Julian Burger teaches the optional module ‘Human Rights in Latin America’ at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, Human Right Consortium of the School of Advanced Study, University of London. Julian Burger has undertaken academic fieldwork in Chile and Brazil and wrote his PhD thesis on cycles of poverty in the north-east of Brazil.

One of the pioneers of indigenous peoples rights, Julian Burger has a life-long experience working for the UN on human rights issues and for twenty years was the Head of the Indigenous Peoples and Minorities Programme at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). He ,worked directly with indigenous peoples and Afro-descendant organizations in the region, helping establish technical cooperation activities, training governmental officials in human rights and initiating dialogue between governments and civil society on human rights themes. Prior to this, Julian was Deputy Director of the Independent Commission on Humanitarian Issues (ICIHI), a think tank established by the UN General Assembly to propose new approaches on humanitarian issues. He also held a position as Director of Research at Anti-Slavery International. Before leaving the UN in 2010, he began a series of intergovernmental workshops on uncontacted indigenous peoples in the Amazon and Chaco regions. One of the main legacies of Julian Burger’s work is on the involvement of indigenous peoples in debates and action touching climate change, environmental governance and sustainability.

Julian Burger