Ryszard Komenda 

Ryszard Komenda 

Mr. Ryszard Komenda is a former Regional Representative for OHCHR Regional Office for Central Asia (ROCA OHCHR) in Bishkek. He was selected for this post in May 2016, after completing his job as the Senior Advisor on Human Rights to the UN Country Team in the Russian Federation, and worked for ROCA until 30 November 2022.

Mr. Komenda is a human rights lawyer with Master’s of Laws (LL.M.) degree in International Human Rights (University of Ottawa, Canada) and Magister Juris (University of Gdansk, Poland).  His professional career spans over the last twenty years advancing international agenda with relation to human rights, human security and gender equality.  The area of his expertise include: international human rights protection, international development, peace and security, gender and peacebuilding.

His professional assignments included the organizations such as the Canadian Red Cross Society, the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Canadian Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Canadian International Development Agency, the Council of Baltic Sea States; the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and the UN department for Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO).   Among others, Mr. Ryszard Komenda was the Head of Human Rights Office in Abkhazia, Georgia (UNOMIG) in November 2007, and held this position till the closure of the office in 2009.