EquiTalks – Building Connected Communities: Heart, Humanity, and Defending Human Rights

Appointed in May 2020 to the role of United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, she holds the mandate during a critical time for human rights defenders due to the political and social challenges imposed by the pandemic. This appointment follows decades of commitment to human rights, as Ms. Lawlor became involved in the Irish branch of Amnesty International in 1975, leading the branch from 1988 to 2000. In 2001, she founded Front Line Defenders – International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, serving as Executive Director from 2001 to 2016. Ms. Lawlor is currently an Adjunct Professor of Business and Human Rights in the Centre for Social Innovation (CSI), School of Business, Trinity College Dublin, and has a BA in Philosophy and postgraduate degrees in Montessori Teaching and Personnel Management. 

She has over 30 years of experience working in child welfare and Indigenous children’s rights and has published more than 75 articles on topics relating to reconciliation, Indigenous theory, First Nations child welfare and human rights. Cindy was honoured to work with First Nations colleagues on a successful human rights challenge to Canada’s inequitable provision of child and family services and failure to implement Jordan’s Principle. This hard-fought litigation has resulted in hundreds of thousands of services being provided to First Nations children, youth and families.

She recently served on the Pan American Health Commission on Health Equity and Inequity and fundamentally believes that culturally-based equity is fundamental to meaningful reconciliation. Cindy is frequently sighted in the company of the Caring Society’s reconciliation Am-bear-rister, Spirit Bear, engaging children in meaningful actions to implement the TRC Calls to Action.

He is currently a doctoral student in international law at the University of Ouagadougou and is a human rights activist. He has participated on behalf of the MBDHP and the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues in several investigative missions on alleged cases of human rights violations. In this capacity, he regularly contributes to the monitoring of the human rights situation in Burkina Faso and to the drafting of several reports on human rights violations. In 2016, he participated in Equitas’ International Human Rights Training Program (IHRTP), and returned as a co-facilitator in 2019.

Her efforts have contributed to social and institutional change in Jordan, enhancing accessibility for people with disabilities. Hadeel was involved in launching the campaign ‘Sar Waqtha’ (It’s Time) at the University of Jordan which called for equal opportunity of right to education for people with disabilities through accessible infrastructure on campus. For this, she received the United Nations Volunteering/MBC Hope Award in 2015. 

Hadeel also lends her expertise through technical assistance and training to civil society and non-governmental organizations to ensure meaningful inclusion of people with disabilities. Hadeel is a former participant of Equitas’ International Human Rights Training Program (IHRTP) and was member of the Advisory Committee of Equitas’ Rawabet Initiative in Jordan, a capacity-strengthening program delivered from 2017 to 2021 that aimed to empower youth to create positive social change. 

He uses the health-based approach to advocate for equal access of care of key populations. In 2018, he participated in the Universal Periodic Review where he advocated for the decriminalization of discriminatory laws against LGBTI people in Cameroon. He is the Executive Director of Humanity First Cameroon Plus, a community-based organization with an ECOSOC United Nations status working to improve the rights and health of sexual minorities in Cameroon. He holds a Master’s degree in public health and is currently enrolled in an online Master’s program at University of Dundee where he studies Infection Prevention and Control, thanks to the Commonwealth Scholarship he received. He participated in the first cohort of Global Rights Connection in 2021, an Equitas online training. He is interested in using United Nations advocacy mechanisms to combat HIV and reduce discrimination against sexual and gender minorities in Cameroon and worldwide.