United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced on 04 March 2024 the appointment of Najla Nassif Palma of Brazil as Victims’ Rights Advocate for the United Nations. She succeeds Jane Connors of Australia, to whom the Secretary-General has expressed his appreciation for her service and commitment as the Organization’s first Victims’ Rights Advocate.
As Victims’ Rights Advocate, Ms. Nassif Palma will build on the efforts of her predecessor to further the United Nations' commitment to putting the rights and dignity of victims of sexual exploitation and abuse at the forefront of its prevention and response efforts.Â
She brings to the role 25 years of experience as a civilian federal prosecutor of military crimes and violence against women, where she has been instrumental in fostering collaboration between the military and civilian justice systems, implementing international humanitarian law, and ensuring a comprehensive approach to combating sexual exploitation and abuse. Her holistic vision will guide the United Nations’ prevention and response initiatives, to ensure they remain victim-centered and effective.Â
Ms. Nassif Palma is currently a Civilian Federal Prosecutor in the Brazilian military justice system. Over her career, she has taken on advisory roles as Ombudsperson (2023-2024) and Coordinator for Women's Rights (2022-2024), Coordinator of the Institutional Diversity and Inclusion Policies (2021) and Commissioner for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (2018-2022) of the Brazilian Military Prosecutor’s Office. She has also served as Coordinator of the “Dialogue between the Federal Military Prosecution Service, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense on the criminal responsibility of peacekeepers” (2015-2022), and a member of the technical cooperation committee of Brazil to elaborate the first military criminal code of Angola (2014-2017).
As an international humanitarian law scholar, Ms. Nassif Palma has made significant contributions as the Director of the Brazilian Institute of Military and International Humanitarian Law (2018-2024), and as the Education Coordinator at the Superior Federal Prosecution School (2010-2014).
She holds a Masters of Laws (LLM) in International Humanitarian Law from the Geneva Academy, Switzerland and a Bachelor in Law from Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO) in Brazil. She is fluent in Portuguese, English and French.
