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Speaker

Dr. Vahard Patrice (Côte d’Ivoire) is the Representative of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Director of the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office and a member of the senior management team of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO). Dr Patrice is a world-renowned authority and lecturer on human rights, focusing on the right to development, economics and inequality. While in Guinea, Dr Patrice forged the first-ever partnership between the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Chambre des Mines and Institut Supérieur des Mines et de la Géologie to promote human rights in the extractive industry. He currently teaches courses on the right to development at the University of Costa Rica for diplomats and international civil servants and is a member of the African Union’s advisory group on the right to development.