Members of the Board of Trustees of the VFTC

The BoT is currently composed as follows:

Ms. Nozipho JANUARY-BARDILL (South Africa) - Chairperson

Ms. Nozipho JANUARY-BARDILL is a human rights expert and activist in racial justice, gender equality and sustainable development. She has vast experience in the fields of corporate communications, stakeholder management, high level government relations and business and human rights. Her solid technical cooperation experience gained from her experience as an activist senior diplomat, as an advocate for renewable energy and on the development of policies related to climate change is well known. She served as a Member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racism, Racial Discrimination, xenophobia and related Intolerance for twelve years. Her expertise supporting expansion of understanding of the key role of civil society meaningful participation in advocating for change and transformation has been acknowledged through numerous Governmental and non Governmental positions. Her mother tongue is English. Ms. Nozipho January-Bardill was appointed as VFTC Board Member by the Secretary-General in January 2021.

Ms. Cecilia Jimenez-Damary (Philippines)

Ms. Cecilia Jimenez-Damary is an international human rights lawyer with more than three decades of experience in human rights advocacy, international humanitarian law, forced displacement, migration, and transitional justice. She served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, where she worked with governments, international organizations, and civil society actors to strengthen the protection of internally displaced persons and promote the implementation of international standards on displacement. Throughout her career, she has advised intergovernmental organizations, humanitarian and human rights NGOs, national human rights institutions, and government ministries on human rights law, policy, and practice. She has also held positions with the Association for the Prevention of Torture and the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre of the Norwegian Refugee Council and contributed to studies supporting the reform of the UN human rights system. Currently, she is a Senior Professional Lecturer at De La Salle University, teaching Transitional Justice, Human Rights, and Public International Law.

Ms. Maggie NICHOLSON (United Kingdom)

Ms. Maggie NICHOLSON’s (United Kingdom) entire working life has been in international human rights. A lawyer by training, she began in 1975 in Amnesty International’s International Secretariat, London. She moved to New York in 1981 to assist in the consolidation of the organisation’s representation at UN HQ. From 1988 to 1992, she served as Director of Operations of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (now Human Rights First) before heading to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, where she worked for 14 years, chiefly on human rights cooperation programmes, and eventually headed the Organisation’s Division of Field and Information Offices. Ms Nicholson joined UN OHCHR in 2006, as Chief of the Europe and Central Asia Section in the Field Operations and Technical Cooperation Division. After four years in post, she was transferred to UN HQ as Deputy Director of the New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, from where she retired in March 2012. Since then, Ms Nicholson has drafted human rights-related reports for the United Nations and the Council of Europe, undertaken several election observation missions, including to Ukraine and North Macedonia, and worked with the Government of Georgia on the country’s National Plan for the Protection of Human Rights. She currently serves as Independent Person for Ribble Valley Borough Council (NW England) on issues relating to the Code of Conduct for councillors. Ms Nicholson, who is from the UK, studied law at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Mr. Dainius PŪRAS (Lithuania)

Mr. Dainius PŪRAS (Lithuania) is professor of child psychiatry and public mental health at Vilnius University, Lithuania. Since 2018 he is director of the Human rights monitoring institute – NGO based in Lithuania. Among positions he was holding, he was President of Lithuanian Psychiatric Association, Dean of Medical Faculty of Vilnius University, President of Baltic Association for Rehabilitation. During the years 2007-2011 Dainius Pūras was a member of the UN Committee on the rights of the child. During the years 2014 – 2020 he was serving as a UN Special Rapporteur on the right to physical and mental health. Prof. Pūras has been actively involved in national and international activities in the field of developing and implementing evidence-based and human rights based health-related policies and services, with special focus on children, persons with disabilities, persons with mental health conditions and other groups in vulnerable situations, as well as in issues related to promotion of mental health and prevention of all forms of violence. His main interest is management of change in the field of health-related services regionally and globally, with main focus on operationalization of human rights based approach through effective policies and services.

Mr. Federico Villegas (Argentina)

Mr. Federico Villegas is an experienced Argentine diplomat, former UN Human Rights Council President, and Ambassador to Mozambique with over 15 years of experience in multilateral negotiations, human rights, and international trade. From 2020 to 2024, he served as Argentina’s Permanent Representative to all international Organizations in Geneva, presiding over key UN bodies including the UN Human Rights Council (2022), the UNCTAD Trade and Development Board, and the Arms Trade Treaty Conference. Previously, he was Argentina’s Ambassador to Mozambique (2016-2020) and Director General of Human Rights at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, leading delegations to the UN Human Rights Council. His earlier roles include serving as Director General of Human Rights at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2012-2016), where he led Argentina’s delegation to the UN Human Rights Council and worked with international organizations such as International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). His career reflects a deep commitment to advancing human rights, multilateral diplomacy and global cooperation.