The annual Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture, jointly hosted by the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation and Uppsala University, is given in memory of Dag Hammarskjöld. It recognises individuals who exhibit the values that inspired him personally and as Secretary-General: compassion, humanism, and commitment to international solidarity and cooperation.
The Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation and Uppsala University are honoured to present Dr Agnès Callamard as the 2021 Dag Hammarskjöld Lecturer. The speaker’s biography can be found below.
2021 Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture
Agnès Callamard
Dr Agnès Callamard is Secretary General at Amnesty International. She leads the organisation’s human rights work and is its chief spokesperson. She is responsible for providing overall leadership of the International Secretariat, including setting the strategic direction for the organisation and managing relations with Amnesty International’s national entities.
Agnès has been a prominent figure in the human rights world for decades. In 2016, she was appointed as the UN Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary killings. Along with her UN work, Agnès was also the Director of Global Freedom of Expression at Columbia University in New York.
Previously she was Executive Director of the freedom of expression organization Article 19. She returns to Amnesty after 20 years, having previously held the role of Chef de Cabinet for then Secretary General Pierre Sané. As a leading advocate for freedom of expression, a feminist and an anti-racism activist, she pushes out the frontiers of rights through her scholarship and advocacy.