RightsTalk: Marta Maurás biography
Marta Maurás is a member and Vice President of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, elected by States Party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child for the period 2009-2013. She is an independent consultant in social policy, human rights and international relations.
During 2008, Maurás was the Special Envoy of UNICEF for Latin America and the Caribbean. Before that she served for two years as Secretary of the Commission at the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Between 1998 and 2005 she was called to serve in the Office of Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan as Director for Economic and Social Affairs. As such she contributed to the reform agenda of the UN, the Millennium Summit and the establishment of the Millennium Development Goals; she coordinated the SG’s programme against HIV/AIDS and helped organize the General Assembly Special Session on the subject; participated in the design of peace operations in Kosovo, East Timor and Iraq; coordinated the implementation of an annual joint programme of exchanges with the European Union, among others. From 1992 to 1998 she was the UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, based in Bogotá, Colombia, leading key changes on the adoption of child rights and introducing modern management practices. Her association with UNICEF started in 1974 serving as regional adviser on women’s affairs in Latin America and the Caribbean based in Santiago, Chile, senior planning officer in Pakistan, Representative in Mozambique and Swaziland and Chief of the Sub-Sahara Africa Section in Headquarters, New York.
Maurás is Chilean, sociologist from the Catholic University of Chile, holds certificates on Public Administration from the University of Connecticut and in Ontological Coaching from the Newfield Institute. She is a member of the Council of Fundación Chile21, a Chilean think tank on public policies and is a director in the Board of Latinobarómetro, the opinion poll on democracy in the region. She is a member of the Council of ComunidadMujer, a women leadership NGO and member of the Board of South-North Development, an international NGO promoting social venture capital. She speaks Spanish, English, French and Portuguese. She has one daughter and two grandsons.
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Sociologist/Licenciada en Sociología, Catholic University of Chile.
Certificate in Public Administration, University of Connecticut, USA .
Diploma in Ontological Coaching, The Newfield Group, USA.
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
2009-2013 Member of the United Nations Committee on Child Rights
2008 UNICEF Special Envoy for Latin America
2005 - 2007 Secretary of the Commission, UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Santiago, Chile
1998 – 2005 Director for Economic and Social Affairs in the Office of the UN Secretary-General and Director of the Office of the UN Deputy Secretary-General, NewYork, USA
1992 – 1998 Regional Director, The Americas and Caribbean Regional Office, UNICEF, Bogotá, Colombia
1988 – 1992 Head of Africa Section, UNICEF, New York, USA
1984 – 1988 UNICEF Representative for Mozambique and Swaziland, Maputo, Mozambique
1980 – 1984 Senior Planning Officer, UNICEF, Islamabad, Pakistan
1977 – 1979 Project Officer, UNICEF Regional Office, Santiago, Chile
1974 – 1977 Consultant, UNICEF Regional Office, Santiago, Chile
1972 – 1974 Lecturer and Researcher, Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Catholic University of Chile
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
“Derechos de la Infancia, Supervivencia y Desarrollo, y Políticas Públicas”, a ser publicado en Revista DNI, Costa Rica, junio 2009.
“La Adolescencia y la Juventud en las Políticas Públicas de Iberoamérica” Revista FORO Chile 21, julio 2008. Año 8 – N°77.
“An Era of Women’s Leader’s Rising?” International Women’s Forum Global Conference, Buenos Aires, May 4-6, 2008.
“Políticas Públicas y Protección Integral de Niños y Niñas”, VI Encuentro de Gobernadores y Gobernadoras por la Infancia, la Adolescencia y la Juventud, Hechos y Derechos. Paipa, Colombia. Junio de 2008.
