Prof. Dr. Yvonne Donders is Professor International Human Rights and Cultural Diversity at the Department of International and European Public Law and (interim) Director of the Amsterdam Graduate School at the Faculty of Law of the University of Amsterdam. She is also elected member of the UN Human Rights Committee.
Previously Yvonne Donders was Head of the Department of International and European Law (2015-2022) and she worked as Commissioner at the Netherlands Human Rights Institute (2019-2022). From 2008 to 2015 she was the Director of the Amsterdam Center for International Law (ACIL). Prior to joining the University of Amsterdam, she worked as a Programme Specialist on human rights at UNESCO HQ in Paris (2003-2007).
Yvonne Donders is a regular consultant for UNESCO and for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. She is currently Chair of the Steering Committee of the Netherlands Network of Human Rights Research (NNHRR), Member of the Editorial Board and Executive Editor of the Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights (NQHR) and Chair of the Advisory Board of the “Shelter City” project for human rights defenders. Previous memberships include: member of the Human Rights Committee of the Advisory Council on International Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (AIV), member of the Board of the Royal Netherlands Society of International Law (KNVIR), and Chair of the Dutch United Nations Association (Nederlandse Vereniging voor de Verenigde Naties, NVVN).
Yvonne Donders graduated from Utrecht University in international relations and has done her PhD at the Law Faculty of Maastricht University on cultural human rights and the right to cultural identity. Her research interests include public international law; international human rights law, in particular economic, social and cultural rights and human rights and cultural diversity. She teaches courses on international law and international human rights law and gives lectures on international human rights, cultural rights and cultural diversity. Her publications can be found below under "publications".
Research interests include general public international law; international human rights law, in particular the advancement of economic, social and cultural rights; and human rights and cultural diversity.
Yvonne Donders teaches at the UvA Faculty of law the courses on "International Human Rights Law" (MA level); "Processes and Procedures of International Law" (MA level), "Fundamentele Rechten [fundamental rights]" (BA level), and she gives lectures in the courses "Principles and Foundations of International Law" (LLM Level) and Internationaal Publiekrecht [Public International Law] (BA level). She regularly gives guest lectures at Utrecht University, Tilburg University and the Rooseveld Academy in Middelburg, as well as at the University of Blanquerna (Barcelona).
Yvonne Donders was Visiting Professor at Osaka University, Osaka School of International Public Policy, Japan (September-October 2017) and at the Faculty of Law of the University of Paris II (May 2008).