ICC Prosecutor Appoints Special Gender Advisor

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Press International Criminal Court - ICC - Release: 21.08.2012

ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda Appoints Brigid Inder, Executive Director of Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice, as Special Gender Advisor

International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced the appointment of Brigid Inder as her Special Gender Advisor. With more than 25 years of experience working in the international justice, women’s human rights and health fields as a strategic leader, policy advisor and advocate for women’s human rights and gender equality, Ms. Inder will provide strategic advice to the Office of the Prosecutor on gender issues, including sexual and gender-based violence.

“Further integrating a gender perspective into all areas of our work and strengthening recognition of the gendered nature of sexual violence is a priority for my office. Ms. Inder is a renowned expert on gender issues and brings to this post a deep knowledge of the cases, policies and the institutional history of the ICC” said Prosecutor Bensouda.

In making this appointment, the Prosecutor thanks Ms. Catherine MacKinnon, the outgoing Special Gender Advisor. Prosecutor Bensouda said Ms. MacKinnon has been a dedicated and tireless defender of gender justice whose work has contributed to the Office’ progressive gender policies.

Ms. Inder, from New Zealand, is the Executive Director of the Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice, an international women's human rights organisation that advocates for accountability for gender-based crimes through the ICC and domestic mechanisms, and also promotes gender justice issues within post-conflict peace negotiations and local justice processes.

“Ms. Inder’s experience as a policy and gender advisor to UN negotiations in the global policy arena, and her hands-on experience for the past decade working with women and communities affected by armed conflicts highlights the priority I am placing on strengthening cooperation between local women’s groups and my office,” said the Prosecutor.

Ms. Inder will advise Prosecutor Bensouda on gender issues across the work of the OTP. Her immediate priority will be to further strengthen the institutional approach to a range of gender issues and support office-wide strategic responses to gender-based crimes.

Special Advisors to the OTP are individuals with recognised expertise in their field, who provide advice to the Prosecutor at his or her request or on their own initiative on training, policies, procedures and legal submissions. They work on a pro-bono basis and sign a confidentiality agreement with the ICC.

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND

Ms. Inder has led the development of international justice initiatives including legal monitoring and strategic advocacy programmes. She has overseen the submission of several filings before the ICC highlighting the rights of victims, the importance of prosecutions for gender-based crimes, and gender and reparations issues. Ms. Inder has also developed and implemented programmes ensuring the involvement of women in peace negotiation efforts in Uganda and Sudan and has conducted assessments on the impact of violence on women and girls in countries in armed conflict. She has designed conflict-related documentation initiatives on gender-based crimes, protection responses for women’s human rights defenders and assistance programmes for victims/survivors of gender-based crimes.

She was recently featured in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 2012 Yearbook. Ms. Inder has worked in the Asia-Pacific and Africa regions particularly in Bangladesh, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and Uganda. She has been a recognised political advisor and advocate on gender issues during UN negotiations on major policy areas including population and development, the rights of the child, HIV and AIDS, and women’s rights and gender equality.

She is the immediate past President of the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID); was previously the Executive Director of Community Legal Centres, New South Wales; the Executive Director of the YWCA of Aotearoa-New Zealand; and Manager of HIV and AIDS Services and Programmes at the AIDS Council of NSW (ACON) in Australia.

Ms. Inder has authored and co-authored numerous women’s rights articles and publications including most recently the Gender Report Card on the ICC (2005-2011, Editor and co-author); The ICC, Child Soldiers and Gender Justice (Author, November 2011), and Partners for Gender Justice (Author, chapter, forthcoming publication 2012).

Source: Office of the Prosecutor