Berkley Center

Maria Lucia Uribe Torres is the executive director of Arigatou International Geneva. She heads the strategic direction of the Ethics Education for Children Initiative as an International Knowledge and Action Hub with partners in more than 40 countries. She is also in charge of developing and maintaining Arigatou International’s engagement in child rights initiatives with human rights mechanisms, UN agencies, and child rights-focused NGOs in Geneva. She currently convenes the International Consortium on Nurturing Values and Spirituality in Early Childhood for the Prevention of Violence, launched in 2018 by Arigatou International with faith-based and civil society organizations, multilateral agencies, and academia to mobilize religious communities to support families in nurturing values and the spiritual development of children in the in the early years. She is also the co-convener of the Working Group on Children and Violence of Child Rights Connect, leading their advocacy work with the United Nations and Human Rights mechanisms in Geneva. Torres is a member of the Working Group on Child Rights and Family Values, part of the Culture of Encounter Project.