Dispatches
Anna Timmerman
Anna Timmerman joined Human Rights Watch in December 2009 as Netherlands Director of Development and Outreach. Under her leadership, Human Rights Watch opened an office in the Netherlands in 2010 and launched its annual benefit gala. In collaboration with De Balie, Human Rights Watch also launched the annual Human Rights Weekend in Amsterdam.
Anna is a historian by training. After obtaining her master’s degree at the University of Amsterdam, she worked in tourism in Jordan, Syria, Egypt, and Yemen. She returned to the Netherlands in 2001 to join Humanity in Action Nederland, an organization specializing in educational programs on human rights and minority rights. In 2006 she became the organization’s director. In addition, Timmerman worked for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as coordinator of a research-project on bystanders to the persecution of Dutch Jews. She published the book ‘Machteloos’ based on this research, the book was translated into Hebrew for publication in Israel.