Kalra Varma '00 Named Director of RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights
Monika Kalra Varma '00 was named as the new director of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights (RFK Center). Kalra Varma currently serves as acting director of the RFK Center and has worked with the organization for over four years, previously serving as program director.
Kalra Varma will oversee the Center's day-to-day operations and programmatic work. She will work with staff, board members, the Kennedy family, and volunteers to construct advocacy programs, which provide ongoing support to the Center's partners, the RFK Human Rights Award winners. She will also oversee the annual Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award honoring courageous grassroots human rights defenders.
"The RFK Center is a unique human rights organization with an agenda wholly driven by its partners, some of the most inspiring and innovative human rights leaders in the world. It is truly an honor to be able to lead the Center’s efforts to contribute to our partners’ social movements," said Kalra Varma.
Since joining RFK Center, Kalra Varma has spearheaded the Center's innovative economic and social rights advocacy and efforts to hold international financial institutions, donor states, and UN Member States accountable for human rights violations.
A human rights lawyer, Kalra Varma previously worked for the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in Hague, Netherlands as a legal officer. She also currently serves on the Editorial Board of Harvard-based François-Xavier Bagnoud’s Health and Human Rights: An International Journal.
RFK Center engages in long-term partnerships with human rights activists to initiate and enhance sustainable social justice movements. RFK Center works under the direction of partners on the ground using innovative tools to achieve sustainable change, including litigation, technical initiatives, advocating with governments, UN and other international entities and NGOs, and launching consumer awareness campaigns aimed at fostering corporate responsibility.
Press Release/April 16, 2007
Kalra Varma will oversee the Center's day-to-day operations and programmatic work. She will work with staff, board members, the Kennedy family, and volunteers to construct advocacy programs, which provide ongoing support to the Center's partners, the RFK Human Rights Award winners. She will also oversee the annual Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award honoring courageous grassroots human rights defenders.
"The RFK Center is a unique human rights organization with an agenda wholly driven by its partners, some of the most inspiring and innovative human rights leaders in the world. It is truly an honor to be able to lead the Center’s efforts to contribute to our partners’ social movements," said Kalra Varma.
Since joining RFK Center, Kalra Varma has spearheaded the Center's innovative economic and social rights advocacy and efforts to hold international financial institutions, donor states, and UN Member States accountable for human rights violations.
A human rights lawyer, Kalra Varma previously worked for the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in Hague, Netherlands as a legal officer. She also currently serves on the Editorial Board of Harvard-based François-Xavier Bagnoud’s Health and Human Rights: An International Journal.
RFK Center engages in long-term partnerships with human rights activists to initiate and enhance sustainable social justice movements. RFK Center works under the direction of partners on the ground using innovative tools to achieve sustainable change, including litigation, technical initiatives, advocating with governments, UN and other international entities and NGOs, and launching consumer awareness campaigns aimed at fostering corporate responsibility.
Press Release/April 16, 2007