international policy & human rights

Rangita de Silva de Alwis is a globally recognized international women's rights expert, scholar and practitioner with over 25 years of experience working globally on women’s human rights law, policy making and institutional reform. She is a Senior Adjunct Professor of Global Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School where she teaches International Women's Rights and the Policy Lab and directs the Global Institute for Human Rights. She is also currently a non-resident leader in practice at Harvard’s Women and Public Policy Program (WAPPP). 

Among many other positions, Rangita serves as a Distinguished Adviser to the Executive Director of UN Women on global women's rights and women's leadership. In 2017, she was appointed a Global Advisor to the UN Sustainable Development Goal Fund. In 2021, Rangita was appointed as a Hillary Rodham Clinton Fellow on Gender Equity at the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS). 

By appointment by the former Prime Minister of Australia, she serves on the Steering Group for the Global Gender and Leadership Index at King’s College, London. At the appointment of the World Bank's Legal Vice Presidency, Rangita serves as an Expert to the Access to Justice and Technology Task Force of the World Bank.