Amihan Abueva

Regional Executive Director, Child Rights Coalition Asia

Amihan Abueva has been a child rights advocate for more than 30 years. She has contributed
to strengthening the position of NGOs in child protection efforts, not only by building up the
NGOs she has worked with directly but by building alliances and coalitions at the national,
regional and international level, that have been able to make a larger impact on policies and
programs for children. She has advocated for improved public investment in children. Amihan
has demonstrated that NGOs can work hand-in-hand with government to achieve a common
goal.

She has extensive experience in promoting and working with children and youth to promote
child participation in efforts to protect children from violence; in encouraging active citizenship of
children; in promoting the concept of children as human rights defenders; and the rights of
children to a healthy environment.

She has helped in mainstreaming child protection issues, and strengthening national and
international legal frameworks to ensure children are protected from all forms of violence,
particularly trafficking and sexual exploitation. Through her various roles and extensive
experience, she has a strong appreciation of cultural diversity and a unique perspective on the
challenges faced by children in the Southeast Asia/ASEAN region.

Amihan is currently the Regional Executive Director of Child Rights Coalition Asia (CRC Asia), a
regional network of child rights and human-rights focused organizations in Asia.

She was also appointed as the Philippine government representative for children to the ASEAN
Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC)
from 2012 to 2014.

Prior to this, she spent more than a decade as Regional Coordinator of Asia Against Child
Trafficking (Asia ACTs), a regional network of NGOs in Southeast Asia advancing the rights of
children, especially children on the move and trafficked children.

She also worked as Executive Secretary of End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and
Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes International (ECPAT International) from 1995 to
1997 and later on as Project Director of the Young People’s Participation Project of ECPAT
International. ECPAT International is now a network functioning in more than 100 countries
worldwide. Amihan was the President of ECPAT International from 2005-2008, and is currently
the president of ECPAT Philippines.

In September 2008, Amihan was the first recipient of the Wilberforce Leadership Award given
by the US-based organization Free the Slaves. It is an award given to an individual who has
moved a major institution, government, business or large groups of people to significant action
to fight slavery. During the same year, she also received the Gawad Lagablab, an award given
to outstanding alumni of the Philippine Science High School, and Outstanding Alumni Award
from the University of the Philippines Elementary School.