Catalina Aguilar joins Ford's board - ITREALMS

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The Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Switzerland, Catalina Devandas Aguilar, has joined the board of Ford Foundation, reports ITREALMS.

Confirming this to ITREALMS, the President, Ford Foundation, Darren Walker, said "I am delighted to announce the election of our newest board member."

ITREALMS gathered that Devandas Aguilar has a long, distinguished history advocating for disability rights and inclusive development around the world. She served as the first UN special rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities from 2014-2020, before which she was a program officer for strategic partnerships at the Disability Rights Advocacy Fund.


Prior to that, she worked as the fund’s program officer for Latin America, the Middle East, and North Africa and was associate officer for social affairs at the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs in New York. She has also worked at the International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights and the World Bank.

Devandas Aguilar has been a powerful leader in the disability community for over 20 years. Born with spina bifida, she has drawn from her personal experience to tackle the injustices facing the one billion people around the world who live with disabilities. Her advocacy has created real, meaningful strides toward equality, and we are thrilled for her to join the board. The Ford Foundation will benefit tremendously from her commitment to human rights and social justice.