Nevena Valentinova Saykova

Nevena Valentinova Saykova is the Education Advocate in Human Rights Watch’s Children’s Rights Division. Previously, Nevena served as an Advocacy and Policy Advisor at the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA), where she advocated for the protection of the right to education in situations of conflict. In this role, she led advocacy efforts aimed at promoting the endorsement and implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration and the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict.

Nevena's previous work experiences also encompass international security and the promotion of human rights and international humanitarian law. She worked as Research and Project Assistant at the Democratic Control of Armed Forces providing content support to the Montreux Document on pertinent international obligations and good practices for effective oversight and accountability of the private security sector. She also worked at the International Committee of the Red Cross on restoring family links and child protection issues. Nevena holds a master’s degree in international public management from Sciences Po Paris and a Bachelor of International Relations from the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. She is fluent in English, French, Spanish, and her native Bulgarian.