Ms. Lalla Soumia Bouhamidi currently serves as Acting President of the Executive Committee of the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe and took up her duties as Consul General of the Kingdom of Morocco in Strasbourg in October 2025. Ms. Bouhamidi has built an extensive diplomatic career having previously served as Acting Director of the African Affairs Department at the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Consul General in Montpellier, and Deputy Ambassador in London, among other key positions. Ms. Bouhamidi's expertise encompasses international diplomacy, conflict resolution, peace and security, human rights, and the foreign policy of Morocco. She holds a Master’s degree in International Studies and Diplomacy and a degree in International Economic Relations.

Dr. Claus Neukirch took up his duties as Director of Programme Co-ordination at the Council of Europe on 1 November 2022. Prior to this appointment he served as Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova and Head of the Council of Europe Office in Tirana. During his career in multilateral diplomacy Dr. Neukirch worked moreover with the German OSCE Delegation during the German OSCE Chairpersonship 2016, the OSCE Secretariat and the OSCE Mission to Moldova. He holds a PhD in political science from the University of Hamburg.

Mireya García de Murcia is an international human rights lawyer specialising in children’s rights. She currently works as a legal advisor to the Lanzarote Committee Secretariat and has been part of different units within the Council of Europe Children’s Rights Division since 2021. Previously, she worked at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with NGOs and in academia.

María Asensio Velasco is an international human rights lawyer specialising in children’s rights. She currently manages the Barnahus projects in Spain and Ireland within the Children’s Rights Division of the Council of Europe. Previously, she was part of the Secretariat of the Steering Committee for the Rights of the Child (CDENF).

Mr Bragi Guðbrandsson is an Icelandic expert in children’s rights and child protection policy, known internationally for pioneering the Barnahus (Children’s House) model and for his work in shaping international standards and cooperation at the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and Council of Europe Lanzarote Committee.

More information

Maria José Castello-Branco is currently Chairperson of the Lanzarote Committee, responsible for monitoring and promoting the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse. She has held this role for the past four years, guiding international cooperation and policy on child protection.

Maria José has a legal background and a long-standing career in public administration, and is presently working at the Portuguese Ministry of Justice. She has significant experience addressing issues related to child sexual abuse and exploitation, contributing to legal and policy measures at both national and international levels.

Hon. Sabrina Gahar is a Member and current Chairperson of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) and Special Rapporteur on Children on the Move within the ACERWC. She is also a United Nations Independent Expert on the Committee for the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW–OHCHR), serving as focal person on the protection of migrant children. A clinical psychology professor at the University of Algiers 2, she has over 34 years of experience defending children’s rights, leads a trauma research team, and holds leadership roles in national child rights and health promotion bodies. She has collaborated with UNICEF Algeria, contributed to national child protection reports, and served two terms on the National Council for Human Rights as rapporteur on women, children, and vulnerable persons.  

Candice Harris is the National Lived Experience Lead at Bluestar Project and was previously Lived Experience Consultant at The Lighthouse, the UK's first Barnahus.

She has extensive experience co-designing and co-facilitating therapeutic groups for non-abusing parents whose children have been affected by child sexual abuse, partnering closely with Clinical Specialists to create supportive, compassionate spaces. Drawing on her own story, she helps professionals understand the lasting impact of sexual abuse and speaks openly with young people and parents — holding the weight of trauma alongside hope and the possibility of a full life.

Candice delivers trauma-informed training across a wide range of services, including paediatric teams, the Metropolitan Police, and NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. As an internationally recognised speaker, she presents at conferences worldwide, dedicated to challenging stigma, driving change, and elevating the voices of young survivors.

She is the author of Indescribable, a powerful memoir recounting her childhood sexual abuse, written from the perspective of the ages at which the abuse took place. She co-hosts the podcast Conversations We've Never Had and co-developed the QUILT Model, a new framework for healing and hope after sexual trauma.

George Katrougalos is professor of public law at Democritus University of Thrace, former foreign minister of Greece. He is Vice-President of the International Association of Constitutional Law (IACL), with expertise on Human Rights, Comparative Constitutional Law, Democracy, Social Rights and Social Policy.

Katrougalos completed his law degree in Athens Law Faculty and his Master’s degree and Ph.D. in Paris I, Pantheon Sorbonne. He has taught at many universities in Europe, USA and Asia. He has been Emil Noel Fellow and Senior Emile Noel at New York University (2007 and 2012) and visiting professor at Roskilde University (1994-1995), as a fellow of the Danish Academy of Science. He has practiced in international tribunals, advised governments and the Council of Europe and worked on institution building in many countries in Europe and Asia. He has published extensively in Greek, American and European legal reviews.

Katrougalos served as member of the European and the Greek Parliament, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, State Minister for European Affairs, Minister of Labor and Social Solidarity and State Minister for Administrative Reforms. He was President of the Unified European Left at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and President of the Sub-Committee on the Arab World and the Middle East of PACE.