Tirza is an an international human rights jurist, advocate and independent consultant, who cares about making a difference in the world and in the lives of others. Her key interests include criminal justice reform, penal reform, justice for children and supporting persons who have been wrongfully convicted or detained in Asia and the US.
She has worked over a decade in Asia (Bangladesh, Mongolia and Nepal) for various organisations including UNICEF, UNDP, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and The Asia Foundation.
As part of her justice work, she conducted policy, advocacy and legislative reform related to justice for children, including the drafting of legislative amendments; advocacy for the implementation of international standards and developing strategic partnerships with other agencies for joint cooperation. She has developed and conducted multi-sectoral capacity building programs for judges, prosecutors, lawyers, probation officers and law enforcement personnel on international human rights, child rights, justice standards and restorative justice practices. She has provided technical assistance to national government agencies on the implementation of international human and child rights treaties and provision of legal aid services. For her work, she has visited children in detention, care institutions, refugee camps and slums.
A key area of focus in Tirza’s work has been to develop and implement politically informed programs, conducting political economy analysis assessing the institutions, power structures and relationships that govern decision-making and developing adaptive programming strategies that take these factors into account. She has worked closely with policy- and decision-makers on policy reform in the areas of urban governance, economic and green development. Tirza has supported organisations in strategy development related to governance, anti-corruption, civic engagement, gender and social inclusion.
Tirza has developed various proposals awarded by different international donors for innovative projects and programs in the field of governance, leadership development, data and statistics, environmental protection and women’s rights including a Women’s Business Center serving thousands of women business owners. She co-founded a social enterprise focused on making information and data accessible while creating job opportunities for over fifty young people in Nepal.
Her management experience include leading and overseeing program and project teams; grantee management and supervision; financial, human resources and operational management; and strategic communications.
She has conducted consultancy work for various clients including the German Agency for International Development Cooperation, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and The Asia Foundation.
Tirza holds a MA in Law (Maastricht, the Netherlands) and a LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation (Venice, Italy) with continued studies at Oxford University (UK). As part of her studies, she interned with a criminal defense Barrister at 3 Paper Buildings, the Chambers of Michael Parroy Q.C. (UK) and worked at a legal aid service provider.
She has been awarded the Friendship Medal by decree of the President of Mongolia for her leadership and contribution to the development of Ulaanbaatar; and Medal of the Ministry of Population and Social Welfare of Mongolia for her overall contribution to the development of Mongolia.
Tirza has co-authored with Bianca Karim, the Bangladesh chapter, in Dinah Shelton (ed.) “International Law and Domestic Legal Systems: Incorporation, Transformation, and Persuasion, Oxford , 2011; online ed., Oxford Academic, 19 Jan.2012; and edited and co-authored selected parts of “Towards a Justice System for Children: A Guide and Case Law on Children in Conflict with The Law”, by Justice M. Iman Ali (Supreme Court of Bangladesh), UNICEF, 2010.
In her free time, Tirza is a passionate landscape photographer and can be usually be found somewhere outdoors with her camera and three adopted dogs.