MAUD DE BOER-BUQUICCHIO

THE NETHERLANDS/ITALY

Maud de Boer-Buquicchio is a Dutch and Italian citizen and a law graduate from Leiden University.  Her career at the Council of Europe since 1969 evolved around the European Convention on Human Rights, first with the European Commission on Human Rights and from 1998 as Deputy Registrar to the European Court of Human Rights.

In 2002 she was elected Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe for a 5-year mandate, renewed in 2007. She served in this capacity until 2012. In 2014 she was appointed UN Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children for a 3-year term, renewed once. 

Throughout her mandates, she has focused her work on combating violence, and the promotion of the rights of the most vulnerable groups, especially children, advocating for a holistic and integrated approach towards the issue of eliminating all forms of violence against children and respect for children’s rights.

She also spearheaded the development and adoption of three key Council of Europe Conventions, namely, the Convention on action against trafficking in human beings, the Convention on the protection of children from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, and the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

Her role as UN Special Rapporteur centered on country visits and thematic surveys, addressing root causes and proposing institutional, policy and legislative responses to prevent and address the sale and sexual exploitation of children in its different manifestations.

She is involved in the governance of numerous international child rights’ and safeguarding related organizations and initiatives. She has extensively published and has given lectures in the above areas.

In 2022, Pope Francis appointed her a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.