Priscilla Hayner has received degrees from
Earlham College
Earlham College is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana. The college was established in 1847 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and has a strong focus on Quaker values such as integrity, a commitment to peace and social ...
and the School of International and Public Affairs at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
.
She is best known for her expertise on
truth commissions and
transitional justice, and has focused her work on official truth-seeking measures in political transitions around the world.
Hayner has worked as a consultant at the
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...
and the Office of the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
High Commissioner for Human Rights. She also served as a program officer for the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation, where she focused on international
human rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
and global security.
In 2001, she co-founded the
International Center for Transitional Justice
The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) was founded in 2001 as a non-profit organization dedicated to pursuing accountability for mass atrocity and human rights abuse through transitional justice mechanisms.
ICTJ officially ope ...
(ICTJ), an international human rights NGO. She directed this organizationâs work on
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...
,
Peru
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,
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
, and a number of other countries.
Hayner has written widely on the subject of
truth-seeking Truth-seeking processes allow societies to examine and come to grips with past crimes and atrocities and prevent their future repetition. Truth-seeking often occurs in societies emerging from a period of prolonged conflict or authoritarian rule. The ...
. In 2001 she published the book ''Unspeakable Truths: Confronting State Terror and Atrocity'', examining the work of over 20 truth commissions worldwide.
She has further shared her expertise on multiple broadcasts, including
BBC Northern Ireland Radio,
BBC World Service,
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
,
SABC
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations ( AM/ FM) as well as six television broadcasts to the general public. It is one of the largest of South Africa's stat ...
in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
, and
STAR Radio and UNMIL Radio in
Liberia.
"Distinguished Lecture Series"
, ''Institute for Peace & Justice''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayner, Priscilla
Living people
International law scholars
American human rights activists
Women human rights activists
American officials of the United Nations
Earlham College alumni
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)