Hassan Shire (Chair)

Hassan Shire was the founder and co-director of Dr. Ismail Jumale Human Rights Centre and Chairperson of Peace and Human Rights Network in Mogadishu, before he was forced to flee his native Somalia. In 2005 Mr. Shire founded the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project and became the elected Chairperson of the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network. (EHAHRDN) and currently serves his second term (2011-2016). For a number of years, Mr.Shire has served as the coordinator of the African Human Rights Defenders Project at Centre for Refugee Studies, York University, Canada. He also engages actively as the Chairperson of Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights; UN Human Rights Council and Community of Democracies. In addition he is an active member of the World Movement for Democracy, Board member of Centre for Civil and Political Rights (Geneva) and Bar-Kulan Radio (Mogadishu) among others. Hassan has read Political Science and Economics at the University of Delhi and M.A.Economics at JMI New Delhi before developing scholarly/practitioners interest in International and Regional Human Rights Defenders Protection Mechanism at York University, Canada.