Who we are
We are a group of driven experts with a track record of supporting child-friendly governance and child participation with a range of partners.
Board of Directors
Kasper Ottosson Kanstrup, Board Chair
Executive Director and Impact Consultant
-
Kasper Ottosson Kanstrup is Executive Director and Impact Consultant at UNLEASH GLOBAL, with a commitment to creating a better future with and for the next generation. He brings 15 years of leaderships experience in leading child-focused, international NGOs and philanthropies, including at the LEGO Foundation and SOS Children’s Villages, where he oversaw the development and implementation of programs, partnerships, and fundraising. He is passionate about child rights and committed to building strong partnerships to give children a voice in decision-making impacting their lives.
Bruce Adamson, Board Vice-Chair
Professor in Practice, Children’s Rights and Human Rights, University of Glasgow
-
Bruce Adamson is a human rights lawyer and since 2017 has been Children and Young People’s Commissioner of Scotland. Working directly with children he has secured legislative change in relation to the age of criminal responsibility, the physical punishment of children, and the incorporation of the UNCRC into Scots law. He has championed the role of child human rights defenders and worked extensively on children’s participation in UN mechanisms. Mr Adamson has worked as a human rights expert in over 20 countries for the United Nations, Council of Europe, European Union, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and NGOs. He was a Member of the Children’s Panel for 13 years, and has been the United Nations Representative for the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, Chair of the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children, and Chair of the Scottish Child Law Centre.
Cyril Haddad, Treasurer
Deputy Head of Compliance Onboarding
-
Cyril Haddad is the Deputy Head of Compliance Onboarding at a Swiss multinational private bank and financial services company. Trained as a lawyer (international, European and compliance law), Mr Haddad has more than 15 years of experience in compliance and risk management with several large banks. Mr Haddad has a strong commitment to children’s rights and development. Alongside his role as Treasurer at the Child Friendly Governance Project, he is a Board Member of Swiss4Ukraine, an association supporting Ukrainian refugees arriving in Switzerland.
Jeffrey Goldhagen, Board Member
Professor of Paediatrics, University of Florida-Jacksonville
-
Dr Jeffrey Goldhagen is Professor of Paediatrics and Chief of the Division of Community and Societal Paediatrics at the University of Florida-Jacksonville and President of the International Society for Social Paediatrics and Child Health (ISSOP). He has worked on numerous projects to ensure better child medical services and public health for children.
In his current role as the President of ISSOP, Dr Goldhagen works with a range of stakeholders to ensure that children have access to medical care and healthy lives and development. His work addresses issues such as violence against children, climate change, and child rights violations. Dr Goldhagen has extensive experience across various thematic areas of child health, rights, and participation, and has advocated for these issues globally.
Gerison Lansdown, Board Member
International Child Rights Expert
-
Gerison Lansdown is an internationally recognised child rights specialist and advocate, who has published and lectured widely on children’s rights. She has supported the Committee on the Rights of the Child with developing several General Comments to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and was involved in the drafting of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She has supported UN agencies, international NGOs, governments, and regional institutions in developing their child rights frameworks and strategies. Ms Lansdown founded the Children’s Rights Alliance for England and functioned as its director from 1992 to 2000. She is an adjunct professor at Carleton University Canada and University College Cork, has an Honorary Doctorate from the Open University, Carleton University and the University of East London, and an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Central Lancashire. She is on the editorial advisory board of the Canadian Journal of Children’s Rights.
Sonia Livingstone, OBE, Board Member
Professor of Social Psychology, London School of Economics
-
Sonia Livingstone, OBE, is Professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Much of Sonia’s research is concerned with children’s rights in the digital age. She currently directs the Digital Futures Commission (with the 5Rights Foundation) and the Global Kids Online project (with UNICEF). She founded the European Commission -funded EU Kids Online research network and is a #SaferInternet4EU Ambassador for the European Commission. Professor Livingstone has advised numerous governments and international organisations on children’s rights in the digital environment. Her publications include more than 20 books on the topic of child rights online, and the General Comment no. 25 on children’s rights in the digital environment.
Anne Mette Friis, Board Member
Project Lead, Bryd Tavsheden
-
Anne Mette Friis is Project Lead at Bryd Tabsheden, a Danish organisation that combats violence against children and young people, and a speaker and moderator large conferences with a focus on children's right to co-determination. Previously, Ms Friis was Director of National Programs with UNICEF Denmark, where she led the collaboration between government and child rights organisations in Denmark and the establishment of the Rights Respecting Schools and Child Friendly Cities programs in Denmark and Greenland. Ms Friis has also been Head of Programs at Denmark’s first children’s shelter Joannahuset and The Human Practice Foundation, and is member of Save the Children Denmark’s Executive Board. She has published numerous textbooks on children's rights.
Kavita Ratna, Board Member
Director of Advocacy, The Concerned for Working Children
-
Kavita Ratna is Director of Advocacy at the Concerned for Working Children, a non-governmental organisation working towards a better future for working children in India and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize thrice. She has worked at the organisation for over 30 years and with the International Movement of Working Children since its foundation in 1996. Beyond the working children’s movement, Ms Ratna is an internationally recognised resource person on child participation and contributed to the development of the General Comment no. 12 on children’s right to be heard. She has also worked with several international and national organisations including the Save the Children, SIDA, UNICEF, ECPAT – International, and ILO.
Child and Youth Advisory Board
Amine
Gabriel
Mahmoud
Lilou
Faisal
Rebeca
Jess
Aksel
Honorary Members
Laura Lundy, Honorary Member
Co-Director of the Centre for Children’s Rights and Professor of Children's Rights, Queen’s University, Belfast and Professor of Law, University College Cork
-
Professor Laura Lundy is a pioneer of the theory of child participation in decision making systems which affect them. She is Co-Director of the Centre for Children’s Rights and Professor of Children's Rights at Queen’s University, Belfast, and Professor of Law at University College Cork. She is Joint Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Children’s Rights and a qualified barrister at law. Professor Lundy’s ‘Lundy Model’ for child participation has been adopted by various institutions, including the European Commission, the World Health Organisation, and UNICEF. Professor Lundy has written extensively on children’s right to education as well as on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and supported the development of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child General Comment No. 19.
Secretariat
Louise Thivant
Executive Director
-
Louise Thivant-Johannsen is a driven child rights lawyer and international development specialist with twenty years of experience working with and for children in different development and humanitarian settings.
At the Child Friendly Governance Project, Louise oversees the daily operations and is responsible for partnerships and strategy development, conceptualisation of projects, and coordination with the Board. She provides strategic advice and technical support on policy, advocacy, and programs.
Prior to working with Child Friendly Governance Project, Louise led the transformation and revitalisation of the Child Friendly Cities Initiative, a global UNICEF program through which local governments strengthen the implementation of child rights. She oversaw the revitalisation of the initiative with the launch of the Child Friendly Cities Handbook, the first Child Friendly Cities Summit, and the launch of the Child Friendly Cities Inspire Awards. As a UNICEF representative, she steered the consultations with children and young people on the new EU strategy on the rights of the child together with four other child rights organisations. Louise also draws on experience with UNOCHA, civil society organisations, the Red Cross and the Danish and British Governments.
Zoe Speekenbrink
Expert
Reetta Mikkola
Participation & Program Manager
-
Reetta Mikkola is a social scientist passionate about child rights, child and youth participation, and effective communication in creating change. In her role at the Child Friendly Governance Project, Reetta manages the outreach and community portfolio, supporting child and youth engagement and evidence-based programming, notably monitoring, evaluation, and research on program impact. She supports program delivery and project management across the projects of the organization.
Prior to joining the Child Friendly Governance Project, Reetta worked for five years with UNICEF’s Child Friendly Cities Initiative, with a focus on child and youth engagement, communication, outreach, and program management. As a UNICEF representative, she coordinated the consultations with children and young people on the new EU strategy on the rights of the child together with four other child rights organisations.Before joining UNICEF, she worked in communications and journalism, including on turning complicated academic research into compelling advocacy and outreach.
Clara Mercier-Gavalet
Program Specialist
-
Clara Mercier-Gavalet is a lawyer and child rights specialist with an interdisciplinary and research-oriented academic background. She has a bachelor’s degree in international relations and international law, and a master’s degree in international law (LLM) from the University of Quebec (UQAM) in Montreal, Canada. Throughout her studies, Clara developed an interest in human rights law, migration studies, and child rights. Prior to joining The Child Friendly Governance Project, Clara was a research assistant at UQAM’s Law Department for several years. She contributed to research projects on international human rights law, international migration law, and global legal history. Before that, Clara also had the opportunity to acquire experience in child rights advocacy through an internship at UNICEF.
Amine Bidar
Program Assistant
-
Amine Bidar studies law in Rouen, France. He has led his own advocacy projects like Micro Vert on the human environmental impact, and Humanterview, a media giving a voice to homeless people. An advocate for child rights locally, he also organised a ‘no car day’ in his municipality.
Prior to joining the Child Friendly Governance Project, Amine was Youth Ambassador for UNICEF France and member of the national Youth Council, where he took part in launching a campaign on consent and advised the national Child Friendly Cities programme. As part of this work, he was actively involved in preparing and implementing the international Child Friendly Cities Summit in Cologne in 2019 and guiding the child consultations on the first European Union Strategy on the Rights of the Child in 2020 and 2021.
LinkedIn
Contact us
Child and Youth Friendly Governance Project
Maison de la Paix, Chemin Eugène-Rigot 2, CP 1672
1202 Geneva, Switzerland
+41 76 643 97 98
info@childfriendlygovernance.org
Our team is happy to answer your questions about our work and how we can help you. Please fill in the contact form below and we will be in touch as soon as possible.