Steven L. B. Jensen, København, modtager den første Ester Boserup-pris for ph.d.-afhandlinger. Han belønnes for sin afhandling om menneskerettighederne efter 1945, hvor u-landene var mere i førertrøjen end vi tror.
Ofte hører man, at menneskerettighederne er en vestlig opfindelse, som vi forsøger at eksportere til resten af verden.
Men i 1960erne var det faktisk lande som Ghana, Liberia og Jamaica, der sikrede globale gennembrud for menneskerettighederne ved utrætteligt at holde større og mere magtfulde nationer til ilden.
Det viser forsker Steven L. B. Jensens ph.d.-afhandling “Negotiating Universality: The Making of International Human Rights, 1945-1993”, der nu hædres med Ester Boserup Thesis Prize 2015. Den uddeles af Copenhagen Centre for Development Research ved Københavns Universitet.
“Ester Boserups professionelle virke fra starten af 1930erne frem til 1990erne vidner om et imponerende og spændende livsforløb. Så det er selvsagt en stor ære at modtage denne pris”, siger 41-årige Steven Jensen, der officielt modtager hæderen senere på året.
“Det er også meget motiverende for min fremtidige forskning at modtage et sådant skulderklap,” lægger han til.
Han har siden 2007 været ansat på Institut for Menneskerettigheder i København.
Hans kernekompetencer er menneskerettighedernes historie (20 årh.), hiv/aids og sundhed, LGBT, FN-systemet og menneskeretsdiplomati.
Udviklingslande i førertrøjen
Ester Boserup-prisen er en af de fornemste priser, der uddeles indenfor udviklingsforskning, og i år gives der for første gang en pris for en ph.d.-afhandling i tillæg til den traditionelle Ester Boserup-pris, som går til en mere etableret forsker.
I begrundelsen for at give prisen til Steven Jensen lyder det:
“Jensen dokumenterer, hvordan det globale syd var helt afgørende for menneskerettighedernes gennembrud i de transformerende 1960ere i kølvandet på afkoloniseringen. Det udfordrer os til at genoverveje, hvor vestlige menneskerettighederne egentlig er. Hans afhandling er banebrydende.”
Forskningschef på Institut for Menneskerettigheder, Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen, glæder sig også.
“Stevens afhandling er bl.a. vigtig, fordi den viser hvilken rolle udviklingslande kan og bør spille i debatten om menneskerettighederne,” siger Gammeltoft-Hansen.
Steven L. B. Jensens afhandling bliver udgivet af Cambridge University Press senere på året.
Mere om prisen og navnkundige Ester Boserup (1910-1999) på
http://ccdr.ku.dk/eb_prize
Om Steven L. B.Jensen (på engelsk)
EDUCATION
University of Copenhagen 1993-2001
Degree(s) or diploma(s) MA in History with Anthropology minor (BA obtained 1997)
Institution Centre for Second World War Studies, University of Edinburgh 1999 – 2000
MSc by Research with Distinction
MEMBERSHIP OF PROFESSIONAL BODIES
Steering Committee Member for Aidsnet – Network of Danish Development NGOs
KEY QUALIFICATIONS
Main areas of expertise
HIV-related human rights and discrimination
LGBT-related human rights in national and international contexts
Human rights education and course training
Extensive experience with national human rights institutions and international human rights system
UN Reform
Harmonization and alignment
Civil society involvement in development
Strong research and analytical capacities
Steven L. B. Jensen has specialized in HIV/AIDS and human rights, human rights education and contemporary history and politics.
He has broad knowledge on national AIDS responses, UN reform, harmonization and alignment. He has been involved in project design, national strategic planning and generating strategic information and has worked extensively with national human rights institutions.
He has worked within the development field initially as Head of Section in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Department of Southern Africa) and for the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
Most recently he has been the HIV/AIDS Programme Manager for the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR).
As a trained historian he has prior to these assignments worked as a research assistant at the Danish Centre for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and has also worked as research assistant on projects on the history and politics of public health in Denmark in the 19th and 20th Century.
He has undertaken missions to a number of African, Asian and Eastern European countries and has lived in New Zealand, Scotland and Switzerland.
Among other things he has
Organised study tour for the Commissioners of the Uganda Human Rights Commission to meet with Danish and European experts on the human rights implications of the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill
written a Legal and Policy Framework Analysis for the project ““Safe Environment and Non-discrimination in Schools in Ethiopia (SENSE)” dealing with barriers to education for children.
been a Member of the official Danish delegation to UN General Assembly (UNGASS) high level meeting on HIV and AIDS, New York, June 2008;
has ben organiser of four regional workshops on “Integrating HIV/AIDS into the work of National Human Rights Institutions”, (East and Southern African, West and Central Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific) based on Handbook developed for NHRIs
has been Co-organizer of Iraqi Reconciliation Conference with high level political and religious leaders, Copenhagen, February 2008;
http://www.um.dk/da/servicemenu/nyheder/udenrigspolitik/copenhagenaccord.htm
has been Project Manager for network of East African academic institutions working on human rights;
has managed Technical assistance to UNAIDS country offices, including development of project documents and other types of support to planning of activities;
Co-managed external evaluation on the Implementation of the Global Task Team Recommendations on behalf of UNAIDS;
made analysis of country strategic information and reporting on global and national responses and UN reform at global and country level.
