The Equality and Human Rights Action Centre (ACTEDO) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) established in Cluj-Napoca in 2013 with the goal of promoting fundamental rights and gender equality and acting against human rights violations.
Through legal assistance, advocacy, informative and educational activities, ACTEDO contributes to preventing and combatting abuse against the members of our society who are vulnerable to discrimination and social exclusion, supporting them to exercise their rights fully and in complete equality with others.
We contribute to social change by supporting all citizens, especially vulnerable ones, to enjoy dignity, equal treatment and opportunities in all aspects of their public life.
ACTEDO is a member of the European Pro Bono Alliance, coordinated by the international organization PILnet and which brings together civil law firms and European NGOs that practice and promote the pro bono movement.
ACTEDO is part of the Coalition for Gender Equality, an informal network of feminist NGOs in Romania, which promotes gender equality and opportunity, through education and advocacy.
Executive Director
Alexandra Columban is a human rights practitioner, with over 9 years’ experience in advocacy, project management, research and public policy, in particular in the fields of non-discrimination, gender equality, LGBTQIA rights and victims’ rights. She is currently the association’s Executive Director, managing ACTEDO and implementing its strategic directions.
Alexandra has two BAs, in International Relations and European Studies, and in Norwegian and English Language and Literature, respectively, as well as an MA in History of Ideas from Babeş-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca. Alexandra loves travelling, dancing, learning new languages, and has a keen interest in evolutionary biology and psychology.
LEGAL ASSISTANT
Ioana has been studying Law at Babeș-Bolyai University since 2016 and is passionate about human rights and social justice. In 2015 she took part in the project “Grundtvig-Real Life Language Learning”, which brought together refugees in Romania, students and teachers in various school activities, an experience which motivated her to get involved with human rights and to join The Pro Bono Network for Human Rights.
Ioana is passionate about history and tradition and is a big animal lover, especially dogs. In her free time she does modeling, a hobby which has given her the opportunity to travel in all corners of the world.
Financial manager
Oana has over 5 years experience in project and financial management in the private sector, including the non-profit sector. At ACTEDO, she is responsible for financial management and budget administration. Oana has a degree in economics, experience in the NGO sector and interests in entrepreneurship and innovation. Oana loves riding her bike, live concerts, dancing, relaxing in a hammock and neurosciences.
FOUNDING MEMBER
Ioana is a political scientist specialized in international human rights law and practice. She currently works as an Advisor at the Danish Institute for Human Rights, Denmark’s national human rights institution, where she supports the development of partnerships, trainings and provision of technical advice on business and human rights. She previously implemented research and advocacy projects at the International Organization for Migration, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Amnesty International in Geneva and London.
She holds a PhD in Political Science/International Relations from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva) as part of which she conducted fieldwork regarding socio-environmental conflicts related to mining operations in Peru. Her hobbies include hiking, dancing, going to film festivals and wandering in bookshops.
FOUNDING MEMBER
Adela Dumbrăvan is a human rights professional with major interests in the protection and promotion of human rights, European law and public international law, conflict prevention, and civil society participation in decision-making processes. She holds a BA in Law from the Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and is a graduate of the Erasmus Mundus MA in Human Rights Practice, offered jointly by Roehampton University (UK), University of Gothenburg (Sweden) and Tromsø University (Norway). Adela has gained significant knowledge of EU policies during a legal traineeship with the European Parliament and has previously worked with the Romanian Peace Institute (PATRIR) as a conflict researcher. She contributed to research pieces for the Overseas Development Institute’s European Development Cooperation Strengthening Programme, Fair Trials International and Insight on Conflict.
Her passions include ballroom dancing, reading and discovering new cultures and identities.
FOUNDING MEMBER
Ioana is a political scientist specialized in international human rights law and practice. She currently works as an Advisor at the Danish Institute for Human Rights, Denmark’s national human rights institution, where she supports the development of partnerships, trainings and provision of technical advice on business and human rights. She previously implemented research and advocacy projects at the International Organization for Migration, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Amnesty International in Geneva and London.
She holds a PhD in Political Science/International Relations from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva) as part of which she conducted fieldwork regarding socio-environmental conflicts related to mining operations in Peru. Her hobbies include hiking, dancing, going to film festivals and wandering in bookshops.
FIRST PRIZE IN THE ''YOUTH COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT'' CATEGORY at the Romanian Youth Gala
november 2017, Bacău
FIRST PRIZE IN THE ''YOUTH COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT'' CATEGORY at the Romanian Youth Gala, organised in Bacău, November 2017 by the Ministry for Youth and Sports.
The prize was awarded to the team behind the #SpuneDrept campaign during Cluj Pride 2017: the LGBTQIA activists now members of the NGOs PRIDE Romania and PRISMA, Go Free Association and ACTEDO. The first edition of the LGBTQIA community festival in the heart of Transylvania was built around the online campaign #SpuneDrept (which roughly translates to #SayItRight/ #SayItTruthfully), which gathered the community and their allies, who, through video messages, expressed their solidarity and support for equal rights regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Moreover, through the #SpuneDrept march, LGBTQIA people lay a claim to the public space of Cluj and exercised their right to free assembly.
EUROPEAN AWARD FOR LOCAL PRO BONO IMPACT at the European Pro Bono Forum
17 november 2016, Amsterdam
The prize honours the best local legal project in the European Union. It was awarded by PILnet – The Global Network for Public Interest Law, one of the biggest international organizations that promotes the rule of law and human rights through legal instruments. A jury of law specialists and civil society leaders at a European level chose The Pro Bono Human Rights Network as the winner out of 17 remarkable pro bono initiatives across EU Member States.
THIRD PRIZE FOR DEFENSE OF INDIVIDUAL/ COLLECTIVE RIGHTS at the Civil Society Gala
6 june 2016, Romania
Since 2002, the Civil Society Gala has promoted and has annually celebrated the activity of the nonprofit sector in Romania. Our project, The Pro Bono Human Rights Network, was selected from a total of 13 projects submitted in the category “Defence of Individual/ Collective Rights”. The jury consisted of leaders and opinion-makers from civil society and the non-profit sector, journalists, sociologists, researchers, public figures, and representatives of the private sector.
ACTEDO’s website was updated in the project INTEGRIS: Integrated Support for Human Rights, implemented by the Equality and Human Rights Action Centre (ACTEDO), in partnership with the Centre for Legal Resources (CLR). The project benefits from a 197.716,41 euros grant from Active Citizens Fund Romania, programme funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants Grants 2014 -2021. The content of this website does not necessarily reflect the official position of the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021; for more information visit www.eeagrants.org. More details about Active Citizens Fund Romania are available at www.activecitizensfund.ro.
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