Mariefaye Bechrakis
Mariefaye holds an LLB (Bachelor of Laws) in Law with French Law from the UK (University of Surrey) and an LLM (Masters in International Law) from the Georgetown University Law Center. She carries with her extensive experience in the International Human Rights Law field, from the UN, NGO and Private sectors. She interned for the Third Committee on Human Rights at the Greek Permanent Mission to the United Nations during the 67th session of the General Assembly, where she was an integral part of the drafting and negotiation process of the Resolution on the “Return and Restitution of Cultural Property to their countries of origin”, adopted by an outstanding consensus by the General Assembly. She then continued work for the UNESCO liaison office in New York, where she represented UNESCO’s mandate on the 67th session Commission on the Status of Women.
Mariefaye also holds professional experience in the International Trade Law field, since she worked as a Compliance Officer for the Legal department of the second largest shipping company in the world (Mediterranean Shipping Company), where she dealt with complex International Trade issues and policies pertaining to the relations between the US and Sanctioned countries, such as Iran, Ivory Coast and Libya.
During her LLM studies, Mariefaye grew increasingly interested in the intersection of Business and Human Rights, and worked for an NGO based in Washington, DC (ICAR) as a Legal and Policy Intern. There, she conducted extensive research on the Burma Reporting Requirements, where she examined how multinational corporations could invest responsibly in developing countries, as well as the Human Rights implication that lifting sanctions has in post sanctioned countries such as Burma, Iran and Cuba. Her research revolved around the topics of gender discrimination in the workforce and child labor, to name a few. Her passion mostly lies in gender issues, which she will be heavily involved in at the Global Compact Network Canada.