Sheila Varadan

Sheila Varadan is a Senior Associate of Embode and is a qualified international human rights lawyer with close to fifteen years of experience working in the area of access to justice, child rights law, women's rights, rule of law, independence of the judiciary, and the right to remedy and reparations for gross human rights violations.

Sheila has worked directly with refugee populations, child survivors and human rights defenders in Thailand and within the region, coordinating and leading projects on access to justice and rule of law, independence of the judiciary, and accountability for human rights abuses and violations. Sheila headed the Global Legal Programme at ECPAT International where she coordinated a multi-country qualitative study on access to justice for child survivors of sexual abuse and exploitation. Sheila worked with the International Commission of Jurists where she led the Thailand and South Asia programme focusing on accountability for gross human rights violations and transitional justice in South Asia. Sheila has also worked with the International Rescue Committee where she led community-based programming to improve refugees' access to legal remedies and protection in the ethnic Burmese Refugee Camps on the Thai-Myanmar border. Prior to relocating to Thailand, Sheila acted as a criminal prosecutor on behalf of the Attorney General of Ontario in Canada where she specialized in domestic violence, sexual violence and juvenile justice.

After qualifying with the Law Society of Upper Canada in 2005, Sheila received a UK-Canada scholarship to complete barrister pupillage in London as a member of Middle Temple Inn. Sheila holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Guelph, a Bachelor of Common Law and a Bachelor of Civil Law from McGill University in Canada, and a Masters of Law in International Human Rights from the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom where she was a Chevening Scholar. Sheila is currently pursuing a doctorate in international child rights law at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

Click here to see Sheila's LinkedIn profile for further details.

Richard Owens, PhD

Dr. Richard Owens is an ecological anthropologist with over 17 years of experience in research, data collection and analysis with international field experience in Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico and the U.S.A. He has investigated multiple ecological anthropology topics including institutional property rights, agroecology, political ecology, and market access. Recent field work in Southeast Asia includes analysis of human trafficking and migration data across Thailand, Burma, Laos, and Cambodia.

Examples of his research includes a literature review of the oil palm labour supply chain in Malaysia and Indonesia, measuring and mapping modern day slavery in the Thai fishing industry, as well as analysing land investment strategies in highland smallholders and research on land grabbing in Southeast Asia. In addition to cultural research he has worked on archaeological projects in the US states of Montana, Utah and Georgia and has conducted research on the brown-headed cowbird in California.

Projects with Embode :

Assessing Accountabilities in relation to Migrant Labour in the Palm Oil sector in Malaysia

Scoping and Public Sentiment Review of top campaign-able issues across East Asia for Lush

Click here to see Richard’s LinkedIn profile for further details

Frédéric Thomas, PhD

Dr Frédéric Thomas is an international economist and technical expert with over 15 years experience working on supply chain analysis and responsible business with a focus on tourism as well as child exploitation.

An Associate Professor in Tourism Economics at the University of Paris 1 - Pantheon-Sorbonne, Frédéric is a French national and has lived in Cambodia, Thailand, Senegal and worked in over 15 countries for agencies such as the World Bank, the International Trade Centre, UNWTO, UNCTAD, the EU as well as several NGOs.

Of particular note, currently living in Senegal, Frédéric has spent over 5 years working in Africa (Senegal, Benin, Mali, Ghana, Burkina Faso, the Gambia and Uganda) and 10 years in South East Asia (Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Lao PDR and Myanmar). He has strong practical field experience and has extensive networks in the area of economics, supply chain analysis and the global tourism industry.

Projects with Embode :
National Situational Assessment of Child Labour and Child Slavery in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana

Click here to see Frederic's LinkedIn profile for further details.

Korotoum Doumbia

Korotoum is a senior consultant in sustainable development and specializes in sustainable agriculture. She has more than 12 years experience in the cocoa sector and is competent in undertaking research, assessments, capacity building and training activities.

In 2013, Korotoum founded K'Origins aiming to promote sustainable development in mining, agriculture and industry sectors in Cote D ivoire and West Africa. K’Origins’ major clients include Utz Certified, Fairtrade International, OLAM, Cargill and Barry Callebaut.

Before founding K’Origins, Korotoum held various posts with international agencies. This included posts such as an auditor and Liaison Officer for West Africa in FLO (Fairtrade International), a Child Protection Officer with the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Cote d Ivoire, a Cocoa Programme Manager at Solidaridad and a Certification Programme Manager at Cemoi.

Projects with Embode:

National Situational Assessment of Child Labour and Child Slavery in Côte d'Ivoire

Click here to see Korotoum's LinkedIn profile for further details.

Jana Sillen O’Gorman, LL.M

Jana Sillen O’Gorman is a child protection and anti-trafficking specialist with twelve years’ experience in Europe, Southeast Asia and West Africa.

Jana holds a Masters degree in Law from Maastricht University in the Netherlands. Her work with Save the Children, ChildFund, ECPAT, War Child UK, UNICEF and UNFPA focused on supporting trafficked, refugee and separated children, children on the move and children in conflict with the law. Jana has a strong understanding and expertise of international and regional standards on children's rights and throughout her career, has represented and assisted many survivors of child trafficking, exploitation, early marriage and gender-based violence as well as children affected by armed conflict. She has a strong record of professional publications and solid skills in managing research and analysis for thematic reports, proposal development and evidence-based studies to support policy dialogue and advocacy – in both English and French.

In 2011, Jana moved to Gambia to manage a two-year project with Childfund, enhancing the national child protection system to prevent and respond to child trafficking. She is well-versed in providing strategic technical guidance and support on child protection issues to senior government officials, criminal justice professionals, police and security agents, colleagues and partners.

Projects with Embode :
Development and preparation of a project proposal for an initiative against child trafficking for World Vision Ghana

Click here to see Jana's LinkedIn profile for further details.

Simon Baker, PhD

Simon Baker undertook his PhD on child labour and has worked on issues related to child prostitution, child labour, human trafficking, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, migration and livelihoods for over 20 years in Asia.

He has focused on operational research, surveys, population size estimates of trafficked victims, among children in sexual exploitation, female sex workers, trafficking victims, migrant workers, men who have sex with men, injecting drug users and at-risk youth. His work includes getting communities to develop edutainment materials related to health, and estimating changes in livelihoods. Simon’s extensive M&E experience includes developing M&E frameworks for social development programming, conducting research to inform and monitor programme implementation, and implementing independent outcome evaluations on regional and global programming for a range of clients.

Simon has worked with agencies across the development sector, including Child Workers in Asia, ECPAT, Save the Children, Acting for Life, Plan Thailand, World Population Foundation, Knowing Children, UNESCO, ADB, UNICEF, ILO, UNFPA and UNIAP.

In addition, he has been an advisor to organisations working on commercial sexual exploitation of children, such as ECPAT, World Vision’s Project Childhood Prevention Pillar programme and for Prevent Human Trafficking Institute (PHI) programme activities in Thailand and Cambodia.

Projects with Embode :

National Situational Assessment of Child Labour and Child Slavery in Indonesia

Click here to see Simon's LinkedIn profile for further details.

Anna Sakreti Nawangsari

Anna Sakreti has 16 years of operational and strategic experience working as a Senior Social Worker in Indonesia across issues of domestic violence, sexual harassment, human trafficking, migrant workers, child labour, internally displaced persons, and psychosis.

She has undertaken direct casework with hundreds of victims of domestic violence, sexual harassment, trafficking, and psychosis. This has included providing direct counselling, support through referral mechanisms, and advocacy with government, non-government, and international organisations. Anna has used this experience to develop the concept and analysis of a psycho-social database of trafficked victims. At policy level, Anna has worked in advocacy and strengthening of referral mechanisms in relation to human trafficking. This has included building and coordinating a network of government and NGOs across Indonesia and internationally.

Due to her expertise, Anna has provided technical consultation to the Indonesian government over a number of years on laws on domestic violence and human trafficking. Anna has also undertaken social research; using both quantitative and qualitative methods, on internally displaced persons, child and maternal health, community development, prostitution, and social development. She is a credible trainer having developed and delivered training modules on human trafficking, gender, and violence nationally.

Projects with Embode :

National Situational Assessment of Child Labour and Child Slavery in Indonesia

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Eunju Jeong

Eunju Jeong specialises in consulting on Human Rights Impact Assessments and Human Rights Due Diligence in business operations and development cooperation projects with NGO-business collaboration. In her role as Program Manager for the Korean Human Rights Foundation she actively contributed to the development of national human rights policies of South Korea commissioned by the national human rights institution (NHRCK), international cooperation agency (KOICA), and other organisations. She also coordinated numerous human rights trainings and consultations for NGOs, development organisations, as well as for the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission and business corporation. She also has conducted field research visits to Cambodia, Bangladesh, Thailand and the European Union. She has also engaged in national policy advocacy in international forums such as the RIO+20, the UN HRC monitoring and the Forum on Business and Human Rights.

Eunju holds BA in sociology and economics, and is currently undertaking the E.MA (European Master) in international human rights law at the European Inter University Centre for Human Rights and Democratization (EIUC) and the University of Nottingham.

Projects with Embode:

Scoping and Public Sentiment Review of top campaign-able issues across East Asia for Lush, led by Love Frankie