LIFE
LIFE
Gábor Gombos was an outstanding advocate of the Hungarian and international disability movement and a survivor of psychiatry. He was a world-renowned independent disability rights defender.
He co-founded the Hungarian Mental Health Interest Forum in 1999 to incubate and network organisations of users of psychiatry, advocacy groups and support groups for users of psychiatry aiming to mobilise those concerned to become active agents of social change. He chaired the European Network of (ex-)Users and Survivors of Psychiatry and co-chaired the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry.
He was been extensively consulted on the rights of persons with disabilities by the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the Council of Europe.
He was appointed adjunct professor at NALSAR Law University in Hyderabad, India, in August 2012 and at the NUI Galway Centre for Disability Law and Policy in March 2013.
Until the end of 2012, Gábor Gombos served as a Member of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Curriculum Vitae
Gábor Gombos
| Personal data | |
| Name and first name | Gábor Gombos |
| Birth and death | 08.08.1961., Pécs, Hungary - 05.06.2022. (age 61), Budapest, Hungary |
| Positions/functions | |
| 2013-2018 | Adjunct professor at the NUI Galway, Centre for Disability Law and Policy |
| 2012-2022 | Adjunct Professor, National Academy for Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR), Hyderabad, India |
| Starting from 2012 | Member of the Advisory Board of the Franklin D. Roosevelt International Disability Rights Award |
| 2011-2012 | Member of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities |
| 2009-2015 | Editor of Fogyatékosság és Társadalom, Hungarian Journal of Disability Studies & Special Education |
| 2009-2013 | Co-Chair, World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry, Odense, Denmark |
| 2004-2011 | Senior Advocacy Officer, Mental Disability Advocacy Center, Budapest |
| 2004-2010 | Deputy Chair, European Network of (ex-)Users and Survivors of Psychiatry, Berlin |
| Main professional activities | |
| 2012 August | Visiting University Grants Commission Fellow, Tata Institute for Social Science, Mumbai, India |
| 2012 | Expert consultant in the Training for Trainers (ToTAL) on the CRPD by the International Disability Alliance, New Delhi, India |
| 2011-2012 | UNDP Consultant in the Republic of Moldova in the field of legal reforms regarding legal capacity |
| 2011-2012 | Member of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Geneva |
| 2009-2010 | Co-Chair, World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry, Odense, Denmark |
| 2009-2010 | Facilitator of the Hungarian Disability Caucus Alternative Country Report on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Budapest |
| 2008 | Six months program in India to catalyse disability self-advocacy and promote the implementation of CRPD in India |
| 2007-2009 | Civil society expert negotiator at the Ministry of Justice consultations on the new Civil Code of Hungary, Budapest |
| 2006-2009 | Co-facilitator of a civil society coalition working on the new legal capacity legislation and implementation of CRPD article 12, Budapest |
| 2004-2005 | Temporary advisor, WHO European Regional Office, participation in drafting the WHO European Ministerial Declaration and Action Plan on Mental Health, Copenhagen |
| 2004 | Member of the drafting group of the Ministerial Decree on the prohibition of the use of caged beds in psychiatric facilities |
| 2003-2006 | Representative of the International Disability Caucus at the UN Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) |
| 2000-2006 | Member of the Human Rights Standing Committee of the European Disability Forum, Brussels |
| 2000-2003 | Member of a fact-finding mission by the Mental Disability Rights International (Washington DC) in Kosovo |
| 1999-2005 | Chair, Hungarian Mental Health Interest Forum (co-chair with Zsolt Szőke from 24 January 2003 to 11 June 2004) |
| 1996-2000 | Chair, Voice of Soul Self-Advocacy Association of Persons with Psychosocial Disability |
| 1992-1995 | Vice Chair, Family Association for Persons Living with Mental Illness |
| Educational background | |
| 1996 | Accredited course on dyscalculia at the Eötvös Loránd University, Bárczi Gusztáv College on Special Education, Budapest |
| 1986 | MSc in Physics, Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Sciences, Budapest |
| Other main activities | |
| 2012 | Chair, Working Group of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on a General Comment on Article 12 |
| 2011 | Mentor, General Congress and Assembly by the Pan African Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry, Cape Town, South Africa |
| 2010 and 2011 | Member of Faculty, Mental Disability Law in Practice, Summer University, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary |
| 2010 | Research on institutionalization/deinstitutionalization of persons with disabilities in Hungary |
| 2009 | Co-organization of the World Congress of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (member of the International Disability Alliance), Kampala, Uganda |
| 2009-2017 | Member of the Board of Directors of the Hungarian Soteria Foundation (for persons with psychosocial disability), Budapest |
| Starting from 2008 | Research on the negotiation history of the CRPD |
| 2005-2007 | Research on the human rights of children and adolescents in special children homes in Hungary |
| 2003-2005 | Guest lecturer at the Central European University (Course on mental disability law and advocacy) |
| 2001-2003 | Research on the human rights in child mental health services in Hungary |
| 2001-2022 | Fellow of the Ashoka: Innovators for the Public |
| 2000-2022 | Human rights defender in the human rights educational and awareness-raising project “Speak Truth to Power” |
| 1999-2001 | Research on the human rights in long term mental health social care institutions in Hungary |
| Awards | |
| 2009 | Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary |
| 2001 | Fellow of Ashoka Innovators for Public |
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