Mobilizing Action towards the Global Compact on Refugees

Gillian Triggs

Assistant High Commissioner for Protection

UNHCR

Gillian Triggs is a UN Assistant Secretary-General and Assistant High Commissioner for Protection with UNHCR, taking up her appointment in September 2019. She is a public international lawyer who has held a number of appointments in service to human rights and the refugee cause, including as President of the Australian Human Rights Commission. Gillian oversees UNHCR’s protection work in support of millions of refugees, asylum-seekers, those who have been forcibly displaced within their own country and stateless. A dual national of Britain and Australia, Gillian has held a number of leadership roles, including as Director of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law in London, President of the Asian Development Bank Administrative Tribunal, Chair of the UN Independent Expert Panel of Inquiry into Abuse of Office and Harassment in UNAIDS, Dean of the Faculty of Law and Challis Professor (Emerita) of International Law at the University of Sydney, and Professorial Fellow of the University of Melbourne. Gillian has supported many not-for-profit groups, including most recently as Chair of Justice Connect, that connects 10,000 lawyers to provide pro bono advice to asylum-seekers and others needing legal support. She is also the author of many books and papers on international law, including ‘International Law: Contemporary Principles and Practice, (2nd ed. 2011) and Speaking Up (2018). In July 2021 Gillian was awarded a Ruth Bader Ginsberg Inaugural Medal of Honour in recognition of her fight for the rule of law and gender equality.

Shabnam Fayyaz

Employment Coordinator, Refugee Resettlement Program

International Rescue Committee

Born in Afghanistan, Shabnam Fayyaz lived the first nine years of her life in a refugee community in Quetta, Pakistan. After graduating from high school in Kabul, Shabnam spent two years in Bangladesh at the Asian University for Women studying English. Subsequently, she pursued her undergraduate studies at Earlham College in the U.S., where she majored in Peace and Global Studies with a concentration in law and justice. At Earlham, Shabnam was a member of the Women’s Cross Country and Track teams for four years. Awarded a Scholarship for Displaced Students, Shabnam pursued an M.A. in Human Rights Studies at Columbia University. Shabnam wrote her master’s thesis on “The Perceptions of Afghan Special Immigrant Visa Recipients Regarding their Integration into US Society”.  Since completing her studies, Shabnam has worked for HIAS and subsequently for the IRC, helping refugees resettle in NYC. Currently, she is running the main employment program for refugees.