Isabell Kempf leads the UNRISD Bonn Programme on
Integrating Knowledge and Capacity Development for the SDGs. Prior to joining UNRISD, Isabell was the co-Director of the UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Initiative based at UNEP in Nairobi. She has 26 years of experience working with the UN, including UNESCO, the Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean, and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Isabell has published widely on the right to development, poverty reduction, economic, social and cultural rights, and the social dimensions of sustainable development, and she brings many years of experience in the areas of capacity building and policy-oriented research. She was appointed to the Advisory Board of the Global Governance Institute of University College London in 2014. Isabell has a B.A. and an M.A. from Oxford University in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, and a Ph.D. in International Economics and Development from the University Complutense of Madrid. She also has post-graduate degrees in Gender and Public Policy as well as Social Communication from universities in Chile.
Selected publications:
- Re-Imagining the Driver–Pressure–State–Impact–Response Framework from an Equity and Inclusive Development Perspective, with Joyeeta Gupta, Joeri Scholtens, Leisa Perch, Irene Dankelman, Joni Seager, Fülöp Sánder, Michael Stanley-Jones, June 2019, Sustainability science
- Connecting the Dots between Human Rights, Environmental Impact Assessments and the Convention on Biological Diversity, with Rodrigo Martinez-Peña, Claudia Ituarte-Lima and Grace Wong) in “Human right to a healthy environment for a thriving Earth”, May 2019, Stockholm Resilience Center
- Uncovering Pathways Towards an Inclusive Green Economy: A Summary for Leaders, September 2015, UNEP
- Mainstreaming Environment and Climate for Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development - A Handbook, May 2015, UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Initiative
- Bridging the Great Lakes/Human Rights in Peace Negotiations, June 2012, Institute for Security Studies
- Collective Prevention of Genocide / Fight against Impunity, August 2011, Revista de derecho penal
- Genocide Prevention in the Great Lakes, March 2010, PAPELES de relaciones ecosociales y cambio global
- When the Immovable Object Meets the Irresistible Force: Negotiations on the UN Declaration on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, September 2009, Cataratas Barcelona
- The Role of UN-OHCHR in Capacity Building, June 2008, University of Potsdam / Human Rights Centre
- Indigenous Peoples' Rights to Adequate Housing, October 2005, UN-Habitat
- Needs or Rights? The Case of the Maasai in Kenya, Jun 2004, Published Ph.D. Thesis, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
- Los Maasai en Keniam, December 2002, Papeles de cuestiones internacionales
- Indigenous Peoples and the Right to Development, July 2002, United Nations
- How to Measure the Right to Education, November 1998, United Nations
- Civil Society and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, February 1998, Social Watch