Gulnara Shahinian

Founder, Democracy Today

Armenia

Gulnara Shahinian is the founder and Chair of Democracy Today, and an international expert on human rights and people trafficking. In 2004 Ms. Shahinian was elected Vice President of the Intergovernmental Commission to prepare COE convention on action against trafficking and was later elected Vice President of GRETA, the monitoring body of the convention. During the years 2008–2015, Ms. Shahinian served as the UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery. In 2011, with the help of her team, Ms. Shahinian established the First International Young Women’s Peace Prize in the legacy of writer and peace activist Anahit Bayandur.