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Kersty McCourt

Kersty McCourt

Kersty McCourt is a human rights lawyer and advocate with over eighteen years’ experience leading human rights, justice reform and civil society programs. For the last 12 years she led advocacy programmes at Human Rights Watch and the Open Society Justice Initiative and from 2017-2020 was the co-chair of the Human Rights and Democracy Network in Brussels.

From 2005, Kersty was Head of Mission for the Danish Institute for Human Rights in Rwanda and subsequently developed access to justice programmes for DIHR across several countries. She qualified as a solicitor with Taylor Wessing Solicitors in London and is a member of the Law Society of England and Wales.

She has a degree in Biological Sciences and a Master’s in Human Rights and Democratization. She has designed and taught master’s courses on human rights defenders at the Global Campus for Human Rights in Venice, Yerevan, and Beirut.

Authored Content

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Kenya

Five Lessons for Civil Society Collaboration

Civil society plays an essential role in democratic societies, leading to more ambition, stronger policies, and better results. See five important insights from a Democratic Freedoms Learning Network webinar on the importance of civic space.

Estonian open gov reformers at OGP event in Tallinn

Four Steps to Build Dialogue Between Government and Civil Society

How can governments build a more constructive relationship with civil society? Get started with four steps outlined by OGP members at a recent Democratic Freedoms Learning Network here.

Open Government Partnership