Professor Yanghee Lee

Professor Yanghee Lee, is a national of the Republic of Korea and Professor Emeritus at Sungkyunkwan University, Department of Child Psychology and Education. She has founded and is current President of International Child Rights Center. She is highly recognized nationally, regionally, and internationally for her expertise in human rights. Professor Lee has more than 20 years of experience in human rights: UN Committee for the Convention on the Rights of the Child for 10 years and has served as its chair for 2 terms (2007-2011). From 2014 until 2020 she served as the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar. Professor Lee has served as the Chairperson of Chairpersons of Treaty Bodies (2010 – 2011) as well as the Chairperson of the Coordinating Committee of Special Procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council (2016-2017). She has been the guiding force in the drafting, negotiation, and adoption of the 3rd Optional Protocol to the CRC on a Communications Procedure. Within the Special Procedures Mechanism, Professor Lee has been instrumental in establishing the Fact- Finding Mission on Myanmar (FFMM) and the Independent Investigative Mechanism on Myanmar (IIMM). She is the recipient of many recognitions and awards, including the Order of Civil Merit, the highest recognition given to a civilian, for her work in human rights. Professor Lee founded (2021) the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M) with two former members of the Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar. She has recently been elected as a member of the Board of Governors of the East-West Center (August 2023), University of Hawaii.