenhole, Martin Scheinin and Willem van Genugten, eds., Global Justice, State Duties: The Extraterritorial Scope of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in International Law (Cambridge University Press, 2013). *
Commentary to the Maastricht. Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
' Human Rights Quarterly, Vol. 34, No. 4 (Nov. 2012), with Olivier De Schutter, Asbjørn Eide, Marcos Orellana, Margot Salomon and Ian Seiderman. *
From Promises To Delivery: Putting Human Rights At The Heart Of The Millennium Development Goals
' (Amnesty International, 2010). *
Manual on the Right to Water and Sanitation
' (SDC, AAAS,

UN-HABITAT The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the United Nations programme for human settlements and sustainable urban development. It was established in 1977 as an outcome of the first United Nations Conference on Human Settlem ...

and COHRE, 2008) * ''Sustainable Development Law: Principles, Practices and Prospects'' (Oxford University Press, 2004), with

Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger is a full professor, senior executive, an international expert in policy, law and governance on climate change, biodiversity, human rights, trade, investment and financial law and the world's Sustainable Development ...

References

External links

12th December 2014 - Ashfaq Khalfan: Human rights NGOs: How we have an impact, SICMAmnesty condemn Trump's pledge to keep Guantanamo open; Turkey trial, AP Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khalfan, Ash Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century jurists Amnesty International people McGill University Faculty of Law alumni Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford