Catalina Crespo has been the Head of the National Human Rights Institution of Costa Rica since 2018. In 2021 she was elected as the President of the Human Rights Council of Central America, where she developed and coordinated a migration flows project with over 20 Human Rights Institutions of Latin America and the Caribbean. Dr. Crespo has worked as a gender and youth advisor for governments and international organizations, including for the Ministry of Public Education and the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Costa Rica, the Ministry of Environment of Madagascar, The World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank. She is also the co-author for the UN/World Bank report “Pathways for Peace: Inclusive Approaches to Preventing Violent Conflict”. Additionally, she worked as a professor at the Department of International and Transcultural Studies at Columbia University. Dr. Crespo has an undergraduate degree in Psychology, a Masters in International Education, and a PhD in Sociology.
Catalina Crespo will participate in the World Justice Forum working session Ombuds Institutions’ Role in Contributing to Access to Justice and SDG 16