Anikó Bakonyi

My interests have always centered around social justice, protecting, and empowering disadvantaged groups in society. In my professional life, I have worked with victims of human trafficking, Roma and Jewish Holocaust survivors and their families, and refugees arriving in Hungary from all over the world. 

Since 2010, I have been working for the Refugee Programme of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee. My work focuses on protecting the rights of refugees through human rights monitoring, counseling, advocacy, and reporting. I believe that those who are forced to flee should have access to protection and a chance at a new, dignified life. My hope is that through our work we make the voice of marginalized people heard. More importantly, we represent their interests – because human dignity belongs to everyone.

Since 2018, I serve as a board member of the Berlin-based  Civil Society Forum, with a membership of 180 organizations from the EU and Russia. I graduated from the Central European University with a degree in human rights and hold a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.