SDG advisor · Communication · Event management · Project coordination
Advisor on human rights and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with more than 15 years of experience in project coordination, international event management, electoral observation and communication, including over 75 side events at the United Nations in Geneva.
Parastoo Fatemi advises NGOs, international organisations, universities, public institutions and media on putting internationally recognised human rights principles and the UN Sustainable Development Goals into practice in their programmes, events, communication, trainings and community engagement.
She combines project coordination, international event management, electoral observation, strategic communication and training with research and quality management. She has organised more than 75 side events at the United Nations in Geneva, appeared as an expert guest on international broadcasters, led trainings online and in person, and founded the non-profit association Raha in Austria.
Her background is in human rights, with a Master's degree from the University of Vienna. She is based in Vienna and works in English, German, Italian and Persian.
Graduation, Master of Human Rights, University of Vienna, 2018.
“Congratulations to one of our outstanding alumni Parastoo Fatemi, in her continuation in the fight for human rights.”
Human Rights Master programme, University of Vienna · Read the post ↗
I advise on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, linking them to human rights, quality education (SDG 4), gender equality (SDG 5) and reduced inequalities (SDG 10). My book on the right to education for children with disabilities and my work on women's rights and sustainability both build on this framework.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. Highlighted: my focus goals.
More than a decade as an expert guest on international broadcasters, plus radio production, journalism, copy editing, podcasts and social media content. I explain complex topics clearly to wide audiences.
75+ side events at the United Nations in Geneva, from concept and speakers to co-sponsors and the day itself. I also supported the Silk Routes meetings for member states and Interpol, and the First Migration Conference in Vienna.
Electoral fellowships and courses with the International Electoral Education Council, the Association of European Election Officials (ACEEEO) and the Electoral Court of Mexico City, in Pisa, Budapest, Istanbul and Mexico City.
Coordinated a three-year international project at Südwind in Vienna, including events, reports, sub-grants and a news website. Certified in project management (Google), Scrum (PSM I, PSPO) and quality management (DEKRA).
Trainings led online and in person for NGOs, activists and community groups, on human rights, information skills and organisational topics, plus talks at universities and public events.
Author of a book on the right to education of children with disabilities, co-researcher on a refugee integration study cited over 150 times, and writer of magazine articles.
For more than ten years, Parastoo Fatemi has worked at the United Nations in Geneva in different roles, and has organised more than 75 side events alongside sessions of the Human Rights Council.
In the Human Rights Council chamber, Palais des Nations, Geneva.
These events bring human rights topics before diplomats, UN experts, NGOs and the media. She manages the full process: concept and topic, speakers, co-sponsors, communication, and running the event on the day.
As Project Officer at Südwind in Vienna (2013–2015), she organised a parallel event at every Human Rights Council session for three years and coordinated the participation of guest speakers in Geneva.
All on behalf of Südwind Entwicklungspolitik.
Featured project · EU-funded · Südwind and UN Geneva · 2013–2015
As Project Officer, Parastoo Fatemi coordinated this three-year project funded by the European Union, working between the Südwind NGO in Vienna and the United Nations in Geneva.
Within the project, 18 human rights awards named Raha were given to human rights defenders in recognition of their work. The winners were chosen by a jury.
Featured event · UN Human Rights Council, Geneva · Südwind, 2013–2015
As Project Officer at Südwind, Parastoo Fatemi organised and chaired side events at the Human Rights Council on access to justice. Speakers included judges, lawyers and witnesses.
The events looked at how survivors and families of victims of past human rights violations can seek justice, and how they can work with United Nations human rights mechanisms.
Featured event · UN Human Rights Council, Geneva
Parastoo Fatemi organised a side event at the Human Rights Council on the role of art and sport in society and culture.
Speakers included Dr. Arash Azizi, Dr. Darya Safai, member of the Belgian Parliament, the well-known musician Esfandiar Monfaredzadeh, and a sports journalist.
Featured event · UN Human Rights Council, Geneva · Südwind
Parastoo Fatemi organised and chaired this side event together with IGLHRC, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (today OutRight International).
The director of the organisation took part, as did an assistant to Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, then UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran.
Featured event · Palazzo Reale, Milan · 18 December 2019
Parastoo Fatemi was invited to speak for Austria at the international conference of CIAK MIGRACTION, a project funded by the European Union. Held at the Royal Palace of Milan, the conference shared stories of inclusion and discussed perceptions, opportunities and new challenges of migration in Europe, with an international panel and a full audience.
Featured training · Südwind, Vienna · November 2019
For the EU-funded CIAK MIGRACTION project, Parastoo Fatemi organised and led a workshop and training for journalists from Austria, Italy, Hungary and Greece, countries that have received many migrants since 2015. She ran it as a Südwind staff member, in collaboration with the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).
Featured event · ICMPD · Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Hofburg, Vienna · 2017
Parastoo Fatemi was part of the organising team of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) for the Vienna Migration Conference, a high-level meeting of governments, international organisations and experts held at the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Hofburg in Vienna. Sebastian Kurz, then Austria's Foreign Minister, took part in the conference.
Featured event · University of Luxembourg · 16 June 2023
The University of Luxembourg invited Parastoo Fatemi as a speaker on human rights. The event was part of Our Story Is One, a global campaign on freedom of religion and the rights of religious minorities, and combined a panel with speakers in the room, speakers joining by video, and a photo and video exhibition.
Event page
Featured event · Filmmuseum Düsseldorf · 24 February 2023
Dr. Beate West-Leuer of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf invited Parastoo Fatemi to speak to a film audience about women's rights. The talk was later published as part of an academic journal article.
Read the journal article
Featured event · California State University, Long Beach · 2023
At a conference of Women of Iran for Sustainable Equality (WISE) at California State University, Long Beach, Parastoo Fatemi gave a speech on women's rights and sustainability. She spoke as a board member of WISE, alongside a panel of women speakers.
For more than a decade, international broadcasters have invited me as an expert guest to explain human rights topics to wide audiences.
Featured interviews · Hoghoogh-e Ma (Our Rights) magazine · 2019 · Persian
In two in-depth interviews, Parastoo Fatemi explained human rights standards to a Persian-speaking readership:
Book
A study of the barriers that keep children with disabilities from their right to education and equal access without discrimination.
That right is guaranteed by several international human rights conventions, and it is a key aim of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations.
Based on my Master's thesis in Human Rights at the University of Vienna, supervised by Ursula Naue. Read the thesis (DOI 10.25365/thesis.54018).
Author Parastoo FatemiPublished June 2019Publisher Mehri Publications ↗Language English
Featured article · Amnesty International Magazin Austria · June 2019
The story of Manijeh Tafaghod Rezaei, a woman with multiple disabilities from Tehran, and the barriers she overcame on her way to a self-determined life: at school, at university and in finding work. The article connects her experience with the right of persons with disabilities to full participation in society.
Written in German by Parastoo Fatemi, M.A. in Human Rights, as a member of the Amnesty network for women's rights.
Read the article (PDF)Research support: translation and fieldwork for the Refugee Health and Integration Survey (ReHIS), published as a book chapter by Kohlenberger et al. (Austrian Academy of Sciences Press; also via WU Vienna) and in the journal Health Policy (Elsevier). All research on Google Scholar.
For training, advising, project cooperation, speaking invitations or media requests, please send a message. You can write in English, German, Italian or Persian.
