Ariela Blätter
Partner
ariela[AT]strategyforhumanity.org
Ariela Blätter is a Partner at Strategy for Humanity. A human rights and humanitarian lawyer, she has over 20 years of government relations experience lobbying at the local, national and international levels. Her areas of expertise include humanitarian law, genocide and mass atrocity prevention, conflict response, violence against women, early and forced child marriage, child protection, and the role of faith-based interventions.
In 2007, Ariela was appointed by former Secretaries Madeleine K. Albright and William S. Cohen to the US Genocide Prevention Task Force as an expert on early warning. She is currently serving as adjunct faculty at the School of International Service at American University in Washington DC, and has published peer-reviewed scholarly articles on issues related to international peace and security.
Ariela has directed policy and advocacy at Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), Citizens for Global Solutions and Refugees International. In these roles she has had a strong track-record in securing advocacy deliverables through drafting multiple pieces of legislation and testimony, holding briefings and generated hearings in the committees of record. She has twice served as a Permanent Representative to the United Nations, where she successfully advocated for the establishment of the International Criminal Court, and the inclusion of video-link testimony for survivors of sexual assaults and the adoption of a witness protection unit on gender-based crimes in the Rome Treaty. During a recent term, she was involved in the negotiations on the Arms Trade Treaty and the International Criminal Court Assembly of States Parties and the Kampala Review Conference.
While serving as the founding director of AIUSA’s Crisis Prevention and Response Center, she was able to take a new program from inception through to implementation, creating a platform that fostered cross-cutting work between policy, programs and grassroots membership. She directed strategic operations and designed advocacy campaigns on the crises in Darfur/Sudan, Iraq, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia, Haiti, Nepal and the US Gulf Coast hurricane “Katrina” disaster. Through this work and the strong coalitions that were formed as a result, AIUSA was able to impact human rights crises at home and around the world.
Since 2005 Ariela has been involved in developing a real-time warning system for human rights and humanitarian violations. In 2007 she launched the “Eyes on Darfur” project, which received both the IAC award and Webby Award for best advocacy website, demonstrating that technology and advocacy efforts can merge to create meaningful change. On this project and others Ariela was a frequent commentator in the media on BBC, NPR, CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, Al Jazeera, AFP, AP, The Washington Post/Magazine, and many other global media outlets.
Ariela has a proven track record of securing foundation grants for non-profit organizations. In one instance she obtained over $1.8 million in generous grants from Oak and the MacArthur foundation through which she was able to secure Amnesty International’s place as the first human rights organization to engage in preventative conflict and displacement monitoring though the use of commercial satellite technologies.
At Strategy for Humanity, Ariela's clients have included ChildFund International, International Development Law Organization, American Jewish World Service, CARE, Oxfam America, Amnesty International USA, Human Rights First, Physicians for Human Rights, Freedom House, CIVICUS, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, Global Women's Institute at George Washington University, Thriive, Center for International Policy, Clergy Beyond Borders, Physicians for Human Rights, and a large foundation that chooses to remain anonymous.
Ariela's publication include:
Peer reviewed articles: "The Responsibility Not to Veto," Global Responsibility to Protect, Vol.3, No.3 (2011), "A reply to Levine," Global Responsibility to Protect, Vol.3, No.3 (2011) and "The Responsibility to Protect as International Crimes Prevention," Global Responsibility to Protect, Vol.4, No.1 (2012)
Field reports: Horn of Africa: Not the time to look away
White papers: “The Responsibility Not to Veto: A Way Forward”
Blogs: “The World’s First Presidential Genocidaire?” Open Democracy Online Think Tank, and “Bashir's Prosecution Will Not Ruin the Chances for Peace in Darfur” Atlantic-Community Online Think Tank.
In 2007, Ariela was appointed by former Secretaries Madeleine K. Albright and William S. Cohen to the US Genocide Prevention Task Force as an expert on early warning. She is currently serving as adjunct faculty at the School of International Service at American University in Washington DC, and has published peer-reviewed scholarly articles on issues related to international peace and security.
Ariela has directed policy and advocacy at Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), Citizens for Global Solutions and Refugees International. In these roles she has had a strong track-record in securing advocacy deliverables through drafting multiple pieces of legislation and testimony, holding briefings and generated hearings in the committees of record. She has twice served as a Permanent Representative to the United Nations, where she successfully advocated for the establishment of the International Criminal Court, and the inclusion of video-link testimony for survivors of sexual assaults and the adoption of a witness protection unit on gender-based crimes in the Rome Treaty. During a recent term, she was involved in the negotiations on the Arms Trade Treaty and the International Criminal Court Assembly of States Parties and the Kampala Review Conference.
While serving as the founding director of AIUSA’s Crisis Prevention and Response Center, she was able to take a new program from inception through to implementation, creating a platform that fostered cross-cutting work between policy, programs and grassroots membership. She directed strategic operations and designed advocacy campaigns on the crises in Darfur/Sudan, Iraq, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia, Haiti, Nepal and the US Gulf Coast hurricane “Katrina” disaster. Through this work and the strong coalitions that were formed as a result, AIUSA was able to impact human rights crises at home and around the world.
Since 2005 Ariela has been involved in developing a real-time warning system for human rights and humanitarian violations. In 2007 she launched the “Eyes on Darfur” project, which received both the IAC award and Webby Award for best advocacy website, demonstrating that technology and advocacy efforts can merge to create meaningful change. On this project and others Ariela was a frequent commentator in the media on BBC, NPR, CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, Al Jazeera, AFP, AP, The Washington Post/Magazine, and many other global media outlets.
Ariela has a proven track record of securing foundation grants for non-profit organizations. In one instance she obtained over $1.8 million in generous grants from Oak and the MacArthur foundation through which she was able to secure Amnesty International’s place as the first human rights organization to engage in preventative conflict and displacement monitoring though the use of commercial satellite technologies.
At Strategy for Humanity, Ariela's clients have included ChildFund International, International Development Law Organization, American Jewish World Service, CARE, Oxfam America, Amnesty International USA, Human Rights First, Physicians for Human Rights, Freedom House, CIVICUS, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, Global Women's Institute at George Washington University, Thriive, Center for International Policy, Clergy Beyond Borders, Physicians for Human Rights, and a large foundation that chooses to remain anonymous.
Ariela's publication include:
Peer reviewed articles: "The Responsibility Not to Veto," Global Responsibility to Protect, Vol.3, No.3 (2011), "A reply to Levine," Global Responsibility to Protect, Vol.3, No.3 (2011) and "The Responsibility to Protect as International Crimes Prevention," Global Responsibility to Protect, Vol.4, No.1 (2012)
Field reports: Horn of Africa: Not the time to look away
White papers: “The Responsibility Not to Veto: A Way Forward”
Blogs: “The World’s First Presidential Genocidaire?” Open Democracy Online Think Tank, and “Bashir's Prosecution Will Not Ruin the Chances for Peace in Darfur” Atlantic-Community Online Think Tank.
