John Fisher

John Fisher is Deputy Director for Global Advocacy, a role he assumed in April 2022. He supports the Chief Advocacy Officer in strengthening Human Rights Watch’s Advocacy Division,  developing advocacy strategies on a broad range of issues, and overseeing the UN programs in Geneva and New York. John joined Human Rights Watch as Geneva Director in 2015, leading the organization’s advocacy work at the Human Rights Council and other UN mechanisms in Geneva, acting as focal point for Human Rights Watch’s work to both the UN and civil society community. He has been involved in international human rights advocacy since attending the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights in 1993, and moved to Geneva in 2005 where, initially as Co-Director of the NGO ARC International, he was actively engaged with the Human Rights Council since its inception.

Prior to that time, John Fisher worked as Executive Director of the LGBT advocacy organization Egale Canada, taught human rights classes at the Universities of Ottawa and Carleton, and served as a Judges’ Clerk at the Auckland High Court. Originally from New Zealand, he graduated with a Master's degree in International Law from Queen's University in 1992 and a B.A., LL.B. (Hons) from Auckland University in 1989.